Today I saw my colleagues table have a 3D printing model which is the city model. The model is over 500 piece high-rise building block with the terrain model. The model is mainly emphasized the new development and study how the surrounding building would be impacted. Nowadays the paper plan may not be good enough!

So I would like to show how to create the 3D model by using the GIS format e.g. SHP and use the general Google Earth surface. Once the file is ready, within 15 minutes can finish the 3D reality model.

The Shapefile is the GIS file format, which is stored the geometry (point, line & polygon) entities with the attributes data. - wiki

There are a different way for creating the 3D virtual reality model:

AutoCAD Civil 3D
- It can create a sophisticated model for the Civil Engineer to calculating the model.

Autodesk LandXplorer
- It can create a virtual reality model for the Town Planner.

The part 1 shows how to use the SHP file and create a solid model:

The part 2 shows how to use the Google Earth image and surface:

The part 3 shows how to use the Civil 3D feature "Project objects to profile view":

When you got the model, the model can be exported to another software for doing further enhancement e.g. export to BIM software e.g. Revit, export to visualization software e.g. 3D Studio