Google Sketchup

Another day down! Although I had some success today! We have been working on a way for another entity in our area to be able to edit data in our geodatabase so that we can share one for the entire county. It looks like Terminal Services is going to work for us. For those that don't know, basically you VPN in to a server and use ArcMap on that server. That way all that is sent across the pipe is screenshots. This was a succerss, but now we have to figure out things like printing and replicating the data onto their server for backup. If anyone has experience I would love to hear about it. We also had a conference call with the company that provides our permitting software. They want $6K to write a script that uploads data into an existing Access table!!! Wow! Looks like the GIS Division will be writing that script.

Sketchup is FREE! Sketchup wasn't very expensive before Google announced this, but this is great. Although, a professional version is available for the hefty users. "Google SketchUp (free) is an easy-to-learn 3D modeling program whose few simple tools enable you to create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects – even space ships. You can add details, textures and glass to your models, design with dimensional accuracy, and place your finished models in Google Earth, share them with others by posting them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies. Google SketchUp (free) is a great way to discover if 3D modeling is right for you." Check it out at http://sketchup.google.com/product_suf.html. 26 Days!