How can I create animated routes on maps?

In this article, you will learn how to animate a line or a route from start to destination on your maps.

This documentation is always evolving.

We highly recommend reading the article on animated maps before moving on to this one.

Animated line (flight path)

To create a flight path, let’s add a Bezier line from London to New York. Once the line is complete, click on it and drag the center point to bend it. You can also adjust its styling in the popup menu on the right.

Now you can switch to video mode by clicking the camera icon in the bottom-left corner. Once you click it, a new interface will open, allowing you to create animated maps. Create the necessary keyframes (learn more here).

You can add a route first and then enter animation mode, or start in animation mode and add elements at any point. However, if this is your first time creating a video in Mapcreator, we recommend adding all elements such as routes, labels, and icons first, and then switching to animation mode. If you add elements after switching to animation mode, keep in mind that they will be animated by default. This means they won’t appear right at the start of the video, as animated elements usually fade or grow in. Simply play the video, and you will see them appear.

By default, the line and all added elements are static. To animate an element, select it from the elements list by clicking the box next to it. The line will then appear in the timeline tab.

In the menu on the right, you can set entry and exit animations for the line. For a flight path, we only need the entry animation, so set it to growing. Growing mode is typically used for lines and routes, but feel free to experiment with other options as well. Set the animation duration in milliseconds (ms). For example, 2000 ms means the line will grow over 2 seconds.

The basic line animation is ready, but we can improve it by adding a plane icon that moves along the line. To do this, enable the corresponding toggle, choose an icon from the set or upload your own. Make sure to enable “align with line direction” so the plane’s nose points in the direction of the flight.

Animated route

The animation process for lines and routes is the same. You can see a similar example with a route below:

This example also shows a setting that controls how the animation progresses over time:

• Linear method – the element grows at a constant speed during the entire animation.
• Ease method – the animation slows down towards the end.
• Bounce method – the element grows with a bouncing effect at the end.

PRO-TIPS

Icon-only animation

You can create a line or route, add an icon as shown in the examples above, but make the line transparent. This way, only the animated icon will be visible.

Static line and animated icon

If you want the icon to move along a static line, you will need two identical lines: one static and one growing with the icon added. To do this, create a growing line with the icon as shown in the examples above. Then duplicate the line and remove the animation from the duplicate. If you want, you can make the original growing line transparent.