Can I convert .kmz or .kml Google Earth tour files in to MPEG format?


  1. Posts : 99
    Windows 7 ULT 32 bit
       #1

    Can I convert .kmz or .kml Google Earth tour files in to MPEG format?


    Hello W7Fers,

    Is there a way to convert .kmz or .kml Google Earth tour file in to MPEG format or any movie format?

    I am currently looking for a way to convert a Google Earth .kmz or .kml tour files to an MPEG file or any preferable movie format.

    I read about a Movie Maker Module for Google Earth Pro, but that article was from 2005, so I'm wondering if the situation has changed so someone with Google Earth Free is able to convert a .kmz or .kml tour file in to some type of regular movie file format like MPEG.

    I have seen Google Earth tours that are converted to some kind of video file that have been placed on YouTube... I'm not sure if all of these people have the Google Earth Pro app with the Movie Maker Module, or if any movie format editing software can now handle .kmz or .kml Google Earth tour files.

    Is there a shareware or free video editing app out there for Windows 7 that is better than another?... can they handle this .kmz or .kml format?

    Thanks for any input that you can give me.

    digiday
    Last edited by digiday; 28 Nov 2010 at 19:12.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,210
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (XP, 98SE, 95, 3.11, DOS 7.10 on VM) + Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx
       #2

    The KML (Keyhole Markup Language) is just a XML file. Its is not a video file. The KMZ is just the KML file zipped up and the extension changed to KMZ.
    This is a sample of a KML file
    Code:
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.2">
      <Placemark>
        <name>Stonehenge, England</name>
        <description>Stonehenge was built about 2500BC</description>
        <Point>
          <coordinates>-1.826752,51.179045</coordinates>
        </Point>
      </Placemark> 
    </kml>
    You can use a screen capture application like FRAPS to capture the screen and create a movie (avi, mpg).
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 99
    Windows 7 ULT 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    desktop video adventures


    Hi gladson 1976,

    Thanks for your refs.,

    I'm not sure about it's ability, but the "AVI Video Converter" webpage "says" it can convert KMZ files to AVI format...

    see this link... Convert google kmz to avi file at PTF

    But according to several others, including yourself, the .KML/.KMZ format is completely proprietary... but I will investigate this "AVI VC" app for sure.

    I posted the question above and one other question on several forums yesterday... this is what I found...

    The KML/KMZ are most likely unbeatable... these are tiny 1 kb to 5 kb files, even for a Google Earth tour that is 2 minutes long... so there isn't much there to get ahold of.

    The Google Earth Pro Movie Maker Module is apparently the only way to sort of treat .KML or .KMZ files like they are video files and convert them in to working video files... the GE Movie Maker Module now comes stock in the $399 Google Earth Pro app.

    So for us peasants not willing to drop the four benjies on GE Pro, the alternative, that most people who have posted these GE animated travel-tour videos on YouTube, etc. have used is a desktop recorder/video capture app that simply records the GE tour playback from the desktop and then makes a video file, like an MPEG, MP4, WMV, or AVI.

    Currently, in the realm of free software, not being willing to spring even for the $59.95 that some video capture software is priced since one never knows what software is going to be like unless one tries the free version first... and that isn't even the best indicator since much of the free software out there, with a few exceptions, is vastly inferior because these free versions are meant to be a disappointment so a user will then pay for the "Pro" version software... or one is lucky enough to try full version software before hand to see what it really does.

    I've now tried the free version of "NCH Debut Video Capture" software... it works but produces a terrible, choppy result... I've heard the "Pro" version is good and samples look good, but based on the free version, I wouldn't go for it.

    Then I tried FRAPS, recommended by a helpful well meaning responder... but it didn't have an interface for doing anything and the webpage for it said that pressing a certain hotkey would start and stop the video recording action when one is in a "game interface"... it didn't really work for me.

    I still have some searching to do, but so far, for a free desktop video capture device that is actually free and works, the best with the most control that produces by far the best result that has all the features one might hope for that are simply easy and intuitive to use, is a piece of software that works through a webpage in a web-app.

    It is called Screencast-o-Matic... http://www.screencast-o-matic.com... and it is the simplest, best little website that I've ever seen... you just click "create" and it gives you an adjustable dotted line perimeter that stays on your screen after you minimize the webpage, and it stays on top of everything from there on until you are done. You can pause it, move it over a new window, un-pause it, save it to one of 3 video formats, export whatever you "filmed" on the desktop, and it produces a very good rendition of the original that played on your screen in any size that you choose before or after you record the video.

    The only drawback to this amazing free, online web-app is that it puts a "Screencast-o-Matic" watermark/logo in the lower left hand corner of one's video... it's not exactly small, but not overwhelming... this is to encourage one to pay $9, that's nine dollars, per year for a desktop "Pro Account" that gives one more features and produces video captures with no watermark/logo. But somehow this "Pro Account" is limited to one hour of desktop video a year, so I'm not sure how much it costs beyond the one hour.

    I'm just experimenting, but I made a pretty nifty little video that zooms and flies from place to place in San Francisco and then goes to the Cristo Redentor statue in Rio de Janeiro, then back to SF to zoom in to and away from the Transamerica Pyramid building... I pumped up the color during playback in Quicktime 7.6 and sped it up a bit, then re-recorded it in Screencast-o-matic to create a slightly smaller video file for emailing.

    I still want to find a good desktop video capture device that doesn't put a logo on the videos, but for now, this Screen-o-matic thing has allowed me to do what I wanted to experiment with to start.

    Thanks for your input,

    digiday
    Last edited by digiday; 29 Nov 2010 at 18:29.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 710
    Win7 Pro x64
       #4

    digiday said:
    The KML/KMZ are most likely unbeatable... these are tiny 1 kb to 5 kb files, even for a Google Earth tour that is 2 minutes long... so there isn't much there to get ahold of.
    Stop. That right there should tell you something's not right. No video format compresses THAT small. gladson1976 just explained to you that KML/KMZ contains markup text. I don't know anything about KML/KMZ but I know that this means it's very likely a container file which points to the actual video somewhere else.

    Like when you rightclick on a Youtube page and click "view source", you don't actually SEE the video in there. That's why all those websites saying they can help you save Youtube videos exist. The actual video isn't sitting in the Youtube page.

    I have no interest in google earth videos but perhaps there is a cheap/free google earth movie maker out there, I'll go do a search if there are any available.

    Edit:
    Hmm, according to google itself (http://earth.google.com/support/bin/...&answer=148072) it seems like the stuff is generated on the fly? Also, the blurb about the Pro and Enterprise versions (http://www.google.com/earth/explore/...s/desktop.html) also sound like that. That is why their video format is completely proprietary - it seems like the program renders it for you, it's not ready video. This also explains why there aren't bunches of free google earth movie makers yet (maybe later).

    If that's the case then your only recourse is to use fraps to capture the movie from the free version, as gladson1976 pointed out.

    Edit 2:
    Found a link mentioning doing just that (using the free version plus fraps to record the video): http://lifehacker.com/112625/how-to-...le-earth-movie
    Unfortunately the exact how-to link doesn't seem to be working for me but at least we know someone's done it.

    There's also a guide at ehow.com (http://www.ehow.com/how_6317472_make...rth-movie.html) but it seems to assume you can simply create the movie - no mention of free or pro version.

    Couldn't really find anything else, sorry. It looks like you can just use fraps or screencast-o-matic, whichever works for you.
    Last edited by Trucidation; 30 Nov 2010 at 01:21.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 99
    Windows 7 ULT 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    stop


    Hi Truc,

    Stop... what is great about W7F is the thoroughness that it's readers and responders give in detail on a given topic... I know I feel compelled to respond in detail when someone responds to me about my tiny pet projects gone public... many respond in great detail whether or not the subject of the thread interests them.

    I figure the trick with the video capture is to find a desktop app, or web app, that works the way that one likes without too much intrusion on the result of the intended project.

    If you look on YouTube, there are many many bunches of free Google Earth movie makers who have posted their projects... thousands... just from this topic on this and a few other forums, I have received responses from a number of GEF users who have taken the idea of capturing GE imagery several steps further than the infancy that my silly little project will stay in.

    One other user on another forum posted a kind warning that was nicely worded as such...

    "I believe that the most significant reason that the movie function is in the Pro (pay) version relates to the licensing of the satellite imagery by Google from aerial imaging providers. They do not license it with the intent of unlimited copying/video distribution of the imagery by the very large universe of GE Free users/ potential users. It is in fact a violation of the terms of use to use other programs to video-capture the imagery from the free product, without permission from Google. 'Fair Use' standards *may* apply in some cases but no one here can make that call for you here..."

    I think from here on out I will keep my little desktop projects to myself, between me and my large 7 person family email list.

    Thanks,

    digiday
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1
    Windows 7 Ultimate x32
       #6

    Hi digiday,

    I have recently started using Google Earth for a serious purpose and as a newbie I wondered how I might be able to embed a Google Earth Tour in my website. It turns out that Google provide a gadget for doing just that. You can find the details here:

    Google Earth Outreach

    I hope this helps.

    Regards,

    factgasm.
      My Computer


 

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