How do I build and animate a road route inside the app?

Build the track from your places

You can find places and build a road route inside JJ Route Animator; preparing a file in Google My Maps is optional.

1. Find the places you need in the app's place library, or add points manually.
2. Use those points to build the route along roads.
3. Check the resulting path on the map before creating the animation.

A point identifies a place. The track is the path between places. A clip adds the camera movement and animation. Having the points and track on the map is the preparation stage; the next step is to create a clip.

Make the camera follow the route

1. Create a New Clip Track Following for the prepared track.
2. Set the clip duration in seconds. JJ calculates a camera altitude using the route and duration.
3. Select the place markers you want to show and enable their visibility. The video guide uses V to toggle selected points.
4. If the markers should appear before the route reaches them, set their lead time with Points Appear.
5. Scrub the timeline or press Space to play the clip.

The expected result is a camera travelling above and along the track, with markers appearing at their configured times. If the camera view is too close or follows too many small bends, increase its altitude, adjust the angle, and recalculate the timeline before playing it again.

To see the camera setup and timeline recalculation, follow the Track Following video walkthrough. The video uses an imported route for its demonstration; use its clip-setup steps once your own road track is ready. It does not demonstrate the current built-in route builder.

The route is visible, but it does not move

Check that the intended track is active in the clip. An inactive track does not animate. Check marker visibility separately: activating a track does not replace showing its points.

Once playback shows the intended movement, save the clip version before exporting.

Can I build an off-road route or edit a Google Earth track?

The built-in route builder currently follows roads. Off-road construction and editing the geometry of tracks imported from Google Earth are not available.

You can still import a prepared KML or KMZ file. If a Google Earth path needs correction, edit it in the tool where you prepared it, then import the revised data.

If you are using a prepared file, continue with Importing KML and KMZ Routes.