google earth icon follow track in fixed orientation

I've created a track in google earth and included an icon to follow the track when it's played. The icon is a photo. Currently as the icon follows the track it re-orientates with the track direction. I want to make the icon follow the path of the track but maintain a fixed orientation. For example the photo used as the icon should follow the track but always stay the correct orientation on the screen. Is this possible?

Solution

You can use the <gx:angles> tag to specify the angle of the icon image.

That tag lets you define 3 angles (heading, tilt, roll), which are relevant to 3D models, but only the first one (heading) is used for icons. For example, to remove all rotation, use: <gx:angles>0,0,0</gx:angles> (or <gx:angles>0</gx:angles> works for an icon).

You will need to inject a <gx:angles>...</gx:angles> tag for each of the <when> and <gx:coord> tags in your track, and they go all in a group, right after the <gx:coord> tags. Should be relatively easy to do with a text editor, just find/count the number of <when> or <gx:coord> tags, and paste in that same number of <gx:angles> tags, like the example below.

For more info on the use of <gx:angles>, see the KML Reference documentation for <gx:Track> and "Elements Specific to Track": https://developers.google.com/kml/documentation/kmlreference#elements-specific-to-track

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2" xmlns:gx="http://www.google.com/kml/ext/2.2" xmlns:kml="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2">
<Document>
  <name>Track angles sample</name>
  <open>1</open>
  <Style id="multiTrack">
    <IconStyle>
      <scale>1.2</scale>
      <Icon>
        <href>http://earth.google.com/images/kml-icons/track-directional/track-0.png</href>
      </Icon>
    </IconStyle>
    <LineStyle>
      <color>99ffac59</color>
      <width>8</width>
    </LineStyle>
  </Style>
  <Placemark>
    <name>Track no heading</name>
    <styleUrl>#multiTrack</styleUrl>
    <gx:Track>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:40:00Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:40:14Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:40:21Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:40:34Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:40:43Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:40:55Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:40:58Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:41:09Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:41:19Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:41:28Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:41:34Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:41:45Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:42:09Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:42:19Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:42:26Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:42:36Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:42:44Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:42:54Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:43:07Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:43:25Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:43:36Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:43:40Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:43:43Z</when>
      <when>2018-02-11T20:43:52Z</when>
      <gx:coord>-122.199034 37.848592 434.65</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.199048 37.848607 435.13</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198994 37.848681 431.77</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198893 37.848839 433.21</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198838 37.84894 435.61</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198777 37.849058 437.06</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198761 37.849086 437.54</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198706 37.849269 435.13</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.19871 37.849278 434.65</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.19872 37.849313 435.13</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198712 37.849318 435.13</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198682 37.849315 436.58</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198669 37.849327 436.1</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198529 37.849297 435.13</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198439 37.849289 433.69</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198284 37.849231 433.69</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198191 37.849186 434.17</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.198076 37.849115 434.65</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.197967 37.849155 434.65</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.197937 37.849166 435.13</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.19793 37.849157 435.13</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.197881 37.849172 436.58</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.197844 37.849167 436.58</gx:coord>
      <gx:coord>-122.197708 37.849201 438.5</gx:coord>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
      <gx:angles>0</gx:angles>
    </gx:Track>
  </Placemark>
</Document>
</kml>