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January 03, 2007
Important Basics for Google Earth
If you are new to Google Earth (GE), or looking for ways to improve how you interact with GE, then this entry may be of help. Additional resources are referenced below. Note: this blog entry assumes you are using Google Earth 4 - see this for GE version 3 oriented tips.
Learning to manipulate the mouse and keys to control GE is crucial to getting the most out of sightseeing the Earth. The first important thing to know is how to zoom in closer to the Earth. You have many ways to do this: double-click your mouse button (left button, if you have multiple buttons, to zoom in, right button to zoom out); use the mouse scroll-wheel (if you have one); or use the CTRL-UP or CTRL-DOWN key combinations. You can also use the navigation gadgets - the "+" and "-" buttons with slider on the far upper-right to change your altitude. The mouse scroll-wheel is probably the favorite method of most typical GE fans. All of these methods adjust your altitude above the Earth's surface. You can see your height above sea level in the lower right of the GE viewing window. You can move the Earth to position it where you want to see by clicking a point with the left mouse button and slide the cursor to the middle of the viewing window.
At first, many people don't realize Google Earth is much more than a map with aerial and satellite photos attached. GE uses data from NASA Space Shuttle missions which provides 3D terrain data for the entire land surface of the Earth. Let's demonstrate this.
Click on this link 
to go to GE and fly to Mount St. Helens. Beautiful view right? But, try this: hold your PAGE DOWN key on your keyboard and watch GE tilt your view so you can see Mount St. Helens as a 3D mountain (if you don't - check to see that the "Terrain" layer is turned on). Very cool right? PAGE UP will tilt your view back up. You can also use the slider control at the upper right of the navigation control for tilting. A nice tip: hit the "u" key to tilt back straight up automatically. The "r" key will reset to north and tilt up.
An easier way to tilt and pan your view is to click and hold the middle mouse button or scroll wheel button (those of you who have a Mac with one mouse button have to use the above key or navigational control techniques - but, I would recommend getting a 3-button mouse). While you're holding the middle button if you move your mouse forward and backwards it will tilt the view. Side to side will pan your view around the point you are looking at. Holding the SHIFT key will constrain your tilt and allow you to rotate your view about a point.
Watch a short 2 minute video tutorial covering some of these navigation basics by Google.
Related Resources:
- GE 4 User Guide
- Google Earth Basics by Google Earth Blog
- Using Google Earth - Blog by a Google Earth documentation specialist
- Common Questions About GE
- SpaceNavigator - An advanced 3D mouse device for GE
Posted by FrankTaylor at January 3, 2007 05:20 PM
Comments
Posted by: Mike at January 3, 2007 11:01 PM
Great tips! Myself, a Windows user, I find the arrow keys in combination with Shift and Ctrl are great for navigating, zoom, rotate, and tilt. If you also press the Alt key, then the motion slows down, which is very handy when you are zoomed in close to the earth's surface.
Posted by: Bill Clark at January 4, 2007 10:23 AM
I am using earth a lot and having a hard time controlling zoom with my scroll-wheel. One click often takes me WAAY too far out or in, and it's not consistant, so I waste a great deal of time zooming in and out to get where I want to be. Is there somewhere in preferences that this can be corrected? or is it my mouse? Any help would be appreciated...
Posted by: Diane at April 2, 2007 06:27 PM
How often does google earth update what we can see. I have had google earth downloaded for about 8 months, and have placemarks, but it's always the same thing. nothing changes. and its always blurry. please tell me if i'm doing something wrong, or if there's something i need to know. any help will be appreciated
Posted by: david at May 15, 2008 01:21 PM
I'm new to GE and I'm still learning the hard way to understand the basics. I'll study the materials that you've provided in here.
I've downloaded the free GE software, but then it didn't match with Win32 application. What's the problem?
Posted by: Jackson Mangan at June 25, 2008 10:10 PM
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Great tips!