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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 12:53 am Post subject: BlueGPS datalog format
Hi,
I am looking at the RoyalTek BlueGPS, and I would like to know the format of the data that it logs. What I want to be able to do is append GPS coordinates to my digital images, and for that I have to have the time logged. I understand that some devices do not log the time, but does anybody know if this one does log it?
Steve, the RBT3000 is a great datalogging tool. Pretec also have the RBT3000 so if you can't get the RoyalTek brand, go for the Pretec Bluetooth GPS as it's identical and made by RoyalTek (just re-badged).
What the BlueGPS does in datalogging mode is record exactly where you have been, so what you can do is when you get back to your PC is download the log file (which is TEXT) and re-play your journey. You could pause it at one stage on say AutoRoute and then get the co-ordinates, but there's no way to literally just say "I want these co-ordinates whilst I'm taking a picture".
In theory you could start the GPS only when you are at a location, but you would have to wait approx 50 secs for it to obtain a fix, and you'd be better off having a Pocket PC with you to make sure it has established the co-ordinates. I would have thought that if you have a Pocket PC already, then just having a CF card GPS or BT GPS, and running up a free util will grab the co-ordinate for you and you could then enter that into a word file whilst you are on location.
Basically the RBT 3000 will give you a record like the following...
Joined: 20/08/2002 11:51:57 Posts: 3859 Location: Essex, UK
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 12:59 pm Post subject:
Steve,
Does your digital camera put our a timestamp on the image? If it does then you could download the text file into Excel, and then run a query on it to find the time and location when the picure was taken.
I have heard that Kodak sell a digital camera with a GPS interface that geo-references pictures, but having said that I have tried looking at the Kodak Website and cant find any details.
On the other hand you could also use something like Memory-Map. When you add a note or file into the my documents directory it geo-references it for you (creates a waypoint in Memory-Map). In theory you could take the memory card out of your camera and copy the image into the my documents folder. A bit tedious but that would do it for you. _________________ Mike Barrett
You can connect nearly any Garmin up to a Kodak DC260/265/290 because the interface socket it has is serial. Used to have a DC260 and DC290, it's just the case of getting the cable.
Joined: 20/08/2002 11:51:57 Posts: 3859 Location: Essex, UK
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 5:53 pm Post subject:
Dave,
Have you got a cable for the Kodak still. I have a 290 and I just found the script on the net so all I need now is the cable, and a GPS..... _________________ Mike Barrett
What the BlueGPS does in datalogging mode is record exactly where you have been, so what you can do is when you get back to your PC is download the log file (which is TEXT) and re-play your journey. You could pause it at one stage on say AutoRoute and then get the co-ordinates, but there's no way to literally just say "I want these co-ordinates whilst I'm taking a picture".
In theory you could start the GPS only when you are at a location, but you would have to wait approx 50 secs for it to obtain a fix, and you'd be better off having a Pocket PC with you to make sure it has established the co-ordinates. I would have thought that if you have a Pocket PC already, then just having a CF card GPS or BT GPS, and running up a free util will grab the co-ordinate for you and you could then enter that into a word file whilst you are on location.
....
Dave
Thanks for the info. When I take an image, the camera stores various data with it, including the time. This is a standard format called EXIF. Afterwards, with a utility such as PhotoStudio, if I have a track file, I can then insert the coordinates into te EXIF data automatically. It uses the time of the image to determine the coordinates at that time from the track file.
Although I will have the PocketPC with me, I will be using it for other things, so I would just want to use it to start the datalogger off. So it sounds as though the RoyalTek (or Pretec) will do the job fine.
Does your digital camera put our a timestamp on the image? If it does then you could download the text file into Excel, and then run a query on it to find the time and location when the picure was taken.
...
Mike,
Yes it does timestamp the image. I am aware of three apps that will automatically insert the coordiantes into the image file. These are PhotoStudio, RoboGEO, and OziPhotoTool. Doing it this way, I should end up in the same situation as if I had used a GPS module directly with the camera. And this method should work for most digital cameras, without the purchase of a dedicated GPS module for the camera.
When I take an image, the camera stores various data with it, including the time. This is a standard format called EXIF. Afterwards, with a utility such as PhotoStudio, if I have a track file, I can then insert the coordinates into te EXIF data automatically. It uses the time of the image to determine the coordinates at that time from the track file.
I know all about EXIF, used to use it but tend to shoot in Canon RAW format now and can grab all the data direct from the image. The RBT3000 would be okay for time matching as you will be able to match the times up, the only problem will be manually scrolling through for an approx time. If you're shooting a dozen photos at one location, you'll find this difficult. One or two photos will be okay.
...
I know all about EXIF, used to use it but tend to shoot in Canon RAW format now and can grab all the data direct from the image. The RBT3000 would be okay for time matching as you will be able to match the times up, the only problem will be manually scrolling through for an approx time. If you're shooting a dozen photos at one location, you'll find this difficult. One or two photos will be okay.
Dave
I am a bit confused here. I also shoot canon RAW, and the only way you can get any data is via EXIF. This data is stored in the image itself.
I plan to use something like PhotoStudio to insert the GPS data automaticaly, providing I can get the downloaded data into a supported format. The way this works is that you select a directory of images, select a single track file, hit the button, and it insertc the GPS data for each image, interploating the GPS data if there is not an exact time match. So I don't understand your comment about the dozen photos at one location, unless you where thinking that I would insert the data manually.
I am a bit confused here. I also shoot canon RAW, and the only way you can get any data is via EXIF. This data is stored in the image itself.
With Canon RAW files to get at the EXIF data you always had to open the RAW file and export the EXIF out before you could get at and read the EXIF data, but a lot of apps around now a days, like BreezeBrowser etc will display the EXIF data direct from within the image without the requirement to extract the data out before you can read it.
Personally I wouldn't want to re-inject/re-insert any EXIF data back into the original photo file unless you have a backup of all your photos in fear of changing the image in some way (but then again I am a purist when it comes to my photos)
keffs wrote:
So I don't understand your comment about the dozen photos at one location, unless you where thinking that I would insert the data manually.
I was thinking you might be trying to do this manually rather than an automated batch process.
With Canon RAW files to get at the EXIF data you always had to open the RAW file and export the EXIF out before you could get at and read the EXIF data, but a lot of apps around now a days, like BreezeBrowser etc will display the EXIF data direct from within the image without the requirement to extract the data out before you can read it.
Yes, I use BreezeBrowser, and also PhotoshopCS. Most serious, if not all, image viewing/processing apps, support at least the display of EXIF data these days. Even the bundled Canon apps do. And a large amount support at least a limited amount of editing of EXIF data. A good one is EXIF Utils.
Dave wrote:
Personally I wouldn't want to re-inject/re-insert any EXIF data back into the original photo file unless you have a backup of all your photos in fear of changing the image in some way (but then again I am a purist when it comes to my photos)
I understand where you are coming from, and the workflow that I intend to use will be to insert the EXIF into the TIFF file after processing the RAW file. Also with Canon, at least with my 10D, when shooting RAW there are two files, a CRW and a THM. The CRW is the main image file, and the THM is basically a small jpg (thumbnail) which contains the EXIF. So if I use BrezzeBrowser to change the time, because I forgot to set the correct time on my camera when changing time zones , it is the THM file that is modified. This is about the only EXIF change that I would do to the "as shot" data, and BreezeBrowser uses the Canon software to do this, so it should be safe.
The RAW format for my 1D is actually TIFF, but a slightly modified TIFF so you can still open it up in any paint package but you only get an embedded thumbnail. My D30 uses the RAW/THM format.
I haven't checked the later versions of any of the latest Canon apps as I'm more than happy with BreezeBrowser, but there were initially a lot of bugs in the Canon API, that's why I don't particularly trust it for re-embedding data back into the files. It maybe fixed now, but Canon were slated in the early days just before the D30 started hitting the shows as the Canon Browser was also pretty buggy losing important camera data if you rotated the images.
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