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How to create a Google Earth Video Tour

Google’s virtual globe software lets you do all sorts of cool things, from exploring shipwrecks to getting up-to-date weather forecasts. One of my favorite features is the ability to create and share video tours. If you’ve been on holiday you can use the software to relive your adventures, flying from location to location, and returning to all the sights you saw along the way. You can add descriptions for each place, complete with links and photos, and even record a narration to go with it – a bit like a director’s commentary. Recorded tours can be saved in Google Earthy exported to your hard disk, emailed and shared online.

1. To create a tour, fly to the starting point and zoom in until you’re at the right position. Click the Add Placemark icon. A yellow pushpin will appear. Click and drag this into place. You can also manually adjust the Latitude and Longitude co-ordinates. Give the location a name.
2. You can change the pushpin placement icon to something else by clicking it and selecting one of the alternative choices. You can alter its color, scale and opacity, too. Google Earth also lets you use custom icons. Just click the button and browse for a suitable image file.
3. You can enter a description for the location, use HTML and add links. Style, Color lets you change the color, size and opacity of the label and icon. You can fine-tune the placemark’s default 3D position, including its range, heading and tilt, under View. Click ‘Snapshot current view’ to save it.
4. Click OK and the first stop on your tour will be added to the My Places panel. If you need to make changes, right-click the entry and select Properties, it’s worth creating a folder for all the placemarks. Right-click My Places and select Add, Folder. Give it a name and description.
5. Drag the first place into your new folder. Fly to your next destination, create a Placemark for it, and save it to the folder. Repeat the process for your other stops. When you’ve finished, click on the folder. You’ll see a little Play Tour icon at the bottom of the panel. Click this to begin your tour.
6. Google Earth will now fly you from location to location, pausing briefly at each Placemark along the way. A set of controls at the bottom left will let you pause, resume, rewind and fast-forward through the locations. You can also loop the tour. The controls will fade out of view when not in use.
7. Adjust the speed of the tour by going to Tools, Options and clicking the Touring tab. Use the sliders to change the length of time between features and the wait at each one. You can have Google Earth display a balloon showing information about each stop.
8. Click the ‘Record a Tour’ (camera) icon. This will open the recording tools. Zoom out of Google Earth to the ‘world view’, and then click the Record button to record your tour. Explore the first location, rotating around interesting buildings, and then click the next stop in your folder to fly there.
9. The Audio button lets you add optional narration. When you finish recording your tour, click the Record button again and Google Earth will play it back. If you’re happy with the results, click the Save icon and give the tour a name and description. It will appear in the My Places panel.
10. To share your tour, right click it. Share/Post will let you upload it to one of the Google Earth Community forums. Just select the board you want, sign up or log in, and complete the post. Email will let you send the tour, as a KMZ attachment via Gmail or your default email program.

By: Francis David

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