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February 04, 2008
Using Street View in Google Earth
The story about the dinosaurs visible in Google Earth earlier today was actually prompted by an image I saw showing dinosaurs breaking out of a museum in this Google Maps Street View photo (which was posted at VirtualTourism):
This got me to thinking how nice it would be if you could view Street View imagery inside Google Earth. Surely Google has plans to do this? The Windows version of Google Earth can show Flash applications, so you can look at YouTube movies and other applications which can be embedded in the placemark descriptions. However, the Street View viewer is apparently a javascript thing and can only be embedded if you use an <iframe> tag (which is not supported in GE placemarks). I did some looking around, and I haven't found anyone who has managed to put Street View into GE placemarks yet (correct me if I'm wrong).
However, it did occur to me there are some ways you can use Street View in Google Earth. The first way is you could just take a screenshot of a particular Street View (like the one above) and place it in a placemark like this 
. Of course, I put a link back to the Google Maps version. But, this has two drawbacks: 1) it's not interactive at all, and 2) it takes time to take screenshots and place them in placemarks.
You can view Street View in your browser side-by-side with Google Earth if you have enough screen real estate on your computer to open both applications (may require two screens). The most important tip is to use the handy "View in Google Maps" button in the top center of GE. This will take you into Google Maps showing the same location you are looking at in GE.
You can also use the built-in browser in the Windows version of Google Earth. (Change your settings in GE under the "Tools->Options->General" tab to turn off "Show web results in external browser". Google will now use the internal browser when opening web pages.) But, it requires some real tweaking - like making the internal browser work in side-by-side mode, and making the left sidebar in Google Maps hidden (look for a little blue triangle).
[UPDATE 11PM:]Barry Hunter pointed out in the comments that I forgot probably the most important method you could view Street View in Google Earth: the PhotoOverlay. This method allows you to put high resolution panoramas and view them with a unique viewer in GE (introduced in GE 4.2). Barry created an example with the dinosaur scene above - you should definitely check this out . Thanks Barry!
Finally, for special cases, you could make a YouTube video of using Street View for a particular spot (like the dinosaur above) and embed it into a placemark like this . This works pretty well, and definitely adds to the experience in GE. But, it requires a bit of work. Definitely not as desirable as having Street View just work inside Google Earth. And, again it only works on Windows. I think Street View would be even more powerful inside GE than it is in Google Maps. You can turn on so many other useful layers to enhance your experience and get more information. Plus, the views of the location are in 3D.
Posted by FrankTaylor at February 4, 2008 09:31 AM
Comments
Posted by: Pete at February 4, 2008 11:50 AM
I couldnt figure out how to get their flash object to play nicely in GE. So instead done it like this:
http://bmng.nearby.org.uk/3GwXFVrE6IBYnX2lB3jhIg.kml
Its not accurately located, as It seems to cause (mine at least) GE to go crazy and blanking out - so use at own risk :). Snapshow view (which I normally use) just causes everything to tilt strangly? Maybe someone can create a proper KML container.
- anyway it shows promise, and hopefully one of the reasons for the PhotoOverlay.
(btw this is via PhotoOverlayCreator from CASA, so is not suitable for automation as is) (but the wget and imagemagick montage could be ;)
Posted by: Barry Hunter at February 4, 2008 03:58 PM
Barry, I forgot about the PhotoOverlay. That's yet another way for showing Street View, and that is definitely a cool way to view them in GE!
What Barry did was take the PhotoOverlayCreator (found here: http://digitalurban.blogspot.com/2007/10/google-earth-photooverlay-download-and_25.html) by Digitalurban to create a panorama of the Street View and convert it into a Photo Overlay KML file for viewing in GE.
Maybe Google has plans to do something like this on the fly for use in GE? That would be cool...
Posted by: Frank Taylor at February 4, 2008 04:11 PM
My most liked combination of StreetView and Google Earth ist using GlobeGlider. I fly to the street I'd like to look at, start the StreetView from GlobeGlider's menu and maximize the SV frame.
Now I navigate on streetlevel within the StreetView frame (I created a profile for my SpaceNavigator), drive through the streets, look around, zoom in and out. Every time I move within SV, GE reloads the camera position and follows the route you drive in SV. When passing an interesting building I can change the profile of SpaceNavigator back to original function and fly around in the 3d viewer of GE. So I can discover a building or look around from every perspective. To move on, I need to switch back to SV and drive further. SV is the "master" of navigation, GE will follow your position.
Then I active Microsofts 2D Bird's eye view in the left map of GlobeGlider. It's position is also updated immidiately.
With this combination I can drive down a street, the left map follows me like from a helicopter in in the 3d Window of GE I can keep the overview. Or I can look at the streetlevel. Or I can switch to original behaviour of SpaceNavigator and fly around. When finished looking at a house, I switch back (enter my car) and go on driving down the street.
Frank
Posted by: Frank Steidl at February 5, 2008 04:52 AM
You could make a model large box in sketchup and stick the photos on to it(still in sketchup) and upload it to google earth
Posted by: M at February 7, 2008 12:15 PM
Those dinosaurs are here in Indianapolis. I've driven past them several times, and I used to work at the Children's Museum. Just thought I'd share. What's the consensus on Street View heading outside the US and being visible inside Google Earth? It's an acceptable step toward a Second Life-like experience inside Google Earth, which is one of my fondest wishes.
Posted by: Kamilah at February 12, 2008 04:41 PM
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Surely there could be a means to connect the GE camera to an external browser, orienting the Street View of Google Maps, automatically?
Consider Globe Glider as a comparison:
http://globeglider.net/