Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Earth Studio for?
Earth Studio is a web-based animation tool for Google Earth imagery. Google Earth has a massive store of satellite and aerial (3D) imagery from large-scale geological features to individual city buildings. Earth Studio is the easiest way to leverage this imagery for still and animated content.
How is Earth Studio different from Google Earth?
Earth Studio and Google Earth serve different purposes. Google Earth enables you to travel and learn about the world through a virtual globe. You can view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and much more. Earth Studio, on the other hand, is a tool for animating geospatial information to create still and video content. They both share the same imagery dataset and use the same 3D rendering engine but have different features. Read more about Earth Studio here.
How do I get access?
Earth Studio requires a Google account and currently works in Google Chrome only. To request access, please fill out the form here. You will receive an email whether or not you are accepted.
Can I use Earth Studio for commercial applications?
We currently do not offer a license to use Google Earth imagery for commercial applications. This includes using Earth Studio content without attribution.
What terms apply to my use of Earth Studio?
We ask that you follow our Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service, and that all content created and distributed follows our attribution guidelines, which include the requirement that ‘Google Earth’ and third-party imagery providers (if applicable) shown on screen for the duration of said content.
What types of content can I use Earth Studio for?
As long as content created from Earth Studio is properly attributed, it can be used for any application such as research, education, film and nonprofit use. For more information and other uses, please review our permission guidelines.
Who owns the content I create in Earth Studio?
You keep ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in content created using Earth Studio. Google, its licensors, or users own content that can be viewed and used via Earth Studio, subject to the Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service. For more information, please refer to our permission guidelines.
Where does the imagery come from?
Google Earth imagery encompasses information that is available from a broad range of providers, including public, government, and commercial sources. The same information is generally available to anyone who licenses or purchases it from these sources.
Why is Earth Studio Chrome-only?
Earth and Earth Studio both run on a web technology called WebAssembly. This allows Google Earth to work on most broswers today. However, Earth Studio still relies on a couple of Chrome-only APIs for rendering animations. We are continuously investigating alternative rendering methods that could work in other browsers.
Why don't my KMLs work properly in Earth Studio?
Most moderately-sized KML files and simple features should work in Earth Studio. While we work to support more advanced features you can keep using the classic desktop Google Earth app. Learn more.
What's the best way to get support?
Learn more about how to use Earth Studio and its features in our documentation, which contains helpful tutorials and best practices. You can also provide feedback directly from the tool under Help > Give Feedback.