How can I animate icons and labels on maps?

This documentation is always evolving.

Icon and label animation

As an example, let’s create a static frame with appearing textboxes. The animation process for icons and labels is the same.

Before animating an element, you need to add keyframes. Since we create a static frame, we’ll add a single keyframe and place it at 10 seconds. You can read more about this and other keyframe tips here.

Once the keyframes are created, you can add a textbox. 

Click on it and press the “Animate” button. The element will be added to the timeline at the position of the playhead and will have default animation settings, which you can adjust in the right menu. 

Let’s set a growing entry and an instant exit animation for all textboxes. You can also extend the animation so the textboxes remain visible throughout the video.

Use the menu and the timeline to further adjust the start and end time of the animation, as well as the duration of the growing effect. Note that the bar displays the static phase of the element, and the triangle-shaped handles show when it is being animated. You can explore the animation settings in more detail here.

Imported file animation

Similarly, you can animate imported points. You can apply an animation to each element individually or to the entire group. To animate a single element, double-click it and make sure the selection box surrounds only that element, not the entire group.

PRO-TIP

Icon motion path

You can animate the icon along a specific trajectory. To do this, create a line or route, attach the icon to it, and make the line transparent. This way, only the animation of the icon will remain visible.

You can learn more about different types of line and route animations in this article.

Animation of overlays and layers is not yet available in Mapcreator Next, but you can use our previous interface to access this feature.