Guide · 10 min
Show a trip with planes, trains and ferries on one map
Animate a multi-modal journey, flying in, taking the train, catching a ferry and finishing on foot, with a different icon, colour and line style for each leg.
Updated
In MapAnimate a route is made of legs. Draw the first leg, then use "New leg" to start the next part from the end of the route with another transport, or select a point and choose "Change transport from here". Each leg has its own icon, colour, line style and speed.
Step by step
- Draw the first part of the trip with one transport, for example Plane.
- Click New leg and choose the next transport, for example Train, then keep drawing.
- Or select an existing point and choose Change transport from here to split a leg.
- Adjust each leg's colour, line style and speed in the Route panel.
- Set the camera to Follow: it zooms out automatically on long flights.
- Export the MP4.
Legs, not one long line
Real trips mix transport: a flight to Bangkok, a night train north, a bus over the border, a slow boat down the Mekong. MapAnimate keeps each part as a leg with its own transport, so the marker turns from a plane into a train exactly where you changed.
Line styles that explain themselves
Every transport has a default line: flights are dashed great-circle arcs, boats are dashed smooth curves, walking is dotted, and road and rail are solid. Viewers read the trip without a legend. You can still override colour and style per leg.
Speeds that feel right
A 9,000 km flight and a 3 km walk shouldn't take the same screen time, but the flight shouldn't take 3,000 times longer either. MapAnimate shares the video length between legs by distance, softened so short legs stay visible, and you can speed up or slow down any leg.
Try a template
The Banana Pancake Trail template mixes train, bus and plane legs. Open it in the editor and change it to your own trip.
Ready to animate your trip?
Free, in your browser, no account. MP4 up to 4K.
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