Tracking moving progress on a map

[Jayell]

I know there's been discussion in the past as to how to show movement on a map. I tried 'lens flare' but needed something other than white against a white map. A red dot actually worked quite well, but thought it might be fun to use a picture of my car. It's a little jerky, since this was my first try, but I'm actually quite pleased with the result. Just thought I'd share

http://www.muvipix.com/cpg/displayi ... p?pos=-919

[William Tranter]

Excellent, Jayell! You're definitely getting the right idea.

If I might make a suggestion, try 'Rotate'ing the car slightly to follow the road - it makes the image look more realistic.

I have often used this idea to portray movement over a map, but I have superimposed clips taken from the car as we have driven along. These are put on a superior video track at about 30-40% transparency, and I've found this method makes what COULD be rather 'boring' into a more dynamic experience (if you get what I'm trying to say!). You don't have to use video of ALL the drive, just a short clip or two showing something interesting on the way. The camcorder can be pointing ahead if you want to show the driver's view, or to the side to show a passenger's perspective. Either way works, with the 'cartoon' of the car travelling along the map route as the main subject of the completed clip.

Hope that this will help in the future,
All the best,
Bill

[Jayell]

Thanks for the additional tips, Bill. In this particular video, I used the car on the map a couple times. One time the car movement looked great, another time it just seemed to make it jerky. I definately see more practice required to get this down smoothly

[sidd finch]

I am not sure if you used this, but you might try adding the “Basic 3d” effect to the car. Keyframe the tilt like from -45 degrees to +45 degrees as it turns and it might make the car look a bit more realistic. Just a thought….

Sidd

[Jayell]

Thanks, Sidd. All thought accepted .. I hadn't thought of that. I'm just barely scratching the surface of understanding all the effects available.