Index of /tourmaker

Name	Last modified	Size

Parent Directory		-
Example.gpx	27-Feb-2010 14:52	103K
Example.kml	27-Feb-2010 14:52	367K
Images/	10-Jan-2010 13:11	-
README.html	27-Feb-2010 14:52	5.8K
TourMaker.jar	27-Feb-2010 14:52	46K
TourMaker.tgz	27-Feb-2010 14:52	17K

TourMaker README

TourMaker

TourMaker uses tracks saved in a GPX (GPS eXchange) format file to create Google Earth tours saved in a KML (Keyhole Markup Language) format file. It is a Java Swing application, and requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0 or later to run. TourMaker is released under the GNU General Public License.

TourMaker: http://kokoro.ucsd.edu/tourmaker/TourMaker.jar
GPX format: http://www.topografix.com/gpx.asp
KML format: http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/ug_kml.html
Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html
Java JRE: http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
TourMaker source: http://kokoro.ucsd.edu/tourmaker/TourMaker.tgz
Example .gpx file: http://kokoro.ucsd.edu/tourmaker/Example.gpx
Example .kml file: http://kokoro.ucsd.edu/tourmaker/Example.kml
GNU GPL: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

Installation

To install TourMaker, download the TourMaker.jar file and save it in a suitable location on your computer. If you don't have the JRE 5.0 or later installed, you will need to install that as well.

Operation

Double-click on the TourMaker.jar icon to launch the application and bring up the main application window. The three steps you will go through are laid out on this window.

Step 1: Open .gpx file

Start by clicking "Open" to open a previously saved .gpx file.

The file selection dialog will appear. Browse to the .gpx file you want to open, and open it.

The main window confirms that the .gpx file has been opened and read:

Step 2: Edit tour properties

For the next step, click "Edit" to bring up the Tour Properties window. This window shows, for each track found in the .gpx file, information about that track and values of parameters that will be used to convert that track into a KML format tour. It is recommended that you start with the default values, and then try changing them if necessary to get satisfactory results.

The tour conversion process works best if the GPX data includes time stamps for each track point. If it does not, the tab for the track will indicate that timestamps are not available, and will provide two alternative options for computing timing information in the tour, as shown in this example:

If the GPX track points were recorded at fixed time intervals, select the "Use constant time steps" option and specify the interval. If not, select "Use constant speed" and specify the speed to use in the tour.

In any case, click "OK" if you want to use the tour properties currently shown, "Cancel" to revert to the previous values.

Step 3: Save .kml file

Next, click "Save" to save the tours (and track lines and shadows, if you have chosen to include them) in KML format.

Another file selection dialog will appear. Specify the location and name of the .kml file you want to save, and save it.

The main window then confirms that the .kml file has been saved.

Exiting TourMaker

To exit the TourMaker application, click the 'X' on its menu bar.

Taking a tour in Google Earth

Now you can open the saved .kml file in Google Earth. The document will appear initially under "Temporary Places".

Double-click on a [tour] you want to take. The speed of the tour can then be adjusted with the Google Earth tour player control panel. Other parameters can be adjusted by trying different values for tour properties in TourMaker.

bug reports: astro (at) kokoro (dot) ucsd (dot) edu