http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/45430.page#234543

This the one you are looking for?

Software is called 'Route Generator'; and also 'Map Creator 2' - both of which are free software and I have used both with some success

(though would be interested myself if anyone has got a very good output quality from either software, they both appear to output 'avi' which can appear a bit grainy?) Director Suite 365
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Hi Ed71'

Thanks. This is a more recent discussion than the one I remembered, but it certainly looks as though it will help me.

Thanks again,

Robert

Hi Robert & Ed -

With Route Generator, you'd have to be doing something very badly to generate a grainy or poor quality video. You can import any map, at any resolution, you wish. During the route generation, .bmp files are generated for each frame of the video (same resolution as the original map) and these are compliled in the final .AVI. It's effectively made like a timelapse video.

In this example I imported a map I'd cropped to 3840x2160. i.e. each .bmp files is 3840x2160, as is the .AVI. I produced it to M2TS 3840x2160 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrCY6FzJC3c

The opening shot in the video is one of he generated 3840x2160 .BMP files - zooming in to about 25% of the screen. Attached image shows a 100% crop from one of the .bmp files - 600x338

Map Creator 2 works in a slightly different way. The maps are selected & modified from an online database at a maximum resolution of 1920x1080. Plus, the free version has watermarked maps, where Route Gen doesn't.

Cheers - Tony
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Tony,

Thanks.

Robert

Hi Tony,

I used the import from Google maps feature and produced at the standard settings using ffmpeg (MPEG-4 part 2) to get the attached video; which is nothing like the quality in your example - must be setting it up wrong I think? File size is very small as well - 1.01mb

Have tried the bmp2avi and though this produces larger files (700mb +) the quality is similar

The individual bmp are clear and sharp (apart from the car graphic)

Any help appreciated

Ed Director Suite 365
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Hi Ed -

What you've observed is probably to be expected, as the original map (based on the .bmp & .avi files) is only 853x576. If that was going to be your production output, that'd be OK - but not if you're trying to produce to 720 or 1080p.

In RouteGen preferences, the choice of codecs is from what's available on your PC.

I've also used the .bmp files in PDR - set the duration of each at 00:00:00:01 (1 frame) and produced the video directly as a timelapse. The output is slightly better than using the bmp2avi. By the way, those AVI files are mainly so big because of the bitrate. For the video I posted above, the input AVI was 128Mbps (MediaInfo report attached) In that case, each .bmp file was about 23MB

I've never used the import from Google Maps feature, but you can set the resolution required. I usually locate a high resolution map with the appropriate level of detail & import it as a graphic.

So - it's probably not your set up... but it's definitely your low res map!

About the car - the graphics in RouteGen are rubbish - remember this? http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/38489.page#198428 & I always import images with a decent resolution. There are some nice clean images attached.

Cheers - Tony
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Many thanks Tony, I had forgotten about the original thread!

Had also not realised that the output quality was set by the base image.

After some experimenting have found a method to get a good quality 'Google Maps' base map which as then resulted in a good quality video output, if anyone is interested I followed this method (found on a printers website)


Go to My Maps Google website https://www.google.com/mymaps

Click on ‘Create a new map’, you will be required to sign-in with your gmail account.

Search your location and zoom in/out as desired. In the left panel click on the doted bar icon next to ‘add layer’ and ‘share’. A drop down menu will appear, click on the last link ‘print map’. (add screen pic) Select the required size and output. Press print button to produce image or pdf file. Now save the pdf or image file from your browser onto your computer and use it in your art work. Director Suite 365
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Great work Ed!I hadn't used that feature of Google Maps before. Very good.

Followed your instructions and selected A3 for the print size. When the map displayed I chose "Save Image As" and got a 5152 x 3258 image, which would be nice & clean when rendered.

Side note - I've been fiddling with a way of recording the map route on a high res image then using Video Crop to zoom in & "follow" the vehicle.

Ed - it seems like you're getting on top of it!

Cheers - Tony
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Hi Ed & anyone else who cares -

Here's that little thing I was trying. I started with that 5152 x 3258 map & used Route Generator to plot the route. Next I used the 5152 x 3258 AVI file generated by RouteGen in PDR.

Because the video is such high resolution (in the ballpark of 5K), I could zoom inquite a way - produce to 1080p and still have a clean result.



Admittedly, I didn't take too much care with PDR's Crop & Zoom but you see the idea. It should be pretty clean at 1080p on full screen.



Cheers - Tony
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Hi Tony

Nice little tour round Bournemouth / Poole! Useful idea.

When I tried the highest resolution format cropped to 16:9, for example 5145 x 2903 - it completed the Route Gen process OK but the resulting video file is not recognised. (by either Windows media or PDr) (in WMP when follow the web help=indicates Windows Media Player error C00D11B1)

Tried again having resized the base image to 3840 x 2160 and it produces and is recognised fine; perfectly clear as well. (Have not tried any resolutions in between)

Produced using the 'default' Route Gen output profile under ffmpeg in both cases.

Looks like you managed to produce at full resolution?

Thanks



Ed Director Suite 365
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Yes - I've had a few of the high res AVIs made from bmp2avi come out as either completely black - or somehow corrupted so that PDR doesn't recognise the file.

Importing the original .bmp files into PDR - setting the duration to 1 frame - & producing directly (i.e. no re-rendering from bmp to AVI to MPEG-4) has worked consistently well.

It's worth experimenting with which capture codec you use till you find the right one to get the result you want. I use the TechSmith codec from Camtasia, but Lagarith Lossless is a good option too.



I'm still working on that tracking idea - my current one starts with an 8K input video - 7680 x 4320 - with monster zooms

You're all over this thing Ed!

Cheers - Tony
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Hi Tony

How do you set the duration to 1 frame? Assume this is different to duration setting which is seconds?

Thanks



Ed Director Suite 365
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Bit of experimenting - setting the duration to 0.2 (see attached) appears to give a video within PDr of the same length as produced directly by Route Gen?

Is that the correct way to set it - was not very scientific! Or is there a better way?

Produced the full resolution file no problem!

The tracking seems a bit hit and miss - could not get the movement within PDr to stay consistently with the vehicle movement, kept overtaking it!? More experimenting required.



Ed Director Suite 365
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Exactly that Ed!

Import & insert all the images - select all - hit Duration - and set it. Setting to 2 frames just gives motion of the vehicle. That's fine.



It's also a lot more processing for the PC than importing the AVI from bmp2avi!

Yes - using Crop/Zoom to track the motion of the vehicle takes a bit of doing, setting the keyframes so it tracks smoothly. In the video I posted above, I used quite a few dupolicate keyframes so the "crop box" moved then stayed still - then repeated that process. Screenshot of keyyframes attached.

Cheers - Tony
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Why not just use the PIP generator and create your own route?

I'm new here and don't yet have PD14 but I'm seriously looking at buying the Ultimate version - particularly as it's on offer until the 13th.

As is my usual practice, I first find the product forum and read what the users have to say - much more useful than the marketing stuff. In doing so I came across this thread, a subject that interests me as I've been creating my routes for a few years now.

I use other software called Road Trip Effect http://www.solrobots.com/roadtrip/ (with which I have no association). I thought I'd add it to this small collection.

It comes in Mac and PC versions, each has two versions. I use the free Standard version.

As with any software, to get the best out of it there's a learning curve and trying things out to get what you want. Unlike RouteGenerator it doesn't create a lot of BMP files - just the video file.

It includes a User Guide in the Help menu that actually contains a lot of useful info in few words.

I'm about to create another road trip video so will be trying RouteGenerator to see how it compares.

TonyL Self build Xeon W3690, 12GB RAM, 850EVO SSD, Asus 2GB GTX960, Win10H 64bit, PD14
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Hi Tony -

With Route Generator you can opt to automatically delete the .bmp files after the .AVI is generated.

I'll take a look at Road Trip Effect. Thanks.

Cheers - Tony
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Hi Tony

Well I've had a test drive of RG and believe it's worth investing more time in.

The most time consuming problem I had was choosing a suitable size of map. These progs work best when the route travelled is east-west as that best fits the screen dimensions.

I like the look of the track it creates and although I don't like all the bmp files it creates, it can as you say be set to auto delete them on completion.

So I'll be taking it for another spin soon as I'm doing a slideshow of a recent trip up to Yorkshire (north-south map orientation). I don't want to be zoomed out to get start and finish locations both visible as you lose the map detail so I need to think about how I'm going to do it. The slideshow is underway in Proshow Producer and the dashcam video in Final Cut Pro X which I'll overlay with the map route video.

TonyL
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