GE First Look

[falcon409]

I'm going to assume that most everyone who reads this is already aware of how cool this is. For me. . .seems everything is a new experience, lol. Anyway, after returning to Win7, I lost a lot of small programs that required a new install to get them to run correctly. Sketchup Make was one and Google Earth was another. I use GE for every scenery project I do because it gives me an excellent view of the placement and general floor dimensions of the buildings I construct. A great time saver in that respect. Well, it seems that when I went to download GE this time, GE_Pro is what installs automatically (you can install earlier versions if you wish but GE_Pro is the default now). In the earlier versions, you could sometimes view certain areas in 3D, but invariably the Airports I did were not one of those areas, lol. It appears that with this Pro version, that function is automatic, or at least it appears to be. I can now not only get an accurate top-down view but also a 3 dimensional view of every hangar I'm working on to see a lot of what a top down view misses (signs on the exterior, door construction, entryways, etc).

I'm doing East Texas Regional and returning to Long Lake in an effort to complete them now that I have Win7 reinstalled. GE_Pro is allowing me to see so much more than I ever could with earlier versions. Awesome stuff.

[awstub]

Another great feature is the "Add Image Overlay" button. You can add any image as an overlay and use the sizing and rotation tools to get it to match the imagery in GE.
You can add a map or reconnaissance photo in order to reference locations that aren't visible in GE....or reference building/objects that have been changed or are missing from the modern imagery.

I wish SbuilderX had such a similar feature.

I'm going to assume that most everyone who reads this is already aware of how cool this is. For me. . .seems everything is a new experience, lol. Anyway, after returning to Win7, I lost a lot of small programs that required a new install to get them to run correctly. Sketchup Make was one and Google Earth was another. I use GE for every scenery project I do because it gives me an excellent view of the placement and general floor dimensions of the buildings I construct. A great time saver in that respect. Well, it seems that when I went to download GE this time, GE_Pro is what installs automatically (you can install earlier versions if you wish but GE_Pro is the default now). In the earlier versions, you could sometimes view certain areas in 3D, but invariably the Airports I did were not one of those areas, lol. It appears that with this Pro version, that function is automatic, or at least it appears to be. I can now not only get an accurate top-down view but also a 3 dimensional view of every hangar I'm working on to see a lot of what a top down view misses (signs on the exterior, door construction, entryways, etc).

I'm doing East Texas Regional and returning to Long Lake in an effort to complete them now that I have Win7 reinstalled. GE_Pro is allowing me to see so much more than I ever could with earlier versions. Awesome stuff.

[Navy Chief]

Wish there was a way for GE to go "back in time" to display how things used to look; i.e. Naval Air Station Cecil Field. I was chatting online with the "The Airport Guys" on Facebook. They expressed interest in possibly doing Cecil, but replicating the Nam era, etc...would be a challenge.

John Stinstrom did a nice job with his FS9 version. Many here on SOH have helped me modify it for FSX. Ed, I think you helped me at one point? GE is a cool thing, for sure. I definitely appreciate the efforts of everyone who creates scenery!!!

NC

[IFlySWA]

This might be of some help viewing areas "back in time".

https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer

Brian

[awstub]

GE does have a historical imagery slider (enable by picking "View" then "Historical Imagery"), but it only goes back to about 2005 or so.
If you have images of maps, drawings or "top down" photos of Cecil Field you can overlay them in GE so at least you can find the correct coordinates needed to place objects accurately. Also can be used to make sure things are sized correctly.

Wish there was a way for GE to go "back in time" to display how things used to look; i.e. Naval Air Station Cecil Field. I was chatting online with the "The Airport Guys" on Facebook. They expressed interest in possibly doing Cecil, but replicating the Nam era, etc...would be a challenge.

John Stinstrom did a nice job with his FS9 version. Many here on SOH have helped me modify it for FSX. Ed, I think you helped me at one point? GE is a cool thing, for sure. I definitely appreciate the efforts of everyone who creates scenery!!!

NC

[DaveB]

It used to go back further than that. I still have an older version of GE on my WinXP pc and I can zoom in to 1950 where I live. The imagery available does depend on where you're looking though and it goes without saying that images this old are aerial shots rather than satellite sourced

ATB
DaveB

[awstub]

Wow, 1950, that's pretty cool.

I was just looking at an area in laos and the slider allowed it to go back to 1984.....so it looks like it just depends on the imagery the decided to include for a particular area.

It used to go back further than that. I still have an older version of GE on my WinXP pc and I can zoom in to 1950 where I live. The imagery available does depend on where you're looking though and it goes without saying that images this old are aerial shots rather than satellite sourced

ATB
DaveB

[Dangerous Beans]

It goes back to 1945 in London (UK)
If you look round the St. Paul's Cathedral area in the City you can clearly see the destruction wrought by the blitz with all the foundations of the bombed out buildings everywhere.

[BendyFlyer]

Falcon, thanks for the info and rundown. I was unaware of this little feature and its availability. Will make my flying boat base recreations from the past a bit easier.

[falcon409]

A couple of other features with GE_Pro are the ability to get dimensions in the 3D View, so not only can you still get the basic width and length of a building but also the height, which had been strictly left to guesswork prior to this. The other excellent feature, at least with this particular project is "Street View". This airport happens to sit along a main highway, so I can go to street view, stop at each hangar and take screen shots of the actual building for texturing (If only it would allow me to go down the front side as well, lol).