Has anyone on here used Google Earth to produce a 3d landscape or map in a video production? I've seen it done before and now a client wants it for a video. I didn't know if there was a way to just export a high res file from Google Earth or maybe even film it off the computer screen. Thanks!
Google Earth
- Thread starter Hurley
- Start date
mikkowilson
Steadi-Guru
You need Google Earth Pro. .. costs a few bucks, but has built in exporting of movement, etc.. (all that jazzy stuff you see on TV)
- Mikko
- Mikko
Bus No. 8
Well-known member
Wow, I didn't know that, thanks! We are planning to use a google earth shot flying over and down into Copenhagen. Do you know if you have to pay rights / royalties to use it in a film?
TwistedLincoln
Veteran
Yes, you do -- see the Google Earth entry on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth#Copyright
The article does suggest some alternative software that makes use of Public Domain government photos. I haven't checked them out, but they might work for some purposes.
If you don't want to have to pay the fee for Google Earth I'd go with the public domain photos. I know you can take the still photos into After Effects Pro and make a zoom in/out animation that looks really good. There is a link to a tutorial for it in the AE forum but here's the website http://videocopilot.net/tutorials.html
faultygoblin
Active member
Awesome, how much is the fee?
Does Google actually commission the sat photos or could you get copies/rights from whatever telecom company owns them?
It sure beats hiring a plane to take you over the sight and take photos on your own.
Some cities have 3D models or views made for websites or so, I suppose you could use lightwave or so to move a camera around and superimpose it with other maps or public domain photos.
Thanks for posting this though...
Does Google actually commission the sat photos or could you get copies/rights from whatever telecom company owns them?
It sure beats hiring a plane to take you over the sight and take photos on your own.
Some cities have 3D models or views made for websites or so, I suppose you could use lightwave or so to move a camera around and superimpose it with other maps or public domain photos.
Thanks for posting this though...
triplej96
Veteran
I made an earth zoom in the beginning of this short vfx test. I mainly wanted to test out cloning. I made the earth zoom using videocopilots method along with a public domain earth program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMJFDfBfXmk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMJFDfBfXmk
triplej96
Veteran
Yep, that is the program I used.
Mark Johnson
The Dude Abides
We do 3D fly-ins for landscapes quite often. The most important variable is your desired resolution and the amount of altitude/real estate covered in your shot. There are specific techniques/approaches best used depending upon your shot. For instance, if your shot is low altitude and your geography falls in one of the areas with high-resolution coverage provided by Microsoft Live-Local you can get stunning oblique views using their "birds-eye" function. If you are patient you can tile together coverage using a screen-capture program and photoshop, which can then be mapped on a 3D terrain surface with great results. You have to be able to register your aerials to a 3D terrain, though, and render appropriately with a 3D app. I'll be happy to give you more details if I know more about your shot.
We've ferreted out a lot of obscure applications for the very purpose of doing 3D fly-overs that are accurate due to the fact that we do a lot of forensic animation involving airline crashes. For instance, we did a recreation of the pilots' view for a case involving a Marine jet that severed a ski gondola cable in Italy several years ago. We were able to generate a realistic animated view by using an inexpensive and little known application called Natural Scene Designer (www.naturalgfx.com). The video was used by CBS on a 60-Minutes episode as well. Here's a frame from it:
We've also done some FX work involving earth-views from space so we have pretty much covered the gamut and I'd be happy to share what we've learned. For serious altitude we found a really dope high-resolution version of the planet earth that has atmosphere shadings that renders in Max so beautifully that you'd swear it is a NASA photo:
You'll find that as you get closer to ground the big problem with GoogleEarth or WorldWind videos is the lack of true 3D relief for buildings and foliage. For the state of the art in out-of-the-box solution you should look at the current Microsoft Flight Simulator, which attempts to put in detail for mid-level flight. To my eye, though, the flight simulator programs are woefully artificial looking even with the newest updates. So, if you really want realism you have to look at customizing your approach with 3D relief and shading algorithms that will simulate more closely what the human eye sees.
So, I guess all of it boils down to how real you want your views to be. If GoogleEarth works for you, then great! If you need more realism I can point you in the right direction.
We've ferreted out a lot of obscure applications for the very purpose of doing 3D fly-overs that are accurate due to the fact that we do a lot of forensic animation involving airline crashes. For instance, we did a recreation of the pilots' view for a case involving a Marine jet that severed a ski gondola cable in Italy several years ago. We were able to generate a realistic animated view by using an inexpensive and little known application called Natural Scene Designer (www.naturalgfx.com). The video was used by CBS on a 60-Minutes episode as well. Here's a frame from it:
We've also done some FX work involving earth-views from space so we have pretty much covered the gamut and I'd be happy to share what we've learned. For serious altitude we found a really dope high-resolution version of the planet earth that has atmosphere shadings that renders in Max so beautifully that you'd swear it is a NASA photo:
You'll find that as you get closer to ground the big problem with GoogleEarth or WorldWind videos is the lack of true 3D relief for buildings and foliage. For the state of the art in out-of-the-box solution you should look at the current Microsoft Flight Simulator, which attempts to put in detail for mid-level flight. To my eye, though, the flight simulator programs are woefully artificial looking even with the newest updates. So, if you really want realism you have to look at customizing your approach with 3D relief and shading algorithms that will simulate more closely what the human eye sees.
So, I guess all of it boils down to how real you want your views to be. If GoogleEarth works for you, then great! If you need more realism I can point you in the right direction.