Video Archives

June 25, 2009

Hurricane/Cyclone Tracking with Google Earth

Weather tools in Google EarthOne of Google Earth's most powerful features is the ability to pull in real-time information from other sites and overlay the information for visualization (thanks to the network link). Weather data is one of my favorite applications in Google Earth of this ability. Imagine pulling in the latest satellite photos, radar animations, hurricane tracking, live web cams on the ground, sea surface temperature analysis, etc. Well, you can do all that with the set of the very best weather tools for Google Earth which GEB has bundled together into this: the weather and storm tracking tools collection . Simply drag this network link into your Places folder to keep it handy. It won't take up space until you turn it on. It first loads several folders of weather tools you can explore. You may want to turn only one layer on at a time - these layers weren't designed to all be turned on at once. Although, some of the layers are complimentary (like current lightning strikes with clouds or storms turned on). Read more about the storm tracking tools.

Google has added a new Hurricane Season 2009 layer in the Weather layer folder. It also will automatically highlight current named storms. But, the tools in the collection above will take you much further if you have an interest in weather. Check out this GEB video of storm tracking (from 2007) in Google Earth:

NOTE: Many of these storm tracking tools have been around for some time. While they are still cool, I'd love to see some weather sites using the Google Earth API to full advantage. Weather data is great stuff when viewed in Google Earth.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 7:48 AM | Comments (0)

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June 10, 2009

Lots of New 3D Content Added in Google Earth

Google has added thousands of new buildings to the 3D Buildings layer including 4 cities in Japan with dozens of city blocks where all the buildings are rendered in 3D, more Disney content for Orlando, nearly 4000 new 3D Warehouse models all over the planet, and more! The new coverage in Japan include: Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto. The new 3D buildings are covered in photorealistic textures using some automated method. (NOTE: most Japan cities were already rendered with gray non-photo-textured buildings, the new buildings replace those in the areas where they have coverage.) You can see samples of the new cities here (I recomment watching it in HD):

In Orlando, Disney has added the Wide World of Sports complex to the already huge number of 3D models for the main DisneyWorld in 3D.

Google has been slowly adding cities using an unpublished methodology where vast numbers of buildings for large areas of cities are being rendered in 3D with photorealistic textures. The photos appear to be aerial in some cases, in others they seem to be from the ground. But, they are using an at least semi-automated process judging from the cases where some buildings are not properly "dressed" with the photo textures. In December Google added New York City in 3D. Here's a round up of cities which have the photorealistic 3D treatment, with the exception of these two which were added later.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 3:27 PM | Comments (1)

June 8, 2009

World Oceans Day, 3D Design Competition, Britain Archeological Site, New Imagery Tour Idea

  • World Oceans Day - This is a good thing - the UN has declared today World Oceans Day. I like the idea of "Wear Blue Tell Two" - wear something blue and tell two people something about the oceans they don't know. Google is doing their part at least by releasing a cool collection of Google Earth files telling people about the ocean. I like the one that shows you where plastic trash would end up if you dropped it somewhere in the ocean (based on currents/winds). And, if you haven't loaded Google Earth in a while, Google Earth 5 came out in February with a wealth of information about the oceans and lets you see the oceans like never before.

    Did you know the world's coral reefs are dying? Read more from NASA here.

  • 3D Design Competition - Today is also Frank Lloyd Wright's 142nd birthday. In honor of this, Google and the Guggenheim have announced a new 3D competition called Design It: Shelter Competition. According to Google's announcement: "...the competition is inspired by Wright's assignment for his apprentices at Taliesin: If you wanted to study to be an architect with Wright, you had to design and build a shelter in the desert outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Then you had to live and study in it." Deadline is August 23rd. Watch the video for an overview. Speaking of 3D - Google also featured another modeler who has contributed to the 3D Warehouse.

    By the way, it would be cool if someone created a collection of placemarks of locations where you can see 3D models of Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Google Earth. Here's a thread of placemarks showing locations.

  • Britain Archeological Site - Stefan read about a new archeological find near Stonehenge, and set out to do some sleuthing to discover the location. He found it and explains how at his OgleEarth post.

  • New Imagery Tour Idea - Last week Microsoft came out with a slick tour of some of their latest new imagery for Virtual Earth ... err I mean Live Local Maps... err I mean Bing Maps (the latest name). As soon as I saw it, I realized Google should be doing tours of their new imagery (like the one that came out Saturday). Using the new Tour mode in Google Earth, you could really show off new imagery (and 3D Terrain) in a snazzy way - you could even add some nice background music while you watch GE fly from place to place. It could be even cooler than Microsoft's! :-) Google recently started doing 3D tours for 3D models - so why not the imagery and terrain?

Posted by FrankTaylor at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

June 5, 2009

US Drought Conditions in Google Earth by NOAA

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (better known as NOAA) has been producing a number of useful KML files which can be viewed in Google Earth. Today I'm highlighting a collection of updated drought maps which can be viewed with the time animation feature in Google Earth. NOAA has several collections at this web page which cover the year 2000 through to the present. The maps highlight the regions of drought conditions with colored contours which indicate the severity of drought (Dark red is the most severe). I recommend only loading a single year at a time unless you have a lot of memory. (The one covering the full ten year range is recommended to only be used with GE Pro because it only seems to work with Pro.) To illustrate (and save you the time to load), I've created a video showing the 2005 to present animation:

Other examples of NOAA data available in Google Earth:

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:56 AM | Comments (5)

June 4, 2009

Making 3D for Google Earth, Google Seeking Help, KML Regions, OpenStreetMap in Google Earth

  • Making 3D for Google Earth - Google has produced this video on how to use SketchUp to make a 3D building for Google Earth. You can also get some good tips from the "Acceptance Criteria" for models uploaded to the 3D Warehouse in order to be added to the Google Earth 3D Buildings layer.

  • Google Seeking Help from Governments - Google continues to ask for help from official government sources to help improve their data in Google Maps and Google Earth. They want the data shown in these products to be as accurate and authoritative as possible. So, if you work for a governmental organization with authoritative data, and want to see your country's data better represented, you should contact Google.

  • KML Regions - GeoWeb Guru has posted an article about an advanced feature of KML called "Regions". The article was written by Geospatial Training Services which also offers Google Earth courses. Definitely worth a read. (Disclaimer: Geospatial Training Services currently advertises on GEB).

  • OpenStreetMap in Google Earth - Mapperz points out that you can not only view OpenStreetMap tiles as an overlay in Google Earth , but you can also put OpenStreetMap into GE on your browser using the Google Maps and Google Earth APIs. See his version here . A nice extra feature would be to enable a transparency slider so you can compare the two versions. You can do transparency with the overlay link above, in Google Earth itself, by selecting the loaded KML and using the transparency slider below the Places pane.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:24 AM | Comments (1)

More entries for this category:

  1. Links: New 3D Tours Gallery, Earth API Update - May 29, 2009
  2. More on Disney Paris, Street View Cave, Data.Gov, Space Imagery Enhancement - May 27, 2009
  3. Video of New 3D Disneyland Paris for Google Earth - May 25, 2009
  4. Where 2.0 - Day 2 - Short Summary - May 21, 2009
  5. Where 2.0 - Day 1 - Workshops and Ignite - May 20, 2009
  6. Fantastic Free Google Earth Game: Ships - May 18, 2009
  7. Formula One Circuit Tour - Car Simulation - April 24, 2009
  8. Links: Ocean Now, Michigan Earth Day, Goldman Prize, Convention Center, Queen Mary - April 21, 2009
  9. Synchronized YouTube with Google Earth Plugin - April 15, 2009
  10. Home Made Street View for Google Earth - March 25, 2009
  11. Glacier Melt Survey in Google Earth - March 24, 2009
  12. St. Patrick's Day Fun with Google Earth - March 17, 2009
  13. Heli-Ski Tour in Google Earth - March 12, 2009
  14. CO2 Emissions Data Visualization in Google Earth - February 23, 2009
  15. Make AR Movies from Google Earth 3D Models - February 18, 2009
  16. YouTube Searching in Google Earth - February 16, 2009
  17. Google Earth 5 Announcement Video - February 12, 2009
  18. Google Earth 5 - Video Showcase - February 3, 2009
  19. Google Earth 5 - Video Showcase - February 2, 2009
  20. Links: New GE Help Forums, DC-3 Weather Vane, NYC GE Visitor Center, Virtual Alabama Video, 360Cities Embed - January 22, 2009
  21. Fly Flight 1549 Yourself in Google Earth - January 21, 2009
  22. Urban Tick - Research Results in Google Earth - January 8, 2009
  23. Print 3D Buildings from Google Earth - January 7, 2009
  24. Happy Holidays from Google Earth Blog - December 23, 2008
  25. Links: Google Geo Data Grows, Maps Gets YouTube, Licensing, GeoServer Nod - December 18, 2008
  26. Upgrade to EveryTrail GPS Trails Layer in Google Earth - December 17, 2008
  27. Making Better 3D Models for Google Earth - December 9, 2008
  28. Links: GE Plugin Update, KML Contest Update, Panoramio Contest, Teaching with GE, Santa Video - December 5, 2008
  29. MutliTouch Wall Demo - Hilarious - October 24, 2008
  30. iPhone Earth Available Free Temporarily - New Features Too - September 19, 2008
  31. Links: Math Lessons, Chemical Brothers Video, Radar Loops, Swedish Hires - September 15, 2008
  32. Real-time Satellites in Google Earth - September 8, 2008
  33. Track Hurricane Hanna in Google Earth - September 1, 2008
  34. Sailing Passage From Exuma to North Carolina - August 25, 2008
  35. iPhone Earth App Available Now - August 22, 2008
  36. Watch Arctic Ice Melting in Google Earth - August 11, 2008
  37. Best Google Earth Interface Videos - July 16, 2008
  38. New Google Earth 4.3 (beta) Available - Version 4.3.7284.3916 - July 11, 2008
  39. More Bad News on Coral Reefs - NOAA's Google Earth Data - July 10, 2008
  40. New WebCams Layer for Google Earth - July 9, 2008
  41. Links: Earth API Explained, Tour of 3D, Geography Lesson Plan, How NIN KML Was Done - July 7, 2008
  42. Hologram Google Earth - July 1, 2008
  43. Links: Outreach Birthday, Bullit Chase Scene, NIN Downloads, KMLWiki - June 30, 2008
  44. Disney World 3D for Google Earth YouTube Demo - June 4, 2008
  45. Look Around with Google Panoramio - June 3, 2008
  46. iPhone Earth - Coolest Things I saw at Where 2.0 2008 - May 23, 2008
  47. Mike's Flying Bike for Google Earth - May 16, 2008
  48. Watch Where 2.0 Events Live Here with Seero - May 12, 2008
  49. Google Earth Zooming Music Video - April 21, 2008
  50. Links: GE Lesson, GETools, Microsoft KML, 3D Bridges, Royal Australian 3D, EPA Award - April 18, 2008
  51. New Navigation Gadgets in Google Earth 4.3 - April 16, 2008
  52. Video Demo of Google Earth 4.3 - April 15, 2008
  53. Links: Viewfinder, KML in the North, GE Pro Address Trick, Boy Finds Home - April 10, 2008
  54. Seero Releases Live Video with GPS Following for Google Earth - April 4, 2008
  55. Google Earth April Fools Joke Video - April 3, 2008
  56. Wilkins Ice Shelf, Sea Ice Extent Animation - March 28, 2008
  57. Links: Seero GPS Videos, GE Labels, Wikitude POIs, 3D Egyptian Viz - March 20, 2008
  58. YouTube API on Swiss Fighter Video - March 14, 2008
  59. Video Tutorials Inside Google Earth - March 12, 2008
  60. Links: Outreach Showcase, Spreadsheet mapping, Geo Test, KML Lesson Talk - February 26, 2008
  61. Miami Post - Links: Mapper Tool, GE Game, KML Wishlist - February 15, 2008
  62. YouTube Layer in Google Earth Updating Daily - February 7, 2008
  63. Powers of 10 in Google Earth - February 5, 2008
  64. Using Street View in Google Earth - February 4, 2008
  65. Video Tutorials for Google Earth - January 31, 2008
  66. Wrong Turn Down Google StreetView - January 27, 2008
  67. Guys Fly Balloon to 30 km Altitude - See it in Google Earth - January 25, 2008
  68. Musicians in Google Earth - January 22, 2008
  69. Major Geek Cred - January 17, 2008
  70. Top 10 New Google Earth Features 2007 - December 31, 2007
  71. Top 25 Stories of Google Earth 2007 - December 27, 2007
  72. Microsoft Needs to Share Data with Google - December 21, 2007
  73. Mazes of the World in Google Earth - December 10, 2007
  74. News and Links - Out of Beta, Crysis, Our Dumb World, Visual ILS - November 30, 2007
  75. Large Hadron Collider Visible in Google Earth - November 28, 2007
  76. Google Offers New Mapping Data for Switzerland - November 14, 2007
  77. Links: Glider Towing, 3D Bonanza, John Hanke Presentation, Google Maps Profiles, Virtual Earth 3D Modeling - October 19, 2007
  78. Crocodile Man Easter Egg in Google Earth - October 18, 2007
  79. Virtual Earth Bird's Eye Views in 3D - Seen in Google Earth First - October 15, 2007
  80. New YouTube Layer in Google Earth - October 11, 2007
  81. Hurricane Followspot Animations in Google Earth - October 4, 2007
  82. 3D Warehouse Open to All 3D KML Content - September 25, 2007
  83. 3D Red Bull Flights in Google Earth - September 21, 2007
  84. Supernova Explosion in Google Earth Sky - September 17, 2007
  85. Google Earth Outreach Enhancements - September 16, 2007
  86. 3D Buildings - Groningen, Netherlands - September 14, 2007
  87. Google Lunar X PRIZE - Race to the Moon! - September 13, 2007
  88. 3D Model Roundup: Floorplan Star Trek, Bouncing Earths - September 12, 2007
  89. Back to School - Educational Uses with Google Earth - September 11, 2007
  90. Video for Flying with Google Earth Flight Simulator - September 3, 2007
  91. The Gmail Video Collection in Google Earth - August 30, 2007
  92. Google Earth 4.2 Roundup - August 27, 2007
  93. Embed Video In Google Earth 4.2 Placemarks! - August 22, 2007
  94. Video Showing Storm Tracking Tools for Google Earth - August 20, 2007
  95. News Roundup: Peru Earthquake, Virtual Earth Update, Stefan's Alps Hike - August 16, 2007
  96. R/C Planes and Camera Fun with Google Earth - August 12, 2007
  97. Virtual London Project Dead in the Water - August 8, 2007
  98. Barnabu 3D News - Animating International Flights in Google Earth - August 4, 2007
  99. Blues Brothers Bridge Jump Animation in Google Earth - July 24, 2007
  100. The Solar System in Google Earth - July 18, 2007
  101. Solar System Moons in Google Earth - July 15, 2007
  102. News Roundup: GE Design, Live Tour de France, PhotoSketch, Iran Nuclear Project - July 13, 2007
  103. Google Mapplets Officially Released - Mashups 2.0 - July 11, 2007
  104. Google Earth Outreach Announcement Video - June 28, 2007
  105. How to Add a Sky to Google Earth - June 24, 2007
  106. Taipei 3D Models for Google Earth - June 21, 2007
  107. London Eye Animation with Shadows for Google Earth - June 11, 2007
  108. Google Developer Day - Videos Released - June 1, 2007
  109. Rising Water Effects for NYC in Google Earth - Part III - May 25, 2007
  110. Rising Water Effects for NYC in Google Earth - Part II - May 18, 2007
  111. Google Earth Umbrella - May 16, 2007
  112. Having Fun with Google Earth and SpaceNavigator - May 10, 2007
  113. Microsoft's Virtual Earth 3D - Video Demos - May 9, 2007
  114. News Roundup 1 - Education, Clean Cruising, Magnalox, NASA UAVSAR - May 6, 2007
  115. Google Earth on The Simpsons - April 27, 2007
  116. Video Demo of New American Architecture 3D Layer for Google Earth - April 25, 2007
  117. Maverick Waves Explained - Illustration in Google Earth - April 23, 2007
  118. GeoBeats - Travel Videos - April 18, 2007
  119. More Google Earth Video Demos - New video category - April 8, 2007
  120. SketchUp Training DVD Available - April 6, 2007
  121. Google Earth in Second Life: GeoGlobe - March 28, 2007
  122. 4D London Eye in Google Earth - March 21, 2007
  123. Super High Resolution Photos in Google Earth - March 18, 2007
  124. Skype + Unype = Multi-User Google Earth - March 10, 2007
  125. YouTube Demo of Berlin in 3D for Google Earth - March 9, 2007
  126. News Roundup: Google Earth Resume/CV, Google Maps Interface to BMW cars - March 7, 2007
  127. Swiss Alps "Fighter" Tour in Google Earth - March 1, 2007
  128. New Video Demos of Latest 3D Buildings for Google Earth - February 26, 2007
  129. SpaceNavigator News: Fly Inside Demo, Security Checkpoints - February 22, 2007
  130. Google Earth Tutorials - Making 3D Poloygons, GE Pro Movie Making - February 21, 2007
  131. iCommunity.TV - News with Google Earth Location - February 14, 2007
  132. 3D Video Inside Google Earth - February 7, 2007
  133. Google Earth Critical Tool in Fight Against Logging Plan - February 6, 2007
  134. Video Tutorials for SketchUp to Google Earth - January 30, 2007
  135. Discovery Sunrise on Google Earth - January 29, 2007
  136. Super Touch Screen for Google Earth - January 25, 2007
  137. Boulder, Colorado 3D Buildings in Google Earth, and a Google 3D Contest - January 18, 2007
  138. Hamburg 3D Buildings Coming to Google Earth - January 17, 2007
  139. PanoViewer - Viewing Panorama Photos in Google Earth - January 15, 2007
  140. News Roundup - KML indexing, GPS tools, SketchUp PhotoMatch Tutorial, GE Blogs - January 13, 2007
  141. Upper Green Valley Environmental Issues Illustrated with Google Earth - January 10, 2007
  142. Awesome 3D Buildings of Denver in Google Earth - January 9, 2007
  143. The Truth About Google Earth - January 8, 2007
  144. Watch Remote Control Plane with Camera Capturing Real-time Images for Google Earth - January 5, 2007
  145. Book Recommendation: "Off the Map" - November 30, 2006
  146. YouTube Demo of SpaceNavigator with Google Earth - November 28, 2006
  147. New Blue Marble Add-on Version 2.0 - November 20, 2006
  148. Satellite Photo of KFC Logo and Viral Marketing Scheme - November 17, 2006
  149. TeachingHacks.com Video Course on Google Earth for Education - November 4, 2006
  150. Baseball, 3D Stadiums, Videos, and Google Earth - November 2, 2006
  151. End Mountain Top Removal Campaign with Google Earth - October 15, 2006
  152. Ad Campaign for Saturn Aura Uses Google Earth - September 26, 2006
  153. 3D 747 Airliner on Approach at Maho Beach in Google Earth - August 25, 2006
  154. Turnhere.com - Videos About Places - August 15, 2006
  155. Speech and Gesture Input for Google Earth - August 5, 2006
  156. Update to Ping Pong Ball Interface for Google Earth - Video - August 3, 2006
  157. Boys Use Google Earth to Find Bin Laden - July 30, 2006
  158. 1000 Pizzas Publicity Stunt Using Google Earth - June 28, 2006
  159. Feature Request: 3D Video in Google Earth - May 11, 2006
  160. Google Earth Sleuthing - Helicopter Shortly Before Crash - April 24, 2006
  161. Discovery Channel Releases Video Links for Google Earth - April 7, 2006
  162. Google Earth for VW Car Navigation Demo - March 31, 2006
  163. Dancing Japan - October 14, 2005
  164. Slick Videos of Google Earth - August 29, 2005
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