Looking for a Great Map Animator

[Brad Hurley]

I’ve used the FCPX Maps plugin and the new version is pretty stable (the original version did crash a lot). I did a lot of research before buying it and as far as I know this is the best plugin currently available for this particular task. The plugin is pretty straightforward; you do need to set up a Mapbox account first and you may have a bit of trial and error in terms of selecting the right number of map tiles for your purposes.

However, I’m sure you can find tutorials online for doing the same thing yourself using Motion (I believe Ripple Training did a free one a few years ago). If you think you’ll need more flexibility that what the plugin offers it’s probably worth learning how to do it in Motion which will then give you transferrable skills that you can use in other effects.

[Brad Hurley]

As an addendum, I found the Ripple Training free tutorial I mentioned above:

https://www.rippletraining.com/articles/free-motion-video-tutorials/2015/03/02/animating-a-map/

This kind of thing can also be done in Fusion in DaVinci Resolve, which is where I’m doing my current animated map project. I’m dropping a bunch of icons onto a map from offscreen, separated in one-second intervals. The hardest part of the project was getting a good high-resolution map; I ended up using free GIS software (QGIS with Natural Earth) and exporting a high-resolution map image from that.

[Ray Sherman]

Thank You for your input and help.
It’s good to know that you had a good experience with the newer version of FCPX Maps 1.1. I’m unaware of what a Mapbox account is therefore, I’ll look into it. I would really like to give Maps 1.1 a try.
On the other hand, Marks video in Motion for map animation looks to be very interesting. I would like to see further in depth training on this in both Motion & FCPX. As Mark mentioned, further controls could be found in their Call Outs plugin. I’ll do some more research for this………
I may look into DaVinci Resolve as well down the road. I see that there is quite a lot you can do with it. Thanks again, I appreciate your help. Ray ????

[Ray Sherman]

I can’t find much information about Mapbox. Since you have FCPX Maps 1.1 and a Mapbox account could you tell me if Mapbox is a monthly/yearly subscription thats needed to run this plugin? Any info. in regards to Mapbox would be most appreciated. Thanks again, Ray

[Ray Sherman]

I went to https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ and it appears that a paid subscription is needed. It all looks a little confusing to me. Ray

[Brad Hurley]

Hi Ray — you don’t need a paid subscription to Mapbox to be able to use the plugin.

You can set up a free account (which is what I have; I’ve had a free Mapbox account for many years). You will need the API code from your free account if you end up using the PixelStudios plugin, but the plugin instructions tell you how to do that. It’s very straightforward.

As for finding more tutorials on Motion, Ripple Training is a great source for training on FCPX and Motion. Mark really knows Motion; he also has a good tutorial on Fusion in DaVinci Resolve if you end up going that route.

[Ray Sherman]

Thank You Brad,
That’s great news in regards to Mapbox. Based on your experience with the newer FCPX Maps 1.1, I’ll go ahead and give it a try. I also took a look at mTravel by Motionvfx which looks to be a great plugin as well. I don’t have Motion 5 yet but, I will be purchasing it very soon. I totally agree with you in regards to Ripple Training. Both Steve and Mark are in a word, Awesome. I have their FCPX training videos and I definitely will be going for their Motion 5 tutorials. Thanks again Brad, I sincerely appreciate your help and experience. Ray ????????

[Ray Sherman]

The following is similar to what I would like to create. Will Motion 5 come close to doing so? If so, does anyone know of any tutorials that may be available? Thanks, Ray

13612_mapanimationexample.mov.zip

[Ray Sherman]

You may also view it here on YouTube. Thanks again, Ray
https://youtu.be/jOyefwAZSEA

[Brad Hurley]

Hi Ray — in addition to the Ripple Training tutorial on animating a map in Motion (which I linked to earlier), there are a few others on youtube; a Google search will turn them up. Here’s one for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi0kq0Ig-C4

I imagine you can add the other elements of the animation in Motion too (the animated signs and crosses, etc.) but my experience with motion graphics is very limited (and I’m using Fusion now, not Motion, only because I mainly use Resolve these days).

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