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kmlwiki.de
kmlwiki.de is a German language wiki collection of interesting 3D views for the Google Earth browser plug-in on Google Maps.
The site has a large collection of views divided into a number of categories, including one for this summer’s Olympic Games. Sites are also categorised by city / town so you can also look for interesting views in a particular area.
kmlwiki.de is similar in concept to the English language EarthSwoop which also has a huge collection of 3D buildings that can be viewed via the Google Earth browser plug-in.
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Tags: GEO 3D·Google Maps
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Posted by Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist
Back in March we announced the Google Cities in 3D Program, which invites local governments to share their 3D data with the public by adding a model of their city to Google Earth. The good news is that we are now extending this program with localised websites to encourage governments in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands to share their data with us. The Cities in 3D Program provides local governments, community groups, and educational institutions with tools and information for uploading their data to Google Earth.
We have developed tools to make it as easy as possible for local governments to share information with their citizens, who will be able to view and explore the their local environment in a very realistic way. Travelers will be able to understand what it is like to visit a city, providing a “sense of place” not possible with conventional 2D maps.
One city that has already taken advantage of the program is Westport, Ireland where they produced a 3D city model to promote their town as a world class tourist destination and business location and to help preserve its heritage.
The Cities in 3D Program launching in Europe extends our efforts to engage with content providers, especially government agencies, to help them make the information they produce more accessible and useful. Take a look at the video below to learn more about the power of 3D or explore some great existing 3D cities here.
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Tags: 3D·Cities·Europe·GEO 3D·Google Maps
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Posted by Mano Marks, Geo APIs team
By now, many of you have heard about the new Google Earth API that we announced Wednesday during Google I/O. It’s exciting that you can now enjoy the 3D Google Earth experience in the browser, and you can create your own custom interactive apps on top of it. This new API lets you use JavaScript to programmatically interact with the Earth browser, changing camera views, loading KML or 3D models, or even creating KML objects from scratch.
Here’s your basic “Hello Earth” app:
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><head><title>Hello Google Earth!</title><!-- *** Replace the key below below with your own API key, available at http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html *** --><script src="http://www.google.com/jsapi?key=abcd"></script><script>google.load("earth", "1");
var ge = null;
function init() { google.earth.createInstance("map3d", initCallback, failureCallback);}
function initCallback(object) { ge = object; ge.getWindow().setVisibility(true);}
function failureCallback(object) { // Gracefully handle failure.}</script></head>
<body onload='init()' id='body'><center> <div> Hello, Earth! </div>
<div id='map3d_container' style='border: 1px solid silver; height: 600px; width: 800px;'> <div id='map3d' style='height: 100%;'></div> </div></center>
</body></html>
And, if you’re already a Google Maps API developer, adding Google Earth to your mashup is really easy. Just add the following line:
map.addMapType(G_SATELLITE_3D_MAP);
To view apps written in the Earth API, you will have to download a browser plug-in. Currently, the plug-in is Windows only, and works on Mozilla and Internet Explorer based browsers, including Firefox. We are working to expand the number of browsers, and have announced Mac and Linux plug-ins will be released in August.
Check out the cool sample apps. If you have any questions or come across any problems, post them in our Earth API developer group.
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Tags: GEO 3D·Google Earth·Google Earth API·KML
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When I was a kid, I was a Marvel comic book fanatic, but no superhero held my fascination like Spiderman. I horded Spidey issues. I drew pictures of him. My family has pictures of me posing as Spiderman as I pretended to walk on walls and swing from building to building.
30+ years later, my fantasy has become realized in Google Earth 4.3. Few have noticed this new feature yet, but you can swoop to the top or sides of 3D buildings, then jump from building to building ala my favorite superhero. To do this, right click (CTRL + click on the Mac) on the building and drag the mouse. You can swoop from building to building by doing the same. Learn more in the user guide.
You can also view a 3D building from different perspectives. To do this, click the middle mouse button (Shift + left mouse if your mouse does not have a middle button).
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Tags: GEO 3D·Google Earth·Marvel
