Geotagging photos

Wherewolf said:

So how come I could do it yet, I knew absolutely nothing about this last week Mr. GPS Geek? Try following the instructions. Or just look at the program interface and it should be evident where you went wrong.

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dude, you don't have to be an @$$.

I didn't like the program. Don't get butt-hurt because I didn't like the option you offered. There are literally dozens of programs that will geotag. As mentioned before, many suck. But some people like programs that other people think are terrible. That's just the nature of the beast. Not all UIs work for all people. If this program works for you, then that's fine. I just don't like it.

The only place in that UI I see to add a URL is for a Google Maps export. To me, that looks like an option to export your GPS data to Google Maps (since you can't export your photos there, that would be the only logical choice). Apparently, using that feature will do what I'm looking for...but the title of the option in the UI doesn't remotely approximate what the feature actually does. I had to dig on the google code website to find it, and I should not have to do that. What I want is to use a URL prefix instead of a local path to point to the photos. If that's what that option does, then it should say so. In Topofusion, that option is obvious from the very simple description it is given in the UI. No need for a help file there.

I already use Topofusion, and I know some other folks use it, also. I was simply pointing out a different program that will geotag photos (that many people probably aren't aware of). Unfortunately, there's a bug in the output GPS file that Google doesn't like, but the developer is fixing it for the next release of the software.

Wherewolf said:

I only put one photo on my example because the conditions yesterday were terrible. I could have mapped dozens of crappy photos along the route. Click on the blue symbol and you see a small photo, click on the small photo and a bigger photo comes up. You can zoom in or out on the map and even get directions to the place the photo was taken. And all files, including the photos are on my website. Isn't that what you asked for above? GPicSync does it all in just a few seconds and for free.
I have Topofusion and I really like. But I doubt it can do this so easily and quickly using metadata.

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I tried the program you suggested...first. I didn't like it. Then I found Photofusion under the Analysis tab in Topofusion. I tried it. The interface was more intuitive for me, but the output was buggy (it does the same thing as GPicSync...it put the GPS coordinates into the Exif data of the photos, the buggy part was the gps file it output with the references to the photos). I reported the bugs to the developer. He will fix them for the next release. I was able to work around the bugs by manually editing in Google Earth (where I learned that I have a lot of flexibility regarding what happens when you click on the waypoint marker...looks like most basic html code will work in there). Simple enough.

Now I know how to do some additional things in the dialog box that pops up when you click a waypoint icon in a .kml file. I am not disappointed that the process I used took longer. If it just worked, I would not have learned the cool stuff I learned this time around. Now I have some editing to do to some of my other .kml files.

I also did not pay for any software as of yet.

Topofusion vs. GPicSync

I apologize for being a bit sarcastic
Thanks for reminding me that Topofusion geotags photos. I bought the Pro version really cheap on a post Christmas sale a few years ago. It's a great program I barely ever got to use since I can not ride. Below are screen captures of both Topofusion and GPicSync. They are virtually identical! It appears the major difference is in the output map. Topofusion makes an old fashioned, static image map, whereas GPicSync makes an interactive and scalable Google map that the viewer can zoom and scale all they want. In addition, as Google Maps are continually updated, your photo map will only get better. The static Topofusion map will remain the same forever. And free is good.

You don't have to make a static image map if you don't want. I made one to check out the feature but decided against it. I suppose you could use it as a thumbnail if you wanted.

The interfaces look similar, but the key to me is how the fields are described. TF lets you choose a time zone, which automatically spits out a UTC offset, whereas GPicSync requires you to find the UTC offset. GPicSync puts more information besides the coordinates into the Exif metadata.

But TF generates a file you can use in Google Maps to show your ride. By default, it modifies the imported file, but it has a very wide range of export formats. I only tried .gpx or .kml since that's what the maps plugin I use can display.

Hopefully when Krein finds out what's causing the problems and gets it working right for .gpx files, I'll be able to use them on my site. Because .gpx files contain more data than .kml files, when I display a .gpx, I also get graphs of speed, elevation, cadence, HR, and whatever else my GPS records.

The main reason I haven't bought TF Pro yet is because I also cannot ride. I'm getting there, though. When it warms up a bit for a couple days, I'll get the bike out to ride in my 'hood. It'll be awhile after that before I can ride the trails again. Need to build some strength/stamina first.