Google Earth Community: Animation

Hello,

Yes, you can use timestamps on objects and then play the animation using the timeslider that appears when objects with time data are in view. You will need to create an object (a placemark or image overlay probably) for each location the car was recorded at and then apply time information to it.

This isn't something you can create using the GE application itself. You need to create (or at least edit) the KML code outside of GE (KML is a simple text, XML-like format that Google Earth uses to define how objects look in the viewer).

Objects can have a timespan (a from and to time, during which the object will be visible on the screen) or a timestamp (a single point in time, at which the object will be visible).

It's probably best to show you a couple of examples - one with timestamp and one with timespan:
Timespan - http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/754308
Timestamp - http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/989603

In order to see the KML code, download the files and open with a text editor (the Tramlink file is KMZ so you won't be able to see that with a text editor - view it in Google Earth then right-click on 'Tramlink timetable (e)' and save that as a KML file to see the code in a text editor).

The London Tramlink example uses a timespan for each location (each object has a start and end time and the start time at one tram stop is the same as the end time at the previous tram stop). The flags on the time slider should be drawn together to a single point when using timespan.

The Cape Town Rubbish truck example uses simpler timestamps for each location (each object has just a single point in time associated). The flags on the time slider need to be seperated a little for this, otherwise the objects will just flash in and out of view too quickly to see. As the flags are seperated (this means you're seeing a rolling range of time in view) you can end up seeing multiple objects with different timestamps simultaniously.

Therefore, if you're showing one object moving, I would suggest using timespan with the end time of a location the same as the start time of the next location. That way, you'll get a nice smooth animation as the car will always be in view at one location or another, and you won't see two instances of the car at any one time.

Let us know if you need more help (and it would be great to see how you're getting on if you don't mind posting your work).

See this page of the GE Guide for more about the timeslider:
http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/ug_gps.html#timeline

The KML refererence is also invaluable when editing or creating the KML code yourself:
http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/

Have fun!

Cheers,

Simon.