Google Earth to BSB / KAP

[phiggins]

unbusted67,

GE2KAP only will convert the .KAP files not the BSB file. I will change it to only allow you to select .KAP files.

Sorry for the confusion. I gues the title of this thread suggests it will convert BSB files.

[sinbad7]

unbusted67..

Forget about the .bsb files,they are just for addittional information,only use the .kap file.
You can not presently use the ENTIRE .kap chart as an overlay. You have to do a screen grab of the required area and save it as a bitmap for use with GE2KAP.

Tore

[dacust]

Originally Posted by sinbad7

unbusted67..

Forget about the .bsb files,they are just for addittional information,only use the .kap file.

To make this clear, in the beginning, BSB files used the .kap for the image and the .bsb for the geo-referencing information. Later, they combined to geo-referencing into the .kap image file, so only one file was needed.

So, now, a BSB chart actually has the .kap extension.

Originally Posted by sinbad7

You can not presently use the ENTIRE .kap chart as an overlay. You have to do a screen grab of the required area and save it as a bitmap for use with GE2KAP.

Tore

You should be able to use bsb2tif to convert the .kap to a .tif. Then convert it to what you want (.bmp?) and then use all or any part of the image you want.

-dan

[phiggins]

You can not presently use the ENTIRE .kap chart as an overlay.

Tore this is NOt true. GE2KAp will overlay an entire .KAP file. But as I pointed out above, it sometimes takes awhile, maybe 5 minutes or more.

As Dan pointed out it uses B2B2TIF ro convert to a TIF then it resizes it according to the GE picture and then positions correctly on the GE to make the final .KAP file.

[sinbad7]

Paul..

But it would not be practical to construct such an enormous file size as you would surely need to make several final adjustments to the overlay which would take ages... and also because the converted .kap chart can not be zoomed-in

Dan.. It would be far easier to convert the .kap to bitmap using 'Chartconvert' in reverse.

Tore

[phiggins]

Tore,

Lets try to stick to the topic: GE2KAP.V2.Beta. Does it work or not and suggestions for improving it.

Right now it will overlay a KAP file onto the GE image at the correct size and position and produce a new KAP chart. Sometimes it takes quite awhile, usually when the sizes of the two images are quite different.

Also I think providing some way to overlay another type of image like a JPG or PNG with the user providing the coordinates is a good idea. This image may have been produced from a navigation program like OpenCPN displaying an image of a CM93 chart. You and others have gave me lots of suggestions on the best way to do it.

[sinbad7]

I was only following up Dan's suggestions of converting unbusted67's big .BSB/.KAP to bitmap, and Chartconverter does it beautifully. Very much on topic. After all,we are using a multitude of utilities to acheive our goals.

GE2KAP is working VERY well for me on Vista,but the overlays do not match 100% and several adjustments has to be made manually through your interface,just so that is said.

In my opinion GE2KAP is best suited for close up,detailed presentations which displays soundings and navigational aids in sufficient resolution. Smaller charts also take less time to process and adjust.

Looking forward to see further development of this great facility to produce mapping for OpenCPN. Thanks a bunch...

Tore

[sinbad7]

Paul..

Here's an overlay conversion from a standard,full size BSB/KAP chart I did this morning. As you see there is a large discrepancy between the two charts,needing several adjustments. Would it be possible to do the final adjustments manually using the mouse button to drag the overlay into place as in GE?

Tore

[sinbad7]

As a comparison to my #128,I also did a transparency overlay using a CM93 screen grab on a GE map,needing no further adjustments. Did not supply GE with any geo locs or scale of the overlaid bitmap. I notice the overlay box in GE HAS geo locs. Where did they come from? Curiouser and curiouser said Alice!

Tore

[r.fairman]

Try this

1.Capture in Open CPN
2.Set transparency
3.Save in Gif format
4.In GE Add/Image overlay
5.Browse for your saved Gif
6. In the location tab enter N S E W coodinates of your gif (get these from OpenCPN either by positioning cursor or dropping waypoints Do not move your view in openCPN
7.In GE click OK
8.Alternatively you can export waypoints to GPX Open in a text editor and copy and paste positions into GE

Note GE round down to 3 decimal points

[r.fairman]

Or try this
1.Drop waypoints at each corner of OpenCPN chart
2.From Route manager export all as a GPX file
3.In GE Tools/GPS import file as Waypoints
4.Waypoints appear on the GE view
5.Capture in Open CPN
2.Set transparency
3.Save in Gif format
4.In GE Add/Image overlay
5.Browse for your saved Gif
6. Position image so that captured waypoints line up with waypoints in GE
7.In GE click OK

Apologies to Paul if this is off subject

Beta version works well but kap overlay is mispositioned over GE I am assuming this is due to my original kap charts datum being european 50 and GE being 84

[sinbad7]

r.fairman..

The waypoint idea should line up the images,I will try it out.

But HOW do you save the overlaid area in it's full zoomed in size?
GE seems to save only the present screen view and resolution and a later viewing of the resulting file only shows a screenfull.

Tore

[r.fairman]

Here is a minimal KML file text that will import an image into GE and position it automatically You simply double click on the kml name in your desktop and GE opens and your image is imported and positioned.


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2" xmlns:gx="http://www.google.com/kml/ext/2.2" xmlns:kml="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<GroundOverlay>
<name>Bodrum Harbour</name>
<Icon>
<href>Bodrumharbour.gif</href>
<viewBoundScale>0.75</viewBoundScale>
</Icon>
<LatLonBox>
<north>37.036637</north>
<south>37.030054</south>
<east>27.435616</east>
<west>27.416937529</west>
</LatLonBox>
</GroundOverlay>
</kml>[/B]

The xml field is your image file name
The north field is your images North Lat
The south field is your images South Lat
The east field is your images East Lon
The west field is your images West Lon

Kml files can be opened and edited in Wordpad. but only use "Save" if you use Save as the file will not open in GE as it must have the kml file extension

If you position waypoints in OpenCPN then export as a GPX file and open in wordpad the data is there for you to copy and paste.

You can use this method in any nav software that will export waypoint positions as a GPX file or as a readable text file.



Once you have your overlay in GE you can save as a kmz file which bundles the image with the kml file and compresses it. This makes the overlay portable for you to share or move to another computer

Now all thats needed is an automatic way to copying and pasting from the GPX file to the kml file.

Paul come home we need. You GE2KAP still working well both in the release and beta versions I have given al ink to your download site to the SeaClear user group so you may get more testing and feedback Someone there has started a project to create photo maps of all East Coast US Harbours Non commercial of course

For your information here is quote they got from Google about copyrights

You can use Google Earth imagery for personal use, but cannot sell it to
others.

We're flattered to hear that you're further incorporating Google Earth into your
online world. You can personally use an image from the application (for example
on your website, on a blog or in a word document) as long as you preserve the
copyrights and attributions including the Google logo attribution. However, you
cannot sell these to others, provide them as part of a service, or use them in a
commercial product such as a book or TV show without first getting a rights
clearance from Google.

If you require these commercial rights, please visit Google's permissions
guidelines. You can then submit your application through our online request
form.

Please note that we'll only be able to respond to permission requests submitted
through the above form."



regards

Richard Fairman

[sinbad7]

Re my #123..

But HOW do you save the overlaid area in it's full zoomed in size?
GE seems to save only the present screen view and resolution and a later viewing of the resulting file only shows a screenfull.

I have found no other way than saving the full size overlay in tiles for later re-assembly kalibration and conversion to .kap. Surely there must be a way to save the full size map in it's original scale for konversion by GE2KAP?

Tore

[phiggins]

I have new version of the GE2KAP_V2_BETA that fixes a few problems:

- Automatically saves the GE image and straightns it if not north up without user doing it.

- Allows you to put GE2KAP in is own directory and store charts in another.

- Warns you about large overlay sizes that may take a VERY long time/

- Captures errors on external commands.

- more diagnostic information.

Please give it a try at: www.gdayii.ca