Steve's Tips
Making a line appear on a map
There are a couple of ways to make a line appear to be drawn across a map. In this edition of Steve’s Tips, I’ll offer two: The Quick and Dirty Method, which can be done in a few minutes, and the Deep Method, which takes a bit longer but can offer much more interesting results.
To do either, you’ll need two virtually identical graphics: One is the map itself (which we’ll call the “Before” graphic); the other is the same map but with the line drawn across (which we’ll call the “After” graphic). Click on the thumbnail illustrations to see full-sized graphics.
The Quick and Dirty Method
)
Real simple. Put the Before graphic on the timeline. Put the After graphic on the timeline right after. Drag the Wipe transition between them, as illustrated on the right. Check the Reverse option for the transition if you want it to wipe right-to-left. Stretch the transition to widen it and lengthen its duration, if you’d like. Voila. You’re done.
The Deep Method
)
The second method goes a little deeper into the program, but it gives you many more options and the possibility of much more dramatic results.
The method uses two video tracks. Place the Before graphic on the timeline on Video 1, then place the After graphic directly above it on Video 2. Your Monitor will display, of course, only the graphic on Video 2.
Drag the Crop effect onto the After graphic on Video 2 and, with the graphic selected, click on the triangle to the left of the Crop listing in the Properties panel to reveal the detail settings for this effect: Top, Bottom, Left and Right Side. The settings are all out zero but, if you click and drag across any, you’ll see the numbers roll up (These numbers represent a measurement, in pixels, across the video frame) and, as they do, you’ll see that side of the image cropped away.
With all the settings at zero and the CTI at the end of the clip, click on the Animation Toggle next to the Crop listing in the Properties panel to start the keyframing session. A column of keyframe points will be generated, one adjacent each side setting in the Crop effect. Now move the CTI to the beginning of the clip and, dragging across the settings for the side or side that will best reveal your map line, crop away the After image until the line has disappeared. New keyframe points will automatically be generated at the CTI position to represent these settings, as you can see in the illustration on the left.
This creates the basic beginning and end points for keyframing the Crop effect, in essence revealing the After graphic gradually. As with any motion path, you can add additional keyframes to customize the movement of the cropping.
Adding spice
)
One advantage to using the Deep Method for doing this effect is that you can a little spice to adding some motion to the graphics themselves in addition to the moving line. To do this, place the Before graphic on Timeline and, before you add the After graphic, keyframe a little panning and zooming. (See my Steve’s Tips article on keyframing.) Set the CTI, for instance, at the beginning of the clip and click the Animation Toggle in the Properties panel for Motion (creating a column of keyframe points at the CTI position) and then, moving the CTI to the end of the clip, set the Scale for a zoom in to what will be the final destination of the map’s line. Change the Position settings to center it. You can even rotate it a few degrees. New keyframe points will automatically be added, creating a pan and zoom motion path for your Before graphic.
Now right-click on the clip and select Copy from the right-click menu.
Add the After clip to Video 2, positioned directly above the Before clip. Right click on the After clip and select Paste Attributes. This will apply the motion path you created for the Before clip to the After clip, putting their movements in perfect synchronization, as illustrated on the right.
Now apply the Crop effect, as described in the Deep Method above. When you play back the result, it will appear that, not only is a line being drawn across the map, but we are also simultaneously closing in on the line’s destination.
I’ve posted an example of this effect here.
Last Updated August 2006
About Steve
Steve Grisetti earned a master's degree in writing for television and film from Ohio University. He has instructed college-level courses in television and video production, and has taught adult education classes on Photoshop and principles of design.
Steve spent nearly 10 years in the Los Angeles-based entertainment industry, working on the sets and in the production offices of several large television and film companies. Currently, he is employed as a graphic designer in the Marketing & Communications Department of a Milwaukee-based investment firm.
He also serves as host on Adobe's official Premiere Elements Support Forum and is author, with Chuck Engels, of "Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 In a Snap," from Sams Publishing, Pearson Education.
