More Map/Timeline developments

Pixelmator Pro: a £35 Motion SVG plug-in

You can now import hand-drawn vectors from an iPad into Motion using this app. It makes me very happy: well done those guys.

I saw this post about a recent Pixelmator Pro update. You can now export vector assets as bona-fide Motion projects out of Pixelmator Pro (HT Ben and Luis, also Ripple Mark for this lovely demo video). I haven’t used Pixelmator in years (the Affinity guys have the edge in terms of iPad drawing and cross-platform transferability) so I didn’t get Pixelmator Pro when it came out because… it’s yet another thing in a folder of things. But this recent update got my attention. Essentially it links up the considerable strengths of hand-drawn iPad vector-tools with the animation-flexibility of Motion. It’s always a sadness when I have to make things in Motion because the tools are never that good - I have been drawing for years and the trackpad not the same for certain things. Earlier this week I resigned myself to constructing a map line using a trackpad because that’s how it’s done in Motion… click click click scroll click click etc. Now (with what is technically a £35 plug-in) I can draw confidently in the old way and send things across via SVG.

Here’s the process

• draw something/anything on the iPad in Affinity Designer - making full use of the strengths of that life-changing Apple pencil

• bring it back into the Mac and export as an SVG

• move that file across into Pixelmator Pro

• export as a Motion project

The (silent) clip below is not at all refined (hey this is process blog - what were you expecting, Instagram?). It is a further experiment where I am trying to link various behaviours to save animating everything using keyframes. The lines have all been drawn using the above method. I had actually already drawn them with the trackpad but went back to see if it was quicker/easier. It really was.

Linking behaviours brings greater flexibility

Some brief notes:

• the drawn vector lines use the write-on behaviour to draw out (this may be problematic when I want them to slow and pause at different points - have yet to work this one out but I’m sure it’s possible)

• it seems simpler somehow to have the route in two colours/parts for clarity

• the ‘you are here’ circles use Motion Path behaviours that link to the geometry of said drawn vector routes

• in the end I was having a lot of trouble getting the camera framing behaviour to obey my choices so I hand-keyframed the movements (in some ways this feels better anyhow because I like the imprecise feel of it)

• forgive me, but the course incline box in the bottom corner is a visual mess (and probably too busy I think) but I wanted to give it a go - the steepness of the route seems like an important piece of info to impart so I thought I’d try and find a way of automating it. I connected the yellow and red route-halves to the main route animation with the link behaviour applied (using reverse behaviour for the second part to get it flowing in the correct direction). Unfortunately I had to resort to hand-key framing the sideways scrolling because I was too tired to work out how to animate the anchor point. It will hopefully come to me soon.

This represents some solid steps forward. Building behaviours into the guts of an animated timeline allow for some flexibility if you need to change things later, but they take a bit of getting your brain around.

Run Notes 2

This is my next attempt at recreating a running story. I’m not going to waste time talking this one out, so some brevity will have to do. Soz.

In my day job I work as a learning designer (a lengthy blog post has been been written telling the story - will link it here when I publish it imminently) - I am currently preparing to produce a set of course materials that utilise an animated historical timeline. I am mainly using Run Notes as an excuse to flex my muscles and learn effective ways of making this kind of thing quickly (and cheaply).

I wrote in a previous post about my earlier experiments. This one is a stage on. Some bullets:

• I used a GoPro Hero 10 and ‘Shorty’ in my Salomon 8L backpack - very compact and light to use. It worked way better than the Insta360 set up and was much more convenient than taking my bag off and taking my phone out - it was also very quick to get to the footage which was such a barrier with the Insta360 system. In this instance I think I might have used it too much. I was just finding my way after all - on the actual Three Forts Challenge in a week or so I shall work out the points I want to record in advance and stick to that. It is possible to have too much of a good thing.

• The initial screencapture process was way too exhausting - I had about 60 pngs saved and strung together - Motion couldn’t actually cope with them. In the end I had to use one simpler map - the one you see. One huge learning point is to try and find a sweet spot - how minimal can I get without losing impact?

• On the GoPro front - it is worth saying that it is a remarkably smooth and reliable system with very pleasing results. I did some timeworn recording on my bike yesterday and it is just easy. I am still finding my way on the use of Wide/Narrow shooting modes. Will need to practice that a little more before the big day I think.

• Having small images appear on the screen is okay… I think I want to try a slightly different mode next time. I like that there is a unified map and that everything links back to it.

• The more conventional non-satellite map is impossible to stitch in Affinity Photo as a panorama - satellite works way better - more details to find and link up.

So in terms of developing an effective visual language this one is making forward steps. Will post more as I go.