The three previous posts in this series have examined completely free options for exporting shapefile data into Google Earth’s KML format. Each of those had advantages and disadvantages, with the biggest advantage for all being that they’re completely free.Today I’ll take a look at an option that isn’t free, but which at $29.99 I would classify as “cheap”, especially given its capabilities. And the free demo version lets you import up to 1000 features, enough to evaluate whether it meets your needs.
Continue reading ‘Exporting Shapefiles To Google Earth IV – Shape2Earth’
Note: shp2kml seems to be currently unavailable; try AFFMapper as an alternative.
Two earlier posts talked about free, quick and simple ways to export shapefile data to Google Earth’s KML format. Both had limitations on how much of the shapefile’s attribute data could be imported into the KML file, and how the shapefile data could be displayed, especially polygon shapefiles. There are two programs I know of that allow you to export shapefile data to KML format with multiple attributes, and also modify the colors with which the shapefile data is plotted based on attribute data. One program is completely free, but has quirks and limitations; the other is not free but cheap, and is more flexible and capable. Today’s post looks at the free one.
Continue reading ‘Exporting Shapefiles To Google Earth III – shp2kml’
In the first post of this series, GPS TrackMaker was used as a simple way to export point and line shapefile data to Google Earth’s KML format. But GPS TrackMaker is limited in its ability to export shapefile attribute data; it can only export one attribute to label each shape plotted. And it has difficulty dealing with shapefiles that have large numbers of vertices. Today’s post will deal with a simple free program that allows you to export data from multiple attributes to the KML file, and which also seems to have fewer problems with large shapefiles.
Continue reading ‘Export Shapefiles To Google Earth II – Shp2KML Converter’
There’s lots of cool and useful geographic data being produced in Google Earth’s native KML file format these days. But there’s also lots of geographic data available online in the standard shapefile format, compatible with most GIS software. Extensions to ArcGIS, like Brian Flood’s Arc2Earth ($99/$299) and Valery Hronusov’s KMLer ($20/$35/$50), can create KML files from ArcGIS data, but these are not only expensive but require that you have ArcGIS 9 or higher installed, a program that lists for $1500. It would be nice if there were cheaper alternatives, and there are.
Continue reading ‘Exporting Shapefiles To Google Earth I – Quick And Simple’
Note: The free version of Google Earth now supports GPS, but all this info is still relevant.
Before I post about the options for doing real-time GPS tracking in Google Earth Free, there are potential complications to talk about: getting your GPS to communicate both with your computer, and with Google Earth. While Google Earth supports both NMEA and the Garmin USB PVT interface, most of the free and cheap options I’ll be talking about require an NMEA serial connection. Depending on what kind of GPS you have, and what kind of computer ports you have, that may be straightforward, but may not.
Continue reading ‘Real-Time GPS Tracking In Google Earth Free – Setup’
Now that I’ve written a whole slew of posts about how to download and upload data to and from Google Earth with a GPS, using several pieces of software and multiple steps, I’ve just found one piece of freeware that simplifies the process tremendously. *sigh*
Continue reading ‘GPS TrackMaker: A Better Solution For GPS Export/Import With Google Earth’
Dirk from Mountain Bike Guru wrote to say that his website (free registration required) also features a free GPX to KML converter. Right now, it only works with tracks, not waypoints, but the uploaded GPX file is saved in its original format; once they get waypoint conversion working, you’ll be able to pull up old files and convert them completely to KML. His blog also has some good GPS-related tips as well.
Geocoding is the process of assigning geographic coordinates to locations designated by some other parameter, like name or address. Google Earth Plus lets you geocode up to 100 US addresses in spreadsheet form, assigning them a location. But there are a number of tools that can do this for free, and in some cases allows you to process more than 100 addresses at a time.
Continue reading ‘US Address Geocoding For Google Earth’
