The footprint of the building comes from the satellite image, so that's easy. But how high do you make it? There is a general rule somewhere about doors being about 7 feet high, and that's a good reference because all buildings have doors of some kind. I uploaded a model of 1182 Flushing Ave (it's live now) which was too damn high… I'm not sure what I was thinking. I noticed it when I built my 1201 Flushing model and compared them in Street View.
1201 and 1182 Flushing Ave in GE preview. 1182's roof is too high compared to SV shot. |
The adjusted height is just about right. |
Also looking at the proportion of the windows helps – look at the 3 vertical windows on the 1182 building to the right (the ones on the roof access/stairwell tower.) In the previous version they are way long and tall. They're just about right on the new one. Don't look too close, I'm starting to see a difference in where they sit horizontally! F! F! ¡Que lastima!
Street view is not gospel, there are artifacts and camera lens distortion of course, but it is a very useful reference, and in this case helped me fix an error I didn't realize I'd made. I deleted the model on the GE warehouse, and uploaded the new version, which should replace the older one, so when 1201 is accepted, they are relating correctly.