Modern day web services are extremely powerful, and fully work in all modern web browsers, so no additional installations or anything like that is needed. And one such extremely impressive online service is Google Maps. Used by millions of users across the world, Google Maps lets you navigate your way better, and includes features like real-time transit directions, alternative routes, and much more. But what if I told you that you can animate Google Maps as well? That’d be insane, right?
As it turns out, you indeed can, thanks to Animaps. It’s a brilliant online service that lets you create interactive animated maps. Essentially, Animaps builds on the My Maps feature of Google Maps to create animated maps that can be interacted with. You can create animated routes between two locations, add pop-up descriptions and images, time durations, transit markers, and much more. Once everything is done, you can share your animated maps with others as a playable video. Intrigued? Let’s get a detailed look.
How To Use This Online Service To Create Interactive Animated Maps?
Step 1: Before getting started with Animaps, you need to create a free account, as all your created animated maps are synced to it. Account creation can be easily done on the homepage. Once logged in, the online map editor of Animaps is launched. It sports a dual pane UI, with the left pane having the navigation and map creation options, and the right pane displaying the map for editing. Here’s how it looks like:
Step 2: Click on the New Map button on the left to start off, and a pop-up lets you enter details such as the map name, description, and time duration. Once you do that, you can simply zoom in on the map area that you want to animate with visual elements, and start adding them via overlay options. For each of these elements, such as starting and ending markers, routes, images etc., you can create animations by clicking the Animate me! button in the information box. Once you’re done, click on the Save button on the left to save the animated map. Here’s a screenshot:
That’s it. You’ve successfully created an animated map. To preview the video of this map, simply hit the Open Playback button, and the playable video will be launched in a new browser tab. You can then use the unique video URL to share it with others. How cool is that?
Also See: Free Online Map Creator Service: Mapbox
Closing Thoughts
Animaps is a powerful free online service that lets you create great looking animated map videos easily and effortlessly. It takes a while getting used to, but once you get a hang of it, things get pretty easy. Try it out, and let me know how you find it in the comments.
