Travel the world Google style

[andygates]

I've been playing with Google Earth and the routes produced by Gmaps Pedometer to produce godlike fly-bys.  If you like to do a bit of route previsualisation (or just want to say "ooh! hilly!" in remote sympathy), then this is for you.

First use Gmaps Pedometer to make a route.  You can save it for later but you don't have to for this.  (I've used a quick sketch of skean's Rapperswill bike route)

Now go to the export as GPX link, and follow the instructions.  You'll end up with a bookmark for the GPX-maker which produces a text file.  GPX is the GPS markup language, and it's what GPS devices use to store stuff.

Copy and paste that text into a file, say, rapperswill_bike.gpx.

Now fire up Google Earth (get it here if you don't have it already).  Open the GPX file and ignore any warnings.  Now go to Tools > Play Tour and watch the show: you'll get a godlike view flying over the route.  Enjoy!

For the UK, I find it best to maximise the vertical exaggeration (Tools > Options > View); in the Driving Tour section of Tools > Options > Control you'll find the camera angle (90 is horizontal) and altitude.  Here's a snapshot from the Rapperswill fly-by I've been chuckling over ever since I realised what poor old skean is in for!

Comments

[skean.livejournal.com]

1) Woooahhhh, coool dude!

2) Yew bar steward

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Lumpy, innit? I think I could mark on that the points where I change to the small ring, then wish I had a triple, then barf up my spleen and fall over!

[skean.livejournal.com]

"Change to the small ring". Your thighs are like a shield of steel...no, that doesn't work...err

I ride on my middle ring (fnar, fnar) most of the time, only changing up on some bits. Like, on the left top corner of your image, that long straight downhill into a village - with an annoying 90 degree turn at the bottom. But thats where I've got my 63kmh from.

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

This might just be enough to persuade me to get google earth.

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

Ok. That is waaaay cool.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

To wrap it up: Get a copy of CamStudio from open-source library Sourceforge (linky), record it to an AVI, and muck around with movie-maker, voiceover, real-world footage intercutting or whatever. Then Youtube it.

Incidentally, some places in Google Earth have buildings. Manhattan has buildings. I'm thinking a low-level fly-through could be sex on a stick. With cream and tiramisu sprinkles.

[n-decisive.livejournal.com]

That is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time!