FAQ
What is a street view video map?
A street view video map is a website or app with a map and video player such as YouTube where the video player and map are connected so that video routes can be rendered on the map and a marker shows the video’s current geographical position.
What video equipment is needed to add to this street view video map?
An Action Camera is needed to record video for this website so that the video footage is shake free and stable. This is because the camera will be travelling along, maybe attached to a vehicle and without suitable stabilisation the video will be very shaky and unpleasant to watch. Optical image stabilisation found in smart phones will not be enough to record steady footage. Suitable Action Cameras include GoPro Hero 5 to 11, GoPro Max/Fusion, Insta360 and DJI Osmo Action. Make sure to use the HyperSmooth setting with GoPro, FlowState with Insta360 and RockSteady with DJI Osmo Action. Of all the Action Cameras, GoPro is the best supported here as it has a built in GPS receiver and maps.video has native GoPro Batch GPS Extraction.
Can 360 video be used with the street view video map?
Yes it can! 360 video works with the Local Video Web Player found on the maps.video map. See the Instructions for processing .360 video from GoPro Max and GoPro Fusion. 360 video also works wth YouTube, although sometimes less well when viewed on certain mobile devices. It is recommend to view maps.video 360 videos on desktop computers for the best experience. With the Local Video Web Player the cursor keys can be used as well as the mouse to pan the video, look around and view the whole scene. With YouTube on desktop the video can be dragged with the mouse to look around and on mobile you can point the smartphone in different directions.
How do I find my location on the map?
Just press the geolocate button on the top right of the map if it is available. You may need to click the map to hide the video to see it. It has a dot with a crosshair. Your location is not uploaded or recorded and is done purely within the browser. Follow the prompt in the browser. The map should centre on your approximate location.
How do I view the whole map?
Just click the earth button on the lower right and the map will zoom out and load all the locations where there is a video route. Click a pin or marker cluster and the map will zoom in. Keep clicking a pin or marker cluster until the video loads. This is a quick and easy option to move around the world.
I want to share a video route onto social media/email, how do I do it?
Go to the map, find the video you want to share and click the share button below right of the video. Click the clipboard icon to quickly copy the permalink to your device’s clipboard. You can then paste it in a social post, message or email. When a user clicks the permalink the website map will load and show that video route. With full quality local video routes they will need a copy of the video .MP4 and they will need to click Browse... and find that video on their computer's local file system.
How do I add a video route to the map?
Click the Add Video Route button at the bottom left of the map page. You will have three red rectangles to choose from. Click the GoPro option if the video was taken with a GoPro and select all the .MP4, .LRV or .360 files that represent your video(s). Alternatively do the same if you have .gpx files. Follow the instructions to add your video route(s) to the map.
What data is uploaded with the GoPro .MP4, .LRV and .360 import options?
The video file(s) are never uploaded to maps.video. Only the latitude/longitude coordinates, the associated timestamps and video recording date time are extracted from the GoPro, uploaded and stored in the cloud when you click submit. No other data is extracted such as GoPro serial number etc. The GPS extraction is done purely in the browser. The progress bar you see in the lower left of the map represents the GPS data being extracted, not anything being uploaded. Only when you click submit will the final latitude/longitude, timestamps, recording date time, filename or YouTube share url, optional layer, optional hyperlapse speed and optional description be uploaded and stored in the cloud.
What data is uploaded with the .gpx import option?
Only the latitude/longitude coordinates and the associated timestamps are extracted from the .gpx, uploaded and stored in our cloud when you click submit. No other data is extracted. Only when you click submit will the final latitude/longitude, timestamps, filename or YouTube share url, optional layer, optional hyperlapse speed and optional description be uploaded and stored in the cloud.
What is a suitable video for this website?
A continuous take video is best where the camera is moving along without sudden location changes or cuts such as a video taken straight from a GoPro. Suitable videos might include street view videos, road survey videos, drone videos or flying videos. Don't add intros where the camera is not moving as the position accuracy will be affected. The video must match the route rendered on the map otherwise the map will not be in sync with the video. You also need to comply with the terms of service when submitting a video route.
Who owns the copyright to the video and route?
You retain all copyright to the video and video route. YouTube has its own rules regarding the videos when the videos are hosted on YouTube. When you add a video route to the map you give maps.video permission to display this route and video on the map indefinitely until such time as you may decide to remove it. maps.video may take screenshots of the video route and video to share on social media and in promotional materials but only if it is a public video route.
Are my videos viewable by the public?
With the full quality local video option the videos are always private to you as they are not uploaded. The orange progress bar you see when adding a video route is the GPS information being extracted, not the video uploading.
This is great as you may not want to share videos beyond your organisation for privacy and commercial reasons. For a colleaugue to view these video routes all they need is a copy of the video either on their computer or attached external drive. You might want to use a file transfer service or Google Drive / Microsoft Sharepoint to transfer videos between computers. Videos must be fully downloaded before they can be viewed on the map.
With YouTube video routes you can set the video on YouTube to be either public, private or unlisted. Please refer to YouTube documentation for details.
Are fully private video routes available?
Yes! If you want your video routes to be fully private and visible only by the signed in video route owner and any nominated team members please select the fully private option when adding a video route. This is a great option if you want to keep your video route network hidden for commercial or privacy reasons. Get in touch if you want to nominate team members. Please note there may be an extra subscription charge for each team member.
How do I add a long video that has been split into multiple pieces?
GoPros will split large recording into multiple chapters of usually 4GB file size. You could use a standard video editing program to join the pieces together, then when adding this video to maps.video choose the GoPro Single & Joined option but select all the chapters and click ok to the notice that pops up. maps.video will join together the gps from all the chapters. You then put the filename of the video edited from the video editor into the filename input and add the video to the map. Then Browse… for the edited video. The long video should then load.
How do I delete a video route I added to the map?
Find the video route you want to delete and if you are signed in with the correct account, three horizontal dots will show below right the video. Click this button and choose Delete. The video route will be permanently deleted but the video will remain either on YouTube or your local disk. No actual videos will be deleted, just the video route track. The video route deletion can not be undone as all the data is permanently erased.
How do I share my feedback about the website or apps?
You can send an email to tom@maps.video. I will be most grateful for any feedback you can provide.
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