Decorated path

The Decorated path objects are located in the Toolbox. The Decorated Path can be used in conjunction with a map or placed on any other background.
 
Open the Objects tab and go to the Route animation section.
 
If you want a route animation that always runs at a constant speed, select the Decorated path, evenly.
For individual timings (e.g. faster at the beginning, then slower between certain marks and then faster again), select the Decorated path with individual time distribution.

Path with Motion marks

After you have dragged the object from the Toolbox into the Timeline, a red, curved path appears in the Layout designer.
On this line you will find that there are already several points. These are the Motion marks. An active Motion mark, which you can edit, is colored orange. Click on a white dot to activate the editing of the Motion mark.  By pushing or pulling with the mouse you can move the Motion marks in the Layout designer and change the course of the line.

To easily reach or adjust individual marks, we recommend using AquaSoft Video Vision and Stages the additional use of Manual input.

Line with movement markers and individual time distribution

You can remove motion marks by clicking on them and pressing the  Del  key  or by  clicking  on the square Minus symbol in the Layout designer. If you would like to insert a new motion mark, press the square Plus symbol or use the  Insert  key. You can change  the position of the motion marks by holding down the mouse button and moving them in the Layout designer.

For routes with individual time distribution, use the Time mark field to specify how much time the line needs to get from one mark to the next.

Define your route in the Layout designer using the motion markers.

Settings for the Decorated path

In the Properties window you can now decide on a variety of settings for the Decorated path.

If required, assign a name for a better overview of the project, especially when working with multiple paths.

Under Path you can specify the style of the path, and the Width can be changed individually.

The Width is given in the standard coordinates of the Layout designer, meaning that 1,000 corresponds to 100 % of the screen. In this case, the shorter side of the screen (ii.e. usually the height).

Paths that consist of irregular patterns/color sections can be played with Animate path so that the path pattern appears animated.

With Limit length "No value" (or value=0 s), the path is shown with its entire length during the runtime, without a running end. If the path should only have a certain length and not show the entire distance between the starting point and end point, a time can be entered here for the length. (The time input refers to the time of the movement markers or their time difference).

You can use the Behavior at the end to determine whether the path should continue to Show the whole path after the animation has finished or whether it should be shortened, i.e. the path is retracted towards the end point. (For a complete shortening, the display duration of the path object may need to be increased).

If you activate the checkbox under Colorize, you can color the path under Hue.

A vehicle can be placed at the top of the line, which you select in the Vehicle section. These are sorted in the gallery according to land, air and water vehicles. Select the desired vehicle with a click.

You can also select your own graphic from your hard disk in the gallery under My picture. Double-click on Custom image and select a file. This should be a png file with a transparent background.

You can also adjust the vehicle width to suit your requirements.

The vehicle can be given an image effect using the Effect button.

Copy Decorated path

Drag the Map Animation object from the Toolbox into the Timeline. Select a map view in the Map Wizard. Now go to the Timeline. Open the object with the title Map Animation. Click on the object Decorated path. In the Properties window set the Width to a lower value, such as 20.

Under Vehicle select bike. Now right click on the object Decorated path in the Timeline. In the Context Menu, choose Copy. Press Ctrl +  v , to paste the Decorated path a second time.

Set parallel Motion Marks

Place the second Decorated path in the Timeline precisely underneath the first Decorated path so that the Objects are displayed at the same time. In the Layout designer place the Motion marks of the second line so that they are next to the first line. The easiest way to do this is to move all Motion marks simultaneously (in the Context Menu of the Layout designer choose Select All Markers or use  Ctrl + A ).

Two bicycles next to each other

The result can be checked by pressing  f7 . The preview will then start in the Layout designer.