Unless major problems are reported, this will become the first public beta.
Main changes from version 1.0.20:
Tagging from GPS log files now works for fifteen days and then requires a registration key. All other features remain active.
GPX files from devices that save sub-second timestamps are now supported.
GPX files that do not contain trackpoints no longer cause GPS2Aperture to go into an endless loop when adding them to the trackpool.
Tested with Aperture 2.1.2.
IPTC data is now cached by GPS2Aperture and re-applied if the fields are emptied by Aperture.
Keyboard shortcuts added for most actions.
Tagging multiple images from a log file is now much faster and reliable.
The Viewer window has been altered to make the co-ordinate fields larger, and tabbing from field to field will select all the text in the new field.
Assorted bugfixes and cosmetic changes, see readme.txt for full details.
Known Issues:
Google Earth does not pass altitude information on to other applications, so the Altitude field will usually be empty when retrieving positions from Google Earth.
Positions of previously-tagged images are currently ignored when tagging from log files.
Only supports GPX-format log files at this time. If your log files are in a different format, GPSBabel will convert them for free.
Tagging From Log Files
Launch Aperture, Google Earth and GPS2Aperture, then in GPS2Aperture use Window>Logging to bring up the logging window.
Adding Log Files
Use File>Add GPS to Trackpool... or the 'Add to Trackppol' buttons to add GPX log files. Each file only needs to be added once.
Note - there is no need to remove logs from the trackpool as GPS2Aperture doesn't slow down with large number of log files.
Calibrating the Camera Clock
If you aren't sure of the accuracy of the clock in your camera, use the 'Calibrate' button or Logger>Calibrate Clock to create a visual overlay in Google Earth, showing the image and a series of timestamped arrows showing the amount of time from that position to the photo position.
Read off the time on the arrow that is closest to the actual position and enter the time offset in the relevant fields. E.G. if the '6 minutes fast' arrow is the closest to the actual location, change the drop-down menu to 'Fast' and enter 6 in the minutes field.
If you want to double-check and fine tune the time offset, hit 'Calibrate' again to see if the image is now in the correct position.
Note - if multiple images are selected in Aperture, only the first one will be used for calibration.
Note 2 - after calibrating, the image and track line will stay in Google Earth until you delete them from the 'Temporary Places' section or you close Google Earth and choose not to save items from 'Temporary Places'.
Get GPS Positions for all Selected Images
In Aperture, select all the images you want to tag.
In GPS2Aperture use Logger>Get Positions or the 'Get Positions' button to retrieve GPS coordinates for all the selected images in Aperture. If you've ticked 'Fetch geographic data' and you have an active internet connection, GPS2Aperture will attempt to retrieve the country, country code, closest inhabited place and distance to the place from www.geonames.org.
The images names, coordinates and other information will then be listed in a table at the bottom of the logging window.
Note - any time offsets in the camera clock section will be applied when retrieving coordinates, and if you change the time offset you will need to click 'Get Positions' again.
Previewing Positions in Google Earth
Once you have retrieved coordinates for images, you can use the 'Preview' buttons at the end of each line to view that position in Google Earth. Like the regular GPS2Aperture window, this just makes Google Earth pan to the position but doesn't place the image in Google Earth.
To preview the positions of all the images at once use Logger>Preview All or hit 'Preview All'. GPS2Aperture will generate a thumbnail from each of the selected images and show them in Google Earth. Each of the thumbnails can be clicked on to see a larger image in a window, just like anchors for Panoramio images. The window will also contain the version name, UTC timestamp and caption.
If you tick 'Include paths and times' you will also get a green line showing your movements during the time the photographs were taken, along with timestamp arrows showing the time in UTC.
Note - these preview images and paths will be over-written every time you hit 'Preview All', so if you want to keep them you will need to export them as KMZ files. The small thumbnails don't seem to be kept properly when you do this, but I'm working on that for a future version.
Note 2 - after previewing, the images and track line will stay in Google Earth until you delete them from the 'Temporary Places' section or you close Google Earth and choose not to save items from 'Temporary Places'.
Applying the Information to Aperture
Once you have positions for the selected images showing in the table, you can use Logger>Apply GPS or the 'Apply' button to embed the GPS data in the master files and update information in Aperture. Due to current limitations in Aperture's scriptability, GPS2Aperture will reveal each selected image in it's home Project on after the other. The IPTC Country Name, Country Code and City tags will be filled in automatically if you ticked 'Fetch geographic data' when getting the positions.
Note - only images that have online masters will be tagged with GPS data or IPTC geographic data.
Backing Up
GPS2Aperture automatically backs up all master images when you embed GPS data in them, saving them in ~/Pictures/GPS2Aperture Backups. You can pick another location in GPS2Aperture's preferences, or even turn off the back up option but obviously this will be at your own risk.
The images will be saved in folders with odd-looking names such as '1KDV3G31QBuVpvLLYAC08Q'. This is the unique ID for that master file within Aperture, and means that each image will only be backed up once, unlike Maperture which creates a new backup file each time you use it on the same image. This unique ID also means that a future version of GPS2Aperture would be able to restore the original masters back to Aperture.
Time Zones
GPS2Aperture uses Aperture's time zone information to help work out the universal time that the image was taken. This means that you need to be quite careful to use the time zone settings properly.
Make sure that your computer is set to the current timezone by using the Time Zone tab of the Date & Time preference pan in System Preferences.
If your camera is set to local time, do not use the time zone settings when importing images as they should automatically be set correctly by Aperture.
If your camera is set to UTC, make sure that you use the time zone controls when importing images into the camera. Set the 'Camera Time Zone' drop-down menu to UTC and set the 'Actual Time Zone' drop-down menu to the time zone that the computer is currently set to.
You can do this at a later stage, but you will need to set the 'Actual Time Zone' to the time zone that the computer was set to when you imported the images.
The fifth beta is now available:
http://www.aperture-assistant.com/files/downloads/gps2aperture_1.0.23_be... (5.4MB)
Unless major problems are reported, this will become the first public beta.
Main changes from version 1.0.20:
Known Issues:
Tagging From Log Files
Launch Aperture, Google Earth and GPS2Aperture, then in GPS2Aperture use Window>Logging to bring up the logging window.
Adding Log Files
Use File>Add GPS to Trackpool... or the 'Add to Trackppol' buttons to add GPX log files. Each file only needs to be added once.
Note - there is no need to remove logs from the trackpool as GPS2Aperture doesn't slow down with large number of log files.
Calibrating the Camera Clock
If you aren't sure of the accuracy of the clock in your camera, use the 'Calibrate' button or Logger>Calibrate Clock to create a visual overlay in Google Earth, showing the image and a series of timestamped arrows showing the amount of time from that position to the photo position.
Read off the time on the arrow that is closest to the actual position and enter the time offset in the relevant fields. E.G. if the '6 minutes fast' arrow is the closest to the actual location, change the drop-down menu to 'Fast' and enter 6 in the minutes field.
If you want to double-check and fine tune the time offset, hit 'Calibrate' again to see if the image is now in the correct position.
Note - if multiple images are selected in Aperture, only the first one will be used for calibration.
Note 2 - after calibrating, the image and track line will stay in Google Earth until you delete them from the 'Temporary Places' section or you close Google Earth and choose not to save items from 'Temporary Places'.
Get GPS Positions for all Selected Images
In Aperture, select all the images you want to tag.
In GPS2Aperture use Logger>Get Positions or the 'Get Positions' button to retrieve GPS coordinates for all the selected images in Aperture. If you've ticked 'Fetch geographic data' and you have an active internet connection, GPS2Aperture will attempt to retrieve the country, country code, closest inhabited place and distance to the place from www.geonames.org.
The images names, coordinates and other information will then be listed in a table at the bottom of the logging window.
Note - any time offsets in the camera clock section will be applied when retrieving coordinates, and if you change the time offset you will need to click 'Get Positions' again.
Previewing Positions in Google Earth
Once you have retrieved coordinates for images, you can use the 'Preview' buttons at the end of each line to view that position in Google Earth. Like the regular GPS2Aperture window, this just makes Google Earth pan to the position but doesn't place the image in Google Earth.
To preview the positions of all the images at once use Logger>Preview All or hit 'Preview All'. GPS2Aperture will generate a thumbnail from each of the selected images and show them in Google Earth. Each of the thumbnails can be clicked on to see a larger image in a window, just like anchors for Panoramio images. The window will also contain the version name, UTC timestamp and caption.
If you tick 'Include paths and times' you will also get a green line showing your movements during the time the photographs were taken, along with timestamp arrows showing the time in UTC.
Note - these preview images and paths will be over-written every time you hit 'Preview All', so if you want to keep them you will need to export them as KMZ files. The small thumbnails don't seem to be kept properly when you do this, but I'm working on that for a future version.
Note 2 - after previewing, the images and track line will stay in Google Earth until you delete them from the 'Temporary Places' section or you close Google Earth and choose not to save items from 'Temporary Places'.
Applying the Information to Aperture
Once you have positions for the selected images showing in the table, you can use Logger>Apply GPS or the 'Apply' button to embed the GPS data in the master files and update information in Aperture. Due to current limitations in Aperture's scriptability, GPS2Aperture will reveal each selected image in it's home Project on after the other. The IPTC Country Name, Country Code and City tags will be filled in automatically if you ticked 'Fetch geographic data' when getting the positions.
Note - only images that have online masters will be tagged with GPS data or IPTC geographic data.
Backing Up
GPS2Aperture automatically backs up all master images when you embed GPS data in them, saving them in ~/Pictures/GPS2Aperture Backups. You can pick another location in GPS2Aperture's preferences, or even turn off the back up option but obviously this will be at your own risk.
The images will be saved in folders with odd-looking names such as '1KDV3G31QBuVpvLLYAC08Q'. This is the unique ID for that master file within Aperture, and means that each image will only be backed up once, unlike Maperture which creates a new backup file each time you use it on the same image. This unique ID also means that a future version of GPS2Aperture would be able to restore the original masters back to Aperture.
Time Zones
GPS2Aperture uses Aperture's time zone information to help work out the universal time that the image was taken. This means that you need to be quite careful to use the time zone settings properly.
Make sure that your computer is set to the current timezone by using the Time Zone tab of the Date & Time preference pan in System Preferences.
If your camera is set to local time, do not use the time zone settings when importing images as they should automatically be set correctly by Aperture.
If your camera is set to UTC, make sure that you use the time zone controls when importing images into the camera. Set the 'Camera Time Zone' drop-down menu to UTC and set the 'Actual Time Zone' drop-down menu to the time zone that the computer is currently set to.
You can do this at a later stage, but you will need to set the 'Actual Time Zone' to the time zone that the computer was set to when you imported the images.
Let me know how you get on,
Ian