Google Streetview Studio - amazing for GoPro MAX

Google just launched Streetview Studio celebrating 15 years of 360˚ photography on Google Maps. I had a go at the service and uploaded a 3KM time warp capture with GoPro MAX. This new service is literally just drag, drop and wait.
I exported an .360 video file to .mp4 in GoPro Player, uploaded it to Streetview Studio, and four days later the video was done processing and out on Google Maps.

1 Like

Signed up to just say thanks… Very helpful.

I have been looking to buy a 360 cam for ages for the single purpose of google mapping (I live in N thailand, am a dirt / trail biker and theres many unmapped trails and roads to upload) however theres really little clarity about what cameras work well with google street view, which need bluetooth links to mobile, which directly upload etc etc.

hi

and can I use the google pics for my company legacy free?

You give out the rights to the pictures to google and they do earn money, not you.
and no one may use that pictures free, again.

Amiga4000

2 Likes

hi Sef,

check out https://streetviewstudio.maps.google.com. You no longer need the Street View app. The website works perfect with the GoPro MAX.

1 Like

Yes it is the Street View studio (and my first trip back to the west post covid) which is pushing me to action.

I have actually posted elsewhere to get some input on cam choices… Max comes out as a good option (replaceable batteries, seems to be 100% compatible, etc) I was just hoping for cheaper but I can push it that far.

I strongly recommend getting the USB-C Charging Dock for MAX-batteries too. When I am working, I always have the docking connected to a larger power bank in my backpack, so I always have a fully charged battery at hand.

1 Like

interesting…but should we not try to increase the use of mapillary instead of google :wink:

5 Likes

I love Mapillary as much as anyone, but the ease of use of the new StreetView Studio is really something Mapillary could learn some lessons from.

2 Likes

I had a problem uploading to Streetview. The upload required a GPX file to locate and the timestamps did not align. Were you able to load just the MP4 file and Streetview picked up the geolocation from the MP4 file? I used the Telemetry Extractor site to build a GPX file from the 360.

You need to check ‘Retain GPMF data’ in GoPro Player when exporting the .360 video to .mp4, or else the timestamps will not align. The GPX data will then be ‘baked’ into the video-file.

Thanks for advice. I need a MacOS install to enable the GPMF options. The GPMF option cannot be enabled on Windows.

1 Like

Mapillary is owned by Facebook, Streetview is owned by Google. In the end we’re just rubes and map nerds with too much time on our hands, working for free for multi billion dollar companies.

1 Like

not really.

Mapillary is a open license, anyone can use the pictures free, even commercial.
Google streeetview is a closed license, if you want to use the streetview pictures, you have to pay a rather big amount of money.

And in this I like to contribute to the program, in which anyone can use the data free.

Beside this differences, both are big companies with lots of issues itself.

Amiga4000

3 Likes

Mapillary has been stagnating for the past year now, even before the FB takeover. And now, unfortunately it is at life support at best. I think a good indicator of Mapillary’s dire situation is the blog. It is dead. And, if you look around other aspects of Mapillary’s passed vivid development and progress then they also seem to have burned out.

Besides, it seems to me that Google Maps has finally learned its lesson about low barrier to entry for contributors, well maybe 15 years too late but they did. I never understood why they forced people who would want to contribute to their service for free to a) have an Android smartphone and b) use that clunky Google Street View App exclusively to upload images. Mapillary was ahead of the game with a, while not perfect but still clear and simple, web uploader. Then they dropped the web uploader and reversed progress. “Appification” became the new :fire::poop: name of the game, which sounds fine on paper but entails a slue of other problems per platform. Anyways, regardless of the fact that Google Maps’ license makes no sense at all for anyone to contribute, I am happy for Google Maps’ contributors.

4 Likes

Hi, I created this account to answer your question,
For me the problem with timestamps came from post production, in my case stitching 360 video

The solution is install exiftool and copy the timestamp data from the unstitched.

here are my commands

exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s Produce_2.mp4

exiftool -AllDates=“2022:07:31 17:36:09” Produce_2.mp4

exiftool -TrackCreateDate=“2022:07:31 17:36:09” Produce_2.mp4

exiftool -TrackModifyDate=“2022:07:31 17:36:09” Produce_2.mp4

exiftool -MediaCreateDate=“2022:07:31 17:36:09” Produce_2.mp4

exiftool -MediaModifyDate=“2022:07:31 17:36:09” Produce_2.mp4

exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s Produce_2.mp4

=============================================

here is output, don’t worry about the top 3 stamps

exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s dateProduce_2.mp4
[System] FileModifyDate : 2022:08:04 12:41:21+01:00
[System] FileAccessDate : 2022:08:04 12:40:19+01:00
[System] FileInodeChangeDate : 2022:08:04 12:42:07+01:00
[QuickTime] CreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[QuickTime] ModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track1] TrackCreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track1] TrackModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track1] MediaCreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track1] MediaModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track2] TrackCreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track2] TrackModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track2] MediaCreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track2] MediaModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[XMP-exif] DateTimeOriginal : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[XMP-xmp] CreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[XMP-xmp] ModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09

Hi, it’s easier to just record the GPS data separately either on Phone, or using specialised GPS tracker, many of the youtube videos, the guys have a separate gamin tracker strapped to the camera pole.

I use this APP and the GPX file works to make a blue line.
I used app GPS logger by BasicAirData

I start recording GPS data on GPS logger on the phone

I start recording 4K video on the 360 camera

I stop recording 4K video on the 360 camera

I stop recording GPS data on GPS logger on the phone

The result is that the tracking is like 10 seconds longer than the video, but it works fine, don’t edit or mess with it, it will work to make a blue line.

If you do any post production on the video, it might screw up the timestamps, and you’ll get error, Video and GPX timestamps don’t overlap.
You need to use the exiftool to modify the timestamps on the video. Get the timestamps of the non-modified video from the camera.

Look at my earlier post.

1 Like

How do you combine the GPX track with the .mp4 video file? I could not find any earlier posts you have made here on the forum.

When uploading to https://streetviewstudio.maps.google.com/
I upload the GPX file and video separately.

My earlier post got stuck in your spam filters because it was my first post.
It’s about the error code Video and GPX timestamps don’t overlap.

After I stitch or modify the Video on PC it screws up the timestamps in the video

Then I need to edit the EXIF data to change the timestamps.

Copy the timestamps from the unstitched to the stitched video using EXIFTOOL https://exiftool.org/
I tried using GUI tools for the EXIF data but they are all rubbish,
here are my commands

Check timestamps
exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s source.MP4
exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s Produce_2.MP4

Copy timestamps
exiftool -TagsFromFile source.MP4 “-time:all>time:all” Produce_2.MP4

final output (don’t worry about the top 3 stamps)
pi@raspberrypi:~/360/13 $ exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s dateProduce_2.mp4
[System] FileModifyDate : 2022:08:04 12:41:21+01:00
[System] FileAccessDate : 2022:08:04 12:40:19+01:00
[System] FileInodeChangeDate : 2022:08:04 12:42:07+01:00
[QuickTime] CreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[QuickTime] ModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track1] TrackCreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track1] TrackModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track1] MediaCreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track1] MediaModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track2] TrackCreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track2] TrackModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track2] MediaCreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[Track2] MediaModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[XMP-exif] DateTimeOriginal : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[XMP-xmp] CreateDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09
[XMP-xmp] ModifyDate : 2022:07:31 17:36:09

I know there is an easier way, you can copy over data with one command, but I couldn’t get it working, so I do it the long way that works.

1 Like

maybe add to the help pages for google studio instead on mapillary forum :wink:

@jgh35 thank you for the detailed response! I managed to run all the commands after adding -api LargeFileSupport=1, but only one command at a time, so it took quite some time. Is there a way to run all the commands in a batch?

1 Like