Basecamp and Google Earth routes

Former Member over 12 years ago

Is it possible to export a route created in Google Earth into Basecamp without first creating a path in Google Earth?

My purpose is to generate a route then convert it to a track that will eventually be loaded to a Garmin GPS.

I do realize that I could create a route using a combination of City Navigator and Rail Trails or the 24K Garmin Topos, but they are not as current as Google maps relative to the inclusion of existing bike trails.

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

How to do it!

OK, I figured it out. Should there be any interest, see below:

1. Select a start point in Google Earth using the push pin icon.
2. Right click on the selected start point in the list and select "Directions FROM here".
3. Choose an end point with another push pin.
4. Select a mode of travel: Private Vehicle, Public Transit, Walk, or Bicycle.
5. Right click on the selected end point in the list and select "Directions TO here". The route will be drawn out along with instructions about following it.
6. At the bottom of the route itinerary list are two icons. The one on the left looks like a folder. Click on it to save the track as a kmz file.
7. Open Basecamp and import the kmz as a track file.
8. If desired, Basecamp can generate a route.

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

You might also have a look at TYRE. I have not used it since I got rid of my TomTom 920, but it is now compatible with Garmin. http://www.tyretotravel.com/

-Boyd

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

I think it is important to understand the difference between a track and a route.

A track, which could be created outside of BaseCamp (in Google Earth), or downloaded from your device, or created inside BaseCamp, is a series of connected points in a specific order. You can edit a track if you like, but a track does not ever change unless you manually change it. It is a collection of points in space. In my opinion, tracks are most useful when you are dealing with off road situations. The need to move a track, rather than a route, from Google Earth is understandable, as it would be a transfer of exact points in space, as opposed to a way to get somewhere.

A route can be based on a track, but it is not the same thing. It has a start and a finish, and a direction, and will change depending on the mode of travel, and outside of BaseCamp, it will often change when downloaded to a device, as the device I imagine must have a different routing algorithm than the one used in BaseCamp. In a device that has autorouting it will follow the roads, per the road preferences in the device, but if the device does not have the autorouting feature, the route will be straight lines between waypoints. Some people get frustrated when they create routes in BaseCamp that they are happy with, then find them changed when they move them onto their GPS. On a GPS with traffic, the traffic data may also change a route in real time as you are looking at it. A route is how you get somewhere, per your preferred roads and mode of travel, taking into account your particular GPS's capabilities and preferences set.

A track imported will not change, it is fixed points. Nothing will change a track, except you yourself editing it.

Any corrections are welcome, this is my understanding of the differences.

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

I can't do this. How do I import the kml as a track file? I import the kml and it doesn't appear on the list. There is no option to "import as track" or anything else.
#2. How can I generate a route from a track file? I have no tool for that. Just a choice of track or route.

Create your kml file in google earth. Save it somewhere. In BaseCamp, select import and select the file you just saved . You will now have a route in BaseCamp. Take that route, open it and edit its properties. There is a checkbox in the lower right that enables you to turn a route (dynamic and directional) into a track (fixed, ordered points in space)

0 GVSA123 over 11 years ago

I think it is important to understand the difference between a track and a route.

A track, which could be created outside of BaseCamp (in Google Earth), or downloaded from your device, or created inside BaseCamp, is a series of connected points in a specific order. You can edit a track if you like, but a track does not ever change unless you manually change it. It is a collection of points in space. In my opinion, tracks are most useful when you are dealing with off road situations. The need to move a track, rather than a route, from Google Earth is understandable, as it would be a transfer of exact points in space, as opposed to a way to get somewhere.

A route can be based on a track, but it is not the same thing. It has a start and a finish, and a direction, and will change depending on the mode of travel, and outside of BaseCamp, it will often change when downloaded to a device, as the device I imagine must have a different routing algorithm than the one used in BaseCamp. In a device that has autorouting it will follow the roads, per the road preferences in the device, but if the device does not have the autorouting feature, the route will be straight lines between waypoints. Some people get frustrated when they create routes in BaseCamp that they are happy with, then find them changed when they move them onto their GPS. On a GPS with traffic, the traffic data may also change a route in real time as you are looking at it. A route is how you get somewhere, per your preferred roads and mode of travel, taking into account your particular GPS's capabilities and preferences set.

A track imported will not change, it is fixed points. Nothing will change a track, except you yourself editing it.

Any corrections are welcome, this is my understanding of the differences.

I have been researching the past few days online about the usage of gps in general because I just purchased my first unit ever (Foretrex 401). I've been playing around with it and have been encountering some problems which I attribute to my misunderstanding of the proper usage of the device features.

Let's say that you will be starting a hike up a mountain and you will be coming back the same way that you got up. How will you go about tracking your progress from CAR to SUMMIT and back to CAR?

What I did with my first ever trip was to get my beta online as a gpx file, grab ONLY the waypoints and started to log my own track while trying to follow the waypoints to guide me. I got to the summit and saved my track, but I just kept on going back visually trying to keep my going back track close to the crumbs I left on the way up. Of course I ventured off the wrong way a little but managed to navigate back to my tracks.

Now I was thinking that maybe for next time, once I get to the summit and I know I will be on an out-and-back route, I should just use the trackback feature so that I am guided exactly to the track I left behind going up.

It might be totally different if the route were a loop. In that case, I would imagine that I will simply mark waypoints throughout the loop which I will navigate to until I get to the final destination.

I should probably start a new thread for this...

0 C14_Rider over 11 years ago

do you know how to then get directions (i.e. N, S, E, W) of the track/route?

For routes (at least in BC 4.1.2), open the Route Properties window for any route, with the Properties tab active, and a box labeled "Summary" showing, the overall course of the route in degrees is listed. If you select the "Route Directions" tab, the direction of each leg is shown, each number indicating the direction ("course") FROM the previous route direction point in the list. Also, if you switch the data and map panes and filter to just routes, the overall course of each route is shown.

For tracks, you can also open the Track Properties window, but oddly, in the summary, the overall course of the track is not shown. But in the list of track points, the direction or course of each leg is shown. Note however that, inconsistent with routes, the direction indicated is the direction TO the next point in the list, not from as in routes.

Falagar, could the overall track course be shown in the track summary? And perhaps the mentioned inconsistency resolved?

0 Smithmedic over 11 years ago

Create your kml file in google earth. Save it somewhere. In BaseCamp, select import and select the file you just saved . You will now have a route in BaseCamp. Take that route, open it and edit its properties. There is a checkbox in the lower right that enables you to turn a route (dynamic and directional) into a track (fixed, ordered points in space)

When I oopen Base Camp it will not allow me to select the "Import" under file. It is grayed out, how can I fix this?