How to Draw a Driving Route on an Animated Map
Routes bring your map animations to life by visually connecting locations with flight arcs, real road geometry, or straight directional lines. Mapimator supports three route modes and fetches real road data automatically.
4 min read · Updated May 1, 2025
What you'll learn
- Add a route using the Quick-Add Toolbar
- Switch between Flight, Driving, and Direct modes
- Move route handles to reposition start and end points
- Style routes with custom colors and animation effects
Step-by-step guide
- 1
Click the Route tool
In the Quick-Add Toolbar (floating above the stage), click the Route tool. A route appears at the center of your current map view with a blue start handle and a red end handle.
- 2
Choose a route mode
In the right panel, select your mode: Driving (car icon) snaps to real roads, Flight (plane icon) draws a smooth intercontinental arc, and Direct (arrow icon) draws a straight line.
- 3
Position the start handle
Drag the blue start handle to your departure location. It snaps automatically to nearby pins if you have placed any. For Driving routes, the road path updates as soon as you release the handle.
- 4
Position the end handle
Drag the red end handle to your destination. For Driving mode, the Studio fetches real road geometry from the OSRM routing engine — the path follows actual streets and highways automatically.
- 5
Style the route
Use the right panel to change the line color, width, and style (solid or dashed). You can also choose an animation effect: Draw On (the line draws itself along the path) or Fade In.
- 6
Adjust the route animation timing
If you want the route to draw on during a specific transition, make sure the route is visible from the slide where you want it to appear. The draw-on animation plays during the transition into that slide.
Interactive walkthrough coming soon
A visual step-by-step guide with annotated screenshots will be available here. In the meantime, follow the written steps above or watch the video tutorials.
Watch video tutorials →Pro tips
- Driving routes work best between cities connected by major roads. For remote or cross-ocean legs, use Flight mode.
- Switching between modes (Flight, Driving, Direct) re-generates the path instantly without losing your handles.
- Use multiple short Driving routes to build a detailed road trip itinerary across several slides.