3D Video Inside Google Earth

This is a cool concept implemented by Google Earth modeling innovator ‘jpwade’ (aka Joey Wade). Joey has posted some tests of taking video content and mapping the frames of the video to a 3D surface which is then placed into Google Earth and played back using the time feature of GE 4. In his example, he took a short clip of a drag race and placed it on a simulated large TV screen at a race park near Phoenix, Arizona. If you are familiar with time feature applications like this, you can download the 3D drag race video now, and follow these instructions: 1) grab the handles of the time slider and maximize the slider (this allows all the frames of the video to download), 2) reverse the process and minimize the slider bar, 3) hit the “Play” button (the triangular right arrow button on the right of the time slider). Adjust the speed of the playback by clicking on the little clock button on the left of the slider and set “Animation Speed“.
I have also made a video showing the 3D movie inside Google Earth and put it up on YouTube:

For a long time now, I have been hoping Google would implement the ability to put videos inside the 3D domain of GE. I mentioned this idea after seeing a nifty plug-in that lets you view movies inside Quicktime VR scenes. This idea of Joey’s is a pretty cool idea for visualizing what would be possible with a proper 3D video plug-in for GE. SecondLife (the free to try virtual world application) already makes extensive use of 3D video and audio plug-ins inside their 3D metaverse. Hopefully, GE will have this soon. Great work Joey!