Movies in Earth, Part 1

This is the first post on this topic. More to follow.

Certain versions of Google Earth allow you to create electronic movies that you can share with others. The user guide has a complete topic on this subject.

Wondering how you can use the ideal camera perspectives in your movies? One useful way to do this is to use placemarks and the Play Tour feature. To do this, first create a folder in the Places panel and name it appropriately (e.g. My Movie Placemarks). Select that folder and create series of placemarks with the exact snapshot view that you want depicted in your movies. Be sure to sort them in the order you want to appear in the movie.

Select the top of the folder. Start the movie and immediately click the Play Tour button. Google Earth plays a tour of the placemarks you have created and records it in the movie. (If you selected Standard Quality in the Movie Maker dialog box, you'll need to manually stop recording when the tour is complete.)

Note that it is useful to play the tour before creating the movie so as to preview how the movie will appear. Also note that you can uncheck the placemarks if you do not want them to appear in your movie.