Map Assistant

Select Map Assistant… from the Slideshow menu to create a new map layer or edit an existing one.

The assistant displays a large map view and three editing areas in the sidebar on the right side: Map, Locations, and Route.

Map

The blue frame defines that map region to be rendered:

• Move the blue frame by clicking inside and dragging it
• Resize the blue frame by dragging an edge or corner control point

Type into the Search field to look for various place around the world.

If you have scrolled the map so that the blue frame is no longer visible, you can click on Reset to Visible to move the blue frame to the current visible region.

If you have resized the blue frame so that it no longer matches the aspect ration of the Stage, you can click on Reset to Stage to resize the blue frame.

If you have defines a travel route, you can click on Resize for Route so that the blue frame has the optimum size for the travel route.

If you intend to use a zoom animation for the map layer, then the map layer should be slightly larger than the Stage to avoid blurry pixels. Choose a Zoom Range to automatically enlarge the rendered map as needed.

The Map Type determines the content and visual appearance of the map. Please note that you can further customize the appearance by applying one or more Effects to the map layer.

Locations

Locations are displayed as round dots on the map. These dots will be visible as long as the map layer is visible. There are several ways to add locations:

• Click on Load GPX… to load waypoints from a GPX file.
• Click anywhere on the map to add a new location.
• Click on an existing location to move it.
• Right-click on an existing location to delete it again.

Route

Define an animated travel route in this section. There are several ways to create a travel route:

• Click on Load GPX… to load a track from a GPX file.
• Create a travel route manually by clicking on the map several times. Each click adds a new point to the route.
• Click on an existing route point to move it.
• Right-click on an existing route point to delete it again.
• Right-click on an existing route point to mark it as a Waypoint. Wapypoints are larger and can be used to mark important places that you have visited, e.g. cities during your trip, or campsites.
• Hold the ⌥ key and drag a line segment to create a curved segment.
• Click on Delete Route to remove the entire travel route.