Just last month, Microsoft blogger Steve Lombardi posted a great article on 3D mashups created utilizing the modeling capability of Virtual Earth - 3DVIA combined with Virtual Earth technology.  He detailed how developers can embed Virtual Earth 3D maps into their web applications and use our Virtual Earth - 3DVIA product to import custom building models.  You can see the final result here.

Although I did not get a chance to post an article on his creation then, this week delivered yet another great example of a 3D mashup posted on the IDV Solutions blog titled “3D, or Not 3D: That Is the Question“.  The article is a great step-by-step tutorial on how to build 3D models for Virtual Earth.  However, in addition to the snappy title that I know he must have been dying to use, the article contains a link to the incredible mashup they have created on their own Virtual Earth a based application.  It is a great example of what you can be accomplished with Virtual Earth - 3DVIA and worth checking out.

Fans of 3DVIA.com might remember the IDV Solutions 3D building  model as one of our featured models in January.  Here is the model on 3DVIA.com. (click the PLAY 3D button to view it).

 

And here is the here is the same building within the IDV 3D Mashup built on what they call their “experiment”.  What do you think?