Today we are going to talk about The SketchUp showcase, a new site by the SketchUp team to expose different models made with the 3D software.
You might think that there’s nothing new about a gallery of images of the best SketchUp projects. Indeed, promoting around beautiful images is nothing new. However, on this site, there are some models that have a 3D view in the browser. You will easily recognize the models with this view, they are marked by this icon: 
To take advantage of this, you will need Google Chrome. It may work later on other browsers, but it is not yet the case.
You will tell me “it’s like in the 3D image bank, we have the right to images as “3D navigation” and well no. We have, thanks to the “Pompidou viewer” to real 3D in our browser. It uses WebGL, and it works quite well. A “small” example Dubrovnik Airport: Cafe Lindo. Of course you have to click on the thumbnail with the 3D icon to get the 3D view. You will notice that the navigation is done by itself while moving from one scene to another. You can stop this at any time by moving around in the same way as you would in SketchUp.
If you want to see this model in your browser, here is the link: http://pompidouviewer.appspot.com/viewer.html?Pompidou/Airport_Cafe.dae
For the more technical among us, you will have noticed that the file extension is a .dae, which means that it is COLLADA used. I don’t know why it’s not directly from SketchUp (.skp) that is used, but it probably has something to do with the WebGL technology used by the 3D viewer.
Of course, to take full advantage of this 3D view you need a fairly powerful computer, the example I gave you requires a recent machine. An example that requires less power : http://gweb-sketchup-showcase.appspot.com/sketchup/showcase/project/east-london-bowl/view
If you want to see other 3D models there are 28 for the moment: http://gweb-sketchup-showcase.appspot.com/sketchup/showcase#tags=3d-models
At Adebeo we are excited about this viewer, and we will keep you updated on its progress as we get this information.