GPS - geotagging with a new gadget.

[alrikki]

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if you use flickr you may like gpstagr http://gpstagr.jianing.net/
it's an online program which adds geotags to fotos you already have on Flickr

easy to use, but check(on the flickr map) that you have the same timezones on your gadgets

woodson, your 60csx does have the time in the gpx file,but maybe different to your camera.
check the formats, and maybe try different timezones with a foto you can place on a map, until you figure it out

chiangmai diver-you mentioned only 500 points on a track with 60csx. that refers to tracks you wish to put onto the gps
so if you don't need to put tracks on, no problem.
If you do, you can only display one track at a time,afaik.
which makes life difficult at times

[ChiangMaiDiver]

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Cheers Airikki,

Ya, I later learned that and tried multiple tracks at 500 points which is a pain to switch and follow. I finally found the filter button which I can keep desktop tracks and then GPS tracks separated.

After closer examination I see the HoudahGeo program seems to put the photos in Goggle earth and only shows a track around or connecting two photos.... Hence will just have to take a beginning track photo and end photo which I suppose will fix that problem.

I'll try going out tomorrow and testing that theory....

Flickr.... I haven't ever used it, will look into it. If I load my photos on flickr can I post them from there on the forum?

Also, how about Goggle Maps. My friend just sent me a link to his track he did and it was a goggle map track. My browser asked me to download a goggle earth thing into my browser so I'm wondering if it's new. I tried myself in the conversion programs I have and it doesn't seem any of them will take a GPX or KMZ file and convert it to a goggle map HTML, anyone have a fix for that?

[alrikki]

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cmdiver
flickr is good for showing fotos on forums.
If you upload your gpx file to google documents, there is an option(default) to convert it to google format.
I don't know what it does, or if its reversible.

[ChiangMaiDiver]

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Great I'll give Flickr a go and give that goggle doc's a try... Cheers

[ChiangMaiDiver]

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Just went for a short ride taking a few shots around the moat and back home. Converted, tagged the photos, and checked them on Goggle Earth... They were off by 300 - 500 meters. Closer investigation I realized my camera was off by about 45 seconds from the GPS time, enough to make a big geographic difference.

My Nikon D80 allows to enter seconds in the time, my little Olympus Miu Tough only allows minutes......

Will give another go and report back.

[ChiangMaiDiver]

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Just came back and they were perfect. Taking the photo at the start and end point ensured the full track was shown on goggle earth. I also found a camera setting in HoudahGeo which you can add plus or minus time to adjust the camera's time to match the GPS time in the program itself, basically adjusting the meeting up time between the photo and the GPS which is nice to know if using other camera's.

I'm very pleased and can't wait to go out on the next trip. Now I have to get to know FlickR and try to find a GeoTagging software for PC....

[Azoulay]

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Hi Friends,

I don't know if Geo tagging and Geo tracking/localisation is the same, but I found a software for the Geo tracking/localisation....

People say it works as well in LOS.

http://www.trackapartner.com/

Enjoy.

[ChiangMaiDiver]

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If only there were the two drum beats and the bang of the symbol.... Pretty funny.

[Jurgen]

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Hello! «*Geotagging*» is what this threat is about. This is the definition in Wikipedia:

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as photographs, video, websites, or RSS feeds and is a form of geospatial metadata. These data usually consist of latitude and longitude coordinates, though they can also include altitude, bearing, distance, accuracy data, and place names.

As for «*geo tracking*», I found different acceptions of this term, for instance: «*localizing Internet Protocol addresses (for hacking)*» or «**GSM mobile phone tracking system via the GPS-TRACK satellite network» ... in order to spy on partners.

For motorcycle trip reports and to help aging minds to keep memories about visited places alive, «*geotaging*» is the useful one

To add to the confusion, the gadgets recording geospatial (GPS) data, without being a full GPS tool, are often called «*tracker*». They produce «*tracks*» (traces on a map) based on the points recorded during a trip, they also provide the data for the pictures (but include no maps and do not give directions).

Reports about softwares writing geotags (exif data) bases on GPS trip data and possibilities to visualize the results individually or on a maps are usefull for our topic.

I had good result with «*GeoSetter*» software, used at the beginning of the workflow, particularly to deal with RAW pictures. I am still looking for a process working with Linux.

[HTWoodson]

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I've been using the freeware program Geosetter for a few weeks now to add the GPS data from my Garmin 60CSx to my photos, and just wanted to say that it works great. It took a little bit of figuring out at first but once I got the hang of it, it worked like a charm.

For Mac users, there is another free program you can use called GPSPhotoLinker. DP Review made a video on how to collect the GPS data from your iPhone and add it to your photos using GPSPhotoLinker.

[youtube:efwq4tsr]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp1KCkItmf4&playnext_from=TL&videos=UOhion hEbr8[/youtube:efwq4tsr]

[Auke]

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I had good result with «*GeoSetter*» software, used at the beginning of the workflow, particularly to deal with RAW pictures. I am still looking for a process working with Linux.

Jurgen,

Have you tried Geotag from http://geotag.sourceforge.net/ which should work with Linux.

To write geotags to photos, Geotags relies on an external tool called exiftool (http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/), a Perl script that enables the writing of EXIF metainfo. To install it on your machine, download the latest tarball and unpack it to the desired location on your hard disk. Launch Geotag, choose File -> Settings, and navigate to Settings -> External programs -> Exiftool -> Exiftool path. Enter the path to the exiftool script in the Exiftool path field and press OK.

[Jurgen]

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Thank you for the hint. I tried it quickly but could not bring it to work ... than I left for Europe, with bad connections ... near the beach. I will make new tests in August, once I am back in Thailand. I am really interested to get a Linux workflow, as I have kept Windows only on one machine.

As for Geosetter, it worked well but uses a "side car" file invented by Adobe. It can be read (RAW) in Lightroom and ACDsee, but Picasa, for instance, did not recognise the data.

I will definitively try my chance again with "Geotag".

Cheers

Jurgen

[Jurgen]

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A practical experience

I took my WPL-2000 on a 12 days Laos trip. Globally, it fulfilled my expectations. A couple of question marks were linked to my inexperience with this “gadget”, the remaining ones are merely small annoyances.


Out of the box.

The trip was accurately recorded. I found small visualization differences between Microsoft “Virtual Earth” and “Google maps”, at least on one sector, where Google did not follow exactly the road. Such differences might be linked to the map's consistency.

The track generated by Virtual Earth


The same data generate a slightly “off road” sector with Google Maps


It is handy to export log data in various output formats. The possibilities should cover most needs, with files such as Google Maps (html/xml), Google Earth (kmz), Virtual Earth (htm), GPX (sgpx and gpx), Excel (csv), UTM (txt) and 6 other formats. This versatility allows to compare different visualization possibilities and covers many processing needs.

Trip statistics are nice benchmarks for travelers. Altitude, distance, driving time and average speed are permanently computed. After 360 km there was only a 10 km difference between the WPL-2000 recorded distance and the motorcycle's odometer. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to reset the daily counter, without a computer an without loosing the data of the tracks (maybe it is just not possible).

Back home, I generated the maps of the trip. The itinerary was cut in segments, but all were available for visualization. I still have to decide a procedure to make the “cutting” coherent (probably cutting by day of travel). There were also cuts when batteries were exhausted.

Geotagging “jpeg” pictures (not RAW) is straightforward, as described at the beginning of this thread. The localization data are automatically included in the exif data and the pictures can be viewed in thumbnails format on various types of maps.



The program, included on the tracker's USB stick (win_tool.exe), automatically generates a backup of the data on the host computer (in the folder: “my documents / easy_showily_log_data”). The files are named “backup_(date).TES”. If necessary, they can be re-imported to the win_tool software (launched from the stick), to generate other reports or for further geotagging purposes.

An additional free software called TimeMachineX can be downloaded. I have not yet experimented it, but it allows to “manipulate” the data, and to change the layout of the itinerary. Various trip reports can also be generated.


Maps with thumbnails of pictures




Question marks

After 6 days of (cumulated) use, the distance indicator jumped to 30'000 km and the average speed became wrong in the same proportion. I have no idea what triggered that annoyance, but the trip statistics became useless. The tracks recording was unaffected.

I feel that the “low battery” indicator does not warn for a long time, before shutting down the tracker. There is a high risk of missing route data when approaching the energy exhaustion level. I frequently push the “track point” button when taking pictures. It is a way to produce a global itinerary overview (push points view) and a reminder for me to watch the low battery indicator. Unfortunately, I never caught the warning and lost some track points when the tool stopped. However this only happens after 2 or 3 days with the (about) 16 hours autonomy, and it's quite some biking time, particular when the “moving” sensor is “on”.


Track points itinerary



During the trip, the statistics are cumulative and it is (probably) not possible to have a computation by day or by sector. Average information, over a long period, are too diluted to be interesting.

The included software does not support RAW pictures. I have still to define a “workaround”. The “side-car” (xmp files) information generated by a software like “Geosetter” works only with certain programs.

The choice of the moment to include the geotagging information in the picture, during the photographic workflow, also depends on the purpose of these data. “Geosetter” can generates a track visualization, with picture thumbnails, quite at the beginning of the process in RAW. It even writes localization names (sometimes a little approximative) in the files. If the data are only used for the final pictures, for instance in jpeg, the included “win_tool” software does a good job.


A track generated in the included Wintech software





Other softwares and processes can be used and I will post additional comments once I have tested them, particularly with RAW and on Linux.

[ronwebb]

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I had a very interesting conversation with Jurgen last evening at the GTR dinner on geotagging photos and he put me on to Geosetter. Having poked around, it seems this will not work with mac.
I was just wondering if any mac users have found a quality solution to geotag photos or is HoudahGeo still the best answer?
Would be grateful of any updated info. Thanks. Ron

[Auke]

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I was just wondering if any mac users have found a quality solution to geotag photos or is HoudahGeo still the best answer?
Would be grateful of any updated info. Thanks. Ron

Ron,

Do not use a Mac but this site may be helpful: http://trick77.com/2008/07/19/review...omparison-mac/

Auke

[Jurgen]

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Seems a great reference Auke, I hope that it will help our friend Ron. I also do not use Mac, but mostly Ubuntu or Windows (for pictures only). I would be interested in such a comparison for Windows geotagging softwares ... however, for what I do with it, Geosetter does the trick. I also sometimes use "GPS Visualizer" (online) to localize a point, as I have (not yet???) a GPS, only a tracker.

[ronwebb]

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Ron,

Do not use a Mac but this site may be helpful: http://trick77.com/2008/07/19/review...omparison-mac/

Auke

Fantastic info Auke. Not being a techie it will take me some time to digest and understand fully but it is surly the best help I have seen for mac users. Many thanks.

[LivinLOS]

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Question... Such with the Garmin GPS's... they only store up to 500 points, so if your track goes passed that the points start getting stretched. Does this happen with this tracker? Also how long is the battery life? Seems very appealing, as I'm off on a 7 day drive at the moment and have been thinking I would love to put grid points to my photos.

500 points ?? My garmin stores months worth.. As much as the data card IIRC.

[Jurgen]

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The WPL2000 is supposed to store 94'000 points. In addition, you can choose the frequency of the records (distance, time, user defined,...) and after a trip you put the stick in a computer and all the data are transfered. I do not see how someone could come close to the recording limit.

As for the battery life it is given at 16 hours (2 AAA batteries) and I think that this is what I get. I change my batteries every 2 days when touring. When the tool is resting, it goes automatically of (if this was chosen in the option menu).

Nevertheless, a tracker is not a GPS map. Even so you can make pictures with a telephone, you can not yet make a call with a camera. With a "GPS map" you can do all the tracking and geotagging business, but with a tracker (unless you take a model connected with bluetooth to an electronic map, for instance to a handheld tool), you can not find your way.

The advantage of a tracker, if you only need a record of your itinerary and want to geotagg your pictures, is that it does this in a dedicated way, with software integrated on the stick. The battery life is long enough, the tool is small and cheap. But if you need a GPS map, then you do not get it with a tracker.