How to show a track on google earth, after the fact?

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steve yates

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Hiya, I want to draw the track bethfran took during the summer from cumbria up the west coast of scotland and back, whats the simplest method to do this, so I have it as a graphic or jpg at the end?

Like Dylan does to show his route in his videos.

Please bear in mind I have google earth, but never use it, so very basic language will help, thanks, :)
steve
 
steve yates said:
Hiya, I want to draw the track bethfran took during the summer from cumbria up the west coast of scotland and back, whats the simplest method to do this, so I have it as a graphic or jpg at the end?

Like Dylan does to show his route in his videos.

Please bear in mind I have google earth, but never use it, so very basic language will help, thanks, :)
steve
Click to expand...

Two possibilities depending upon target audience

For the discerning yachtsman: plot your track on the chart ( If you'd used a chart instead of an "app" on your phone for your navigation you would already have this) add whatever labels and notes you want and photograph it.


For the great british unwashed: zoom in/out to display the area you want in google earth. Go to full screen to cut out most of the rubbish Do a screen grab and paste it into a photo-editor or even just into Paint.
Crop to get rid of the rest of the rubbish and display just the area of interest. Draw in your track, add whatever text you want and save as a Jpg.
 
Use something like GPSDump to download and/or convert your track log into a KML file. Open this file in Google Earth. Job done.

https://www.gpsdump.no/body_gpsdump.htm

Dylan uses Google Earth Pro which allows a little more sophistication. It was available as a free trial download but I cannot recall where and plain vanilla GE is probably fine for what you want.
 
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SAPurdie said:
Use something like GPSDump to download and/or convert your track log into a KML file. Open this file in Google Earth. Job done.

https://www.gpsdump.no/body_gpsdump.htm

Dylan uses Google Earth Pro which allows a little more sophistication. It was available as a free trial download but I cannot recall where and plain vanilla GE is probably fine for what you want.
Click to expand...

google earth pro is now the same as std google earth

you can get it to create a path, colour it red, make it wider

bingo

D
 
If you record your track on a GPS just upload the file into Google Earth. If it is a handheld GPS remove all the tracks that were created on the pub crawl in every port visited.
 
Sandy said:
If you record your track on a GPS just upload the file into Google Earth. If it is a handheld GPS remove all the tracks that were created on the pub crawl in every port visited.
Click to expand...

That sounds good, except for the weasel word "just". I have the facility to screen grab charts from my plotter, or record tracks, but I can't say that I know how to upload into Google earth. I presume that I would pop my card into a reader and that there is a function on Google earth for importing this but I don't know where I would look for it, maybe under something like file.

Although Google earth is brilliant in many ways, and I have used it in presentations to my sailing club, the graphics are not very clear to a viewer and I have changed to showing my track on charts instead.
 
dylanwinter said:
google earth pro is now the same as std google earth
Click to expand...

They are both free, from Google. But I have been having problems with my graphics card running them so recently (October) downloaded both afresh. Pro version is more than twice the size (540Kb vs 209Kb) of ordinary GE. No idea if you get any functionality for that extra footprint!

Mike.
 
Sandy said:
If you record your track on a GPS just upload the file into Google Earth. If it is a handheld GPS remove all the tracks that were created on the pub crawl in every port visited.
Click to expand...

+1

Export the track from wherever you have it into something like EasyGPS, save the file, and then load that file in Google Earth.
 
steve yates said:
Hiya, I want to draw the track bethfran took during the summer from cumbria up the west coast of scotland and back, whats the simplest method to do this, so I have it as a graphic or jpg at the end?

Like Dylan does to show his route in his videos.

Please bear in mind I have google earth, but never use it, so very basic language will help, thanks, :)
steve
Click to expand...

What format is your track in? Do you have it as a file.gpx or file.kml?

If so then what's worth a little work is uploading , imho, is uploading to "my maps" on google maps then it's always available next time you're down the pub and want to show your mates :)

Then you can link it to google earth as well..

lIE7Nol.png
 
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Thanks guys,
no chart plotter on board, and the ancient bw gps is just used to show lat/long and speed and heading.
It's paper charts and iPhone/tablet. But can't photograph the chart, far too many of them!
But your second suggestion sounds nice and simple vic, thx.
Dylan, I'll have a play for future reference at your method, but a screen grab and draw it in on photoshop sounds quick and easy for me.
 
We have plots of where our boat currently is which gives peace of mind http://skippersmate.co.uk/sm/sm_gpsplotdemo.html- and the "Plot My Cruise" is work in progress. At the moment we have this - since Sans Serif is 6ft draft and does not like hills you may guess that our GPS was not on board the boat at the time :)

skippersmate_gpstrack_googlemaps.png

Note we would not normally plot this frequently !
 
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If you have a file with gps fixes in it, http://www.gpsvisualizer.com will give a load of options for converting it to a kml or kmz file that google earth will open. It also has lots of options for timestamps etc, if your file contains time and date info too.

e.g.:-
 

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You can also add points and routes to Google Earth and then print it out, or print it to a pdf, and use a pdf editor to add graphics to that
 
Would be interested to know what model of (presumably hand held) gps you use as most have held the active data or the saved track for some years now?
If yours doesn't then a later model secondhand would do so and probably give you other v.useful features (like GO TO,more memory ) as well.You could then upload the .gpx file to Sportstracklive,openCPN or Seaclear - the former for Google earth overlay with speed over ground etc. and the ability to maintain a route log ,the latter overlaid on a marine chart.
 
bluerm166 said:
Would be interested to know what model of (presumably hand held) gps you use as most have held the active data or the saved track for some years now?
If yours doesn't then a later model secondhand would do so and probably give you other v.useful features (like GO TO,more memory ) as well.You could then upload the .gpx file to Sportstracklive,openCPN or Seaclear - the former for Google earth overlay with speed over ground etc. and the ability to maintain a route log ,the latter overlaid on a marine chart.
Click to expand...

Its an old garmin something or other, bw. I have never told it to track or used it for anything but as a compass heading and speed indicator, or to read off lat/long to pot it on a paper chart.
 
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