Creating a Guided Tour with Google Earth Before creating a tour, first orient yourself to basic Google Earth functions. To start, download Google Earth to your desktop. This is free through earth.google.com. Upon opening Google Earth, you will see a 3D image of a globe. Navigation Tools 1. In the top-right corner you will see three navigational functions to help you clarify you view. 2. Click and hold in the 1. center of the upper-most joystick (view joystick) and move your cursor upward. You should see the angle of the plane shift to be more parallel to the Earth s surface. 3. Click and hold in the center of the upper- most joystick (view joystick) and move your cursor to the left. You should see the view shift left from a 4. 5. fixed point as if you were actually standing and looking out onto the panorama of the Earth. 4. Click and hold in the center of the middle joystick (move joystick) and move your cursor up and down. This will shift the view, but remain at the same angle and distance from Earth s surface. 5. Below the move joystick, there is a zoom slider; click the plus (+) or minus (-) sign to zoom in or out on your current view. Optional: you can also click and hold the marker on the slider to zoom in or out continuously. Navigation Tools on the Screen and Their Functions
Show/Hide Sidebar: This either displays or conceals the sidebar. Add Placemark: This way you can save a location or multiple locations. This is a tool you can use to create a Google Earth Tour. Add Polygon: You can draw free-form paths and polygons in the 3D viewer. This can also be used to make a Google Earth tour but it is recommended to use Placemarks for that Add Path: You can draw free-form paths and polygrams here. This is also used to create the tour. Once a path is created, it can be clicked and the tour can start. Add Image Overlay: This allows you to add images over the map in Google Earth. They can be used as landmarks or represent symbols. Record a Tour: Once you ve created a path and route and display it on 3D viewer, the tour can start. It will Fly Over to the next designated Placemark until there are no more to go to. Show Historical Imagery: By default, Google Earth displays best available imagery. You can view historical imagery so that you can see how places have changed over time. Click on this button to see the images in a particular place. Show Sunlight on Landscape: Note: This feature is available only in Google Earth 5 and later When this button is clicked, Google Earth displays the current level of daylight at the location you are viewing.
Switch Between Earth, Sky, Stars, and Moon: Note: This feature is available only in Google Earth 5 and later By clicking this button, you are allowed to view the stars, sky, Mars and the moon. To revert back to Earth, click on the tool again and select Earth. Search Function 1. Under the Search heading on the left side of the screen, you will see a Fly To tab with a search bar under it. Here, you can search for any destination, and Google Earth will adjust the view and zoom for the best look of your search item. For Example, you could type in the Fly To bar, London, England or Mariana Trench. 2. Once you have pressed Enter, just below the search bar, two buttons will have appeared. 3. Click the first button to save your search result under the My Places heading. This will be useful for when you create a tour. Layers Below the My Places heading is the Layers heading. Here is where you can add or subtract the characteristics that are interesting to you. This tutorial will highlight the ocean layer. By selecting or deselecting a layer, different markers will show or hide in the earth image.
Creating a Tour 1. Before you begin, make sure you have the Terrain layer visible. To do this, visit the left-hand sidebar and the layers tab. a. Make sure the box next to the terrain option is checked. 2. Create a plan for your tour. Google Earth allows you to create place marks for each location the tour will visit. a. To create a Placemark, go up to the Add Tab and from the dropdown below, choose Placemarks. You can ALSO choose the Thumbtack icon on the top of the Google Earth toolbar. b. It is now time to edit your Placemark- title your place and edit the description of what you want to be said. c. With the other tabs in the preferences box, you are able to change the color and shape of your placement icon. This is optional but customizable to your tastes. 3. In a chronological sequence, keep adding the places you want to tour and add them to the folder. 4. Create a path using the Placemarks you have created. a. Position the 3D viewer to best contain the region you want to mark. b. Click the Add Path button, which is located on the toolbar (see above for more detail). Here, like the Placemarks, you will name the path and edit it to your liking. c. It is now time to draw the Path. Click the 3D Viewer to start. There are different methods in which you can approach this.
i. Regular-Form: Click and release. Then move the mouse over to a new point and click to add additional points ii. Free-Form: Click once and drag. The cursor changes to an up-arrow to indicate that you're using free-form mode. As you drag the cursor around the 3D viewer, the outline of the shape follows the path of your cursor. If you're drawing a path, a line appears as a result. 5. The recording of the tour is easy, now that the path has been created. a. Click the Add Tour button that can be found on the toolbar (or from the dropdown menu where the placemarks and paths buttons were found). b. A recording toolbar will appear in the bottom left corner of the map. c. Click the record button to begin recording the tour. It will turn red to indicate the recording is in progress. d. Create your tour by using any and all Google Earth Navigation tools, including the pan, zoom, rotating, and flying features. The tour will record any movement made. e. Using the path you have already created, you can skip from one planned location to another, panning in and out of the emphasized locations.
f. When you have finished your tour, you simply stop recording by hitting the record button again, turning it from red to white once again. The tour you created will begin replaying automatically. g. To save the tour, click the save button on the tour toolbar. h. Once you have named and labeled it appropriately, it will be saved to the side toolbar, under the places tab. 6. IF YOU WISH TO RECORD AUDIO WITH YOUR TOUR: a. When looking to begin recording your tour, click the microphone button on the tour toolbar instead of the record button. b. Recording will start AND Google Earth will begin capturing audio through your computers microphone. c. Press the microphone to end recording, then follow the same procedure for saving the file. Note: Make sure when saving a Tour with audio narration to set the 'Save as Type' option in the Save window to KMZ, otherwise the audio will not be included in your file.