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October 31, 2005
GPS/Photo Tracks - RoboGEO v2.1 Supports Google Earth
For those of you who are GPS and digital camera buffs, you should definitely check out this program. RoboGEO v2.1 was recently released with support for Google Earth, and does an excellent job of taking a GPS track and georeferences your photos taken during the track. It's pretty straightforward, you simply: 1) tell it where the photos are; 2) tell it where the track is (supports several formats); 3) tell it the time offset between camera and GPS; and then it georeferences the photos that match the track. You can then generate the Google Earth file and even label all of your photos and add descriptions.
For example, I took the photos from my recent Arizona backpacking trip (which I wrote about earlier) , and used RoboGEO to produce this Google Earth file 
(WARNING: this is a 2MByte file). You will see the track in red, green placemarks for the photos, and a bunch of entries in the placemarks pane. You can click the photo placemarks and see photos and descriptions to get a sense of our trip. In particular, on some of the scenic views I tried to duplicate the view in GE from the photo (double click on a photo placemark to see this).
RoboGEO gives you...
RoboGEO gives you several options for saving your GE file with or without the images in the file. This is important because if you put a lot of full-size images in a GE file it will be huge. The file I've created uses scaled down (using another program) to 320x240 images so the resulting GE file is only 2 MBytes in size. Alternatively, I could put full-sized images on a server and the GE file would be really small.
If you have a good collection of photos and GPS tracks that go together, I can highly recommend RoboGEO. Especially if you want this quality of Google Earth output. RoboGEO prices start at US$34.95.
Posted by FrankTaylor at October 31, 2005 08:11 AM
Comments
Posted by: Geoff Coupe at October 31, 2005 09:21 AM
I have a tip for you. If you watch the various satellite photo locations you might find a higher resolution photo for your location. The best example is the NASA MODIS real-time photos: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/2005304/
You can then create an Image Overlay in Google Earth of a high-resolution satellite photo for your location. The only drawback being the image will be large, but you can crop to just the area you are interested in showing.
Posted by: Frank Taylor at October 31, 2005 09:28 AM
Hmm, just upgraded my copy of Google Earth to the latest version (3.0.0693) and now the photos are no longer displayed in the callouts. Is it just me, or is this a bug?
Posted by: Geoff Coupe at October 31, 2005 11:50 AM
Try closing GE and re-open the file. I'm using 0.0693 and it is working. But, I've noticed a similar problem when I've reloaded the files a certain number of times.
Posted by: Frank Taylor at October 31, 2005 01:53 PM
Actually a good software also need a perfect match device. Camera GPS is the best choice. DP-GPS N1 and N2 can satisfy different kinds of people's need. just visit www.solmeta.com
Posted by: bryan at January 19, 2008 10:10 AM
Hello,
Does anyone knows a similar software for mac?
Thank you,
Dario Silva, portugal
Posted by: Dario Silva at February 5, 2008 05:24 PM
Solmeta has the software for Windows and Mac.
Posted by: bryan at February 6, 2008 11:49 PM
Now we are selling the camera gps with software and remote controller.
Posted by: bryan at February 6, 2008 11:53 PM
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bezdomny/sets/72157603997529380/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/geotagging/discuss/72157603993326205/?search=solmeta
Those are discussing about GPS product for digital cameras
Posted by: bryanshan at March 7, 2008 11:47 PM
For some time now, higher-end Nikon DSLR cameras have had the ability to link with select Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers and record very precise information on the camera's location at the time each image was captured. Nikon cameras equipped with this feature include the D200, D300, D2Hs, D2X, D2Xs, and D3, as well as the Fujifilm S5 Pro (a D200 derivative). The typical setup involved the camera with a Nikon MC-35 GPS adapter cord attached to its ten pin remote terminal while the other end connected to a PC interface cable connector that was in turn attached to the GPS.
Now, Shenzhen Solmeta Technology Co., LTD (Solmeta, for branding purposes) has produced a camera-specific GPS unit that is dwarfed in both size and weight by the typical hand-held GPS used for this type application in the past, and makes use of a single connection directly to the camera's 10 pin terminal. For digital users who need or want GPS data for their images, things just got a lot simpler.
Design and Construction
Solmeta has three products in their line - the N1, which is the subject of this review, and the N2 and C1, both soon to appear on the market per a company spokesman. The N2 will feature a compass (heading) function for the D3 and D300, and the C1 will be for other brands of cameras and include the compass function.
The N1 is a light and compact unit, measuring about 2 x 1.25 x .75 inches and weighing in at 50 grams. Contrast that with the dimensions of a Garmin Geko 301 GPS, one of the smaller and lighter Garmins that have been operationally confirmed by Nikon for use with the D300 and D3: 1.9 x 3.9 x .96 inches and 96 grams. Keep in mind that the weight of the Garmin doesn't include the Nikon and PC adapter cords necessary to complete that installation, while the N1 is ready to go as is. Obviously, weight is not really a major concern here, since the difference between the two systems can be measured in ounces, but it is part of the larger picture that makes the Solmeta system quite simple and easy to use.
For more details please visit
www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=3375
Posted by: Jim at March 16, 2008 03:23 AM
For some time now, higher-end Nikon DSLR cameras have had the ability to link with select Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers and record very precise information on the camera's location at the time each image was captured. Nikon cameras equipped with this feature include the D200, D300, D2Hs, D2X, D2Xs, and D3, as well as the Fujifilm S5 Pro (a D200 derivative). The typical setup involved the camera with a Nikon MC-35 GPS adapter cord attached to its ten pin remote terminal while the other end connected to a PC interface cable connector that was in turn attached to the GPS.
Now, Shenzhen Solmeta Technology Co., LTD (Solmeta, for branding purposes) has produced a camera-specific GPS unit that is dwarfed in both size and weight by the typical hand-held GPS used for this type application in the past, and makes use of a single connection directly to the camera's 10 pin terminal. For digital users who need or want GPS data for their images, things just got a lot simpler.
Design and Construction
Solmeta has three products in their line - the N1, which is the subject of this review, and the N2 and C1, both soon to appear on the market per a company spokesman. The N2 will feature a compass (heading) function for the D3 and D300, and the C1 will be for other brands of cameras and include the compass function.
The N1 is a light and compact unit, measuring about 2 x 1.25 x .75 inches and weighing in at 50 grams. Contrast that with the dimensions of a Garmin Geko 301 GPS, one of the smaller and lighter Garmins that have been operationally confirmed by Nikon for use with the D300 and D3: 1.9 x 3.9 x .96 inches and 96 grams. Keep in mind that the weight of the Garmin doesn't include the Nikon and PC adapter cords necessary to complete that installation, while the N1 is ready to go as is. Obviously, weight is not really a major concern here, since the difference between the two systems can be measured in ounces, but it is part of the larger picture that makes the Solmeta system quite simple and easy to use.
http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=3375
Posted by: Jim at March 16, 2008 10:48 PM
A better piece of software to link your digital photos to your GPX file (track log) from your GPS is GPiSync (http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/). It has more functionality than RoboGeo and its FREE!
Posted by: Scott Robuck at April 3, 2008 05:26 PM
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Frank, that's amazing - it's exactly the sort of thing I was fantasising about. The only drawback for me is that the satellite maps used by Google for my location (the Netherlands) are not particularly high resolution, so I wouldn't get the same quality of topo views as you've been able to demonstrate.