Introduction to Google Earth May 24, 2011 TJ Keiran Senior Planner / GIS Specialist Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments
Purpose of this class Introduce free version of Google Earth Demonstrate common applications Show tricks to best use software productively Provide links to free resources/tutorials
Class Topics Google Earth Components and Navigation Make a Map or Site Plan for a Document Import a KML Make a Tour Record a Tour Sketchup Teaser
Freeware Software Internet Connection Google Earth Debut Video Capture Google Sketchup ESRI s free Shape to KML converter Google Picassa Youtube
Disclaimer We will demonstrate how to use freeware Distributed by credible vendors Freeware is frequently used by COG staff CONSULT WITH YOUR IT STAFF AND FOLLOW YOUR EMPLOER S POLICIES REGARDING SOFTWARE INSTALLATION Understand and be comfortable with the preferences
Google Earth Virtual Globe Visualization tool Great public outreach tool NOT a Geographic Information System (GIS) because one cannot perform analysis
Google Earth Fun to use We ll focus on specific work-related tasks
Google Earth (Continued) http://www.google.com/earth/index.html Free version Pro version (non-profits may use Pro version for free after verification process)
Google Earth Components and Navigation Tool Bar Look Around Menu Bar Address Recently visited Places Move Around Street View Zoom Layers Address Image Date Lat / Long View Height
Borders and labels Places of interest Panoramio Roads Buildings in 3D Google Street View Weather Gallery Global awareness Ocean Sky layers Mars layers Available Layers
Make a Map/Site Plan for Document Key is to use temporary placemarks, the scale bar and placemarks as text Create a new folder (important later) TOC > Places > My Places (Right Click) Add > Folder Name the folder Make sure you are working in the folder as you go along
Zoom to scale that you want Turn on the Scale View > Scale Legend Look in bottom left hand corner Add temporary placemark as an anchor
Make a Map/Site Plan for Document (continued) Turn on the ruler tool from the toolbar and select length measurement type (feet) Run the ruler measurement to desired length Add placemark (remove text description) Repeat as necessary so all corners are depicted
Draw the polygon Select the polygon tool from the toolbar Draw the corners using the placemarks Verify the measurements using the ruler
Tips I delete description to keep clutter down If you need to move a placemark simply go to Places in the Table of Contents, right click and select Properties. Now the placemark is available to edit
Tips To label a feature, add a placemark but turn the icon off Edit the polygon by right clicking on the item under places in the table of contents
Add the map to a document Edit > Copy image Paste image into the document
Saving and Sharing Files Make sure the folder is highlighted in the TOC File > Save > Save Places The file will save as a *.kmz that can be e-mailed as an attachment Direct the recipient to save the file, right click and select, Open with Google Earth (You can e-mail the file directly from the program if Google Earth is configured to your e-mail program)
Google Earth System Requirements Minimum: Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 CPU: Pentium 3, 500Mhz System Memory (RAM): 256MB Hard Disk: 400MB free space Network Speed: 128 Kbits/sec Graphics Card: DirectX9 and 3D capable with 64MB of VRAM Screen: 1024x768, "16-bit High Color" - DirectX 9 (to run in Direct X mode) Recommended: Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz+ or AMD 2400xp+ System Memory (RAM): 512MB Hard Disk: 2GB free space Network Speed: 768 Kbits/sec Graphics Card: DirectX9 and 3D capable with 256MB of VRAM Screen: 1280x1024, "32-bit True Color"
ArcGIS Converters ArcGIS Toolbox has Layer to KML and Map to KML converters http://resources.esri.com/help/9.3/arcgisde sktop/com/gp_toolref/conversion_tools/lay er_to_kml_conversion_.htm
Simple wizard Know your output scale
Layers come in to Google Earth with limited attribute information
ArcMAP Export to KML Free extension supported by ESRI Needs to be registered (which is a little tricky) Simple wizard Advantage over other converter is that this tool allows the user to select one field of data to go with the KML (i.e. Name of Facility with point data) http://resources.arcgis.com/gallery/file/geoprocessing/det ails?entryid=b49a0775-1422-2418-34e1- EEA6DD9851BA
Creating a Tour There are many ways to create a tour Navigate along a line Record as you freestyle navigate Navigate and stop through a series of placemarks
Steps for Creating a Placemark tour Create a new folder Places > My Places > Add > Folder Name the folder something relevent Make sure the folder is highlighted when creating placemarks
How to Create a Tour
Steps for Creating a Placemark tour Practice with Placemark Properties I prefer to not have push pins or unnecessary text boxes Double up with placemarks One with no info to navigate The second with display info
Placemark Tips Placemarks use HTML http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/02/html_cheatsheet/ Here is a good tutorial on adding photos using Picassa http://www.aktsunami.com/lessons/git_exercises/5-8_addingphotostoplacemarks.pdf
Right click > Properties Paste the code from Picasa Play with HTML Code to change font size, color, etc
Add additional placemarks You may want to change icons, fonts, images, etc to keep it interesting After placemarks are set, you are ready to create a tour
Manually go through placemarks and ensure you are pleased Once you hit the Tour button, editing is more difficult
Tools > Options > Touring Sets the preferences for touring
Record a Tour Use the record icon from the Toolbar Saves into the folder in TOC Exports with the KMZ so recipients can load into GE and run with You may also remove Placemarks before exporting and sharing KMZ
Advanced Touring Save a Tour as a media to run without Google Earth using 3 rd party freeware Debut video capture has a great freeware program http://www.nchsoftware.com/capture/index.html Be careful when downloading that you don t choose the trial version of the professional version. It s a pain to then go to the freeware
Using Debut Video Capture to Record a Tour Set hot keys Options > Hot Keys These allow you to start and stop recording using the keyboard Set the extent of the area to be recorded (I leave out the TOC and the Navigation Tools)
Manually navigate through your placemarks or freestyle The file can be exported in various formats for the web or to play on common media players File can be converted to play on DVD, but that s a lesson for another day
Thank you The Cowlitz-Wahkiakum GIS Users Group meets again on June 14 th. Introduction to ArcGIS Online June 21, 2011 9:00 11:00 am Attendees will learn the basics of how to use ESRI s online mapping software and how to access local data. Please register online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/92ndhnk Please contact me if you are interested TJ Keiran Senior Planner / GIS Specialist Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments (CWCOG) 207 4th Avenue North Kelso, WA 98626-4195 tkeiran@cwcog.org (360) 577-3041