Guide · 5 min
How to overlay an animated route on your own video
Export the animated route, vehicle, signs and titles as a transparent WebM video and layer it over drone footage, a map from another source or your own graphics.
Updated
In MapAnimate, open Export and choose Transparent. The video contains only the route line, the vehicle, signs, labels and titles, with an alpha channel (VP9 WebM), and no map. Place it on a track above your footage in DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, Final Cut (after converting) or a browser-based editor.
Step by step
- Build your route, signs and titles as usual; the map is used for framing only.
- Open Export and choose Transparent as the format.
- Render and download the WebM file.
- Put it on the track above your footage in your video editor.
- Line it up with the shot, and scale or move it if needed.
What the transparent export contains
Everything drawn over the map: the route line, the vehicle and its trail, signs and photo prints, leg labels, the distance counter and title cards. The map itself, the vignette, the film grain and the map credit are left out, and every other pixel is fully transparent.
Which editors can use it
The file is a WebM with VP9 video and an alpha channel. DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro read it directly, and so do browser-based editors. Final Cut Pro and iMovie don't read WebM: convert it to ProRes 4444, which keeps transparency, with a tool such as FFmpeg or Shutter Encoder.
Matching your footage
The route is positioned for the map view you framed in MapAnimate. To line it up with your own background, use the same framing. A Fixed camera is easiest, and a satellite or drone shot taken from straight above works best. You can also hide the line and keep just the titles, labels and counter as animated graphics.
Sound
Transparent exports have no soundtrack. Export an MP4 as well if you want the music, voice-over or effects.
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