New in version 1.7.1

FFmpeg for Windows is now distributed with the Windows version for Route Generator and will be selected as the default at installation. The Zeranoe FFmpeg Windows builds are provided by Kyle Schwarz from: http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/

FFmpeg works faster than bmp2avi and supports more different codec types (MPEG-4 is the default). Using this generator, it's also possible to select a different bitrate for the generated output video.

If you still want to use Bmp2Avi as generator, you can always switch back using Edit->Preferences (see section: Modifying BMP2AVI/FFmpeg preferences at the end of the tutorial).

Tutorial

This tutorial explains how to generate route movies, using Route Generator.

Open map

You can open an image file from an existing map or import a map from Google Maps (see below) or you can grab a frame of a map you filmed with your camera, save it as BMP file and use that image as a map background. Or check the size of the screenshot and create an image yourself, with the same size. For the best results, the size of the map should be the same as the resolution of the movie in which you want to place the final route movie (e.g. 768 x 576 for standard DVD or 1920×1080 for full HD). Route Generator can use any format and does not check this, so you should find out what the best format is you want to use.

Import map from Google Maps

To import a map from Google Maps, go to File->Import from Google Maps or click

. First set the correct resolution that you want to use for your output map.

Now browse to Google Maps in your browser and locate a map that you want to use. Then copy the link from your browser to the URL field in Route Generator: .

Now click "Go" to start loading the map (this might take a while). You can still drag the map a littlebit until you are satisfied. Then click OK to save the map (so you can re-use it later) and then use it in Route Generator.

Draw route

Activate Draw mode (from menu: Tools->Draw mode, or click

). Now start drawing a route, by clicking and dragging your mouse over the map. You can reset the route by deactivating draw mode and activating it again. If you're satisfied with the route you can do some adjustments to the way the route is displayed (next section).

Adjust route settings

Modify the width of the route by adjusting the Route width settings.
Modify the line style of the route by adjusting the Route style settings.
Modify the color of the route by adjusting the Route color settings.
Select vehicle icon that will be shown when the route is drawn.
Optionally adapt the vehicle settings from the dialog (size, angle, mirror, orientation).
Optionally it's possible to let the Route Generator Generate iconless begin/end frames, if you want to begin/end your movie without displaying the vehicle icon.

Adding custom vehicle icons

You can add custom icons for vehicles by adding your own icon files. The following icon formats should be accepted: *.gif, *.png, *.jpg

It's recommended to add icons with a transparent background (i.e. *.gif or *.png with an alpha layer). Also choose a reasonable size for the vehicle icons, e.g. 50x50 pixels.

Animated vehicle icons

When the vehicle is an animated image (e.g. animated gif), Route Generator will playback the animation in the generated movie!

Show preview

To get a preview of the movie that will be generated click the Playback button

(or from menu: Tools->Playback).
You can stop the preview by clicking Stop

(or from menu: Tools->Stop)

Generate route

Finally generate the route movie into a directory by clicking the Generate route button

(or from menu: Tools->Generate route). For each frame of the movie, Route Generator will generate a *.bmp file in the selected directory. Next, these frames (*.bmp files) will be converted to an AVI movie, using bmp2avi, which is by default included with Route Generator.

NOTE: Each BMP-file will be written in uncompressed format! E.g. one BMP-file of 768x576 uses about 1.2 MB of diskspace. Route Generator assumes 25fps, so for each second 25 x 1.2MB = 30MB of disk space is required for the BMP-files only and another 30MB for the generated AVI movie! (Route Generator will also give a rough estimation of the required diskspace, before you start generating the route)

After the movie is generated, you can import it in you video editing software. You can optionally finetune the movie by adding extra begin/end frames that you pick from the directory containing the generated *.BMP files.

Modifying BMP2AVI/FFmpeg preferences

It's possible to modify the settings that Bmp2Avi or FFmpeg uses to convert BMP's to an AVI file. To change these settings open the preferences through Edit->Preferences. Here you can change these settings:

Bmp2Avi or FFMpeg location

Here you can change the location of bmp2avi.exe or ffmpeg.exe (Windows only), in case you have it in a different location or for some reason Route Generator is unable to find it anymore.

Name of output AVI

By default the name of the generated AVI is "out.avi", but here you can change this name. E.g. when you change this to "mymovie", the generated movie will be called "mymovie.avi".

Delete BMP's

When you check this, the BMP's will automatically be deleted after the bmp2avi conversion. The first and last frame will not be deleted, so you can still use them in your video editing software.

Set begin/end delay

You can select a delay in seconds to add before the beginning or after the end of the generated movie (this delay will not be visible in the preview, only in the generated movie):

FPS

Here you can change the frame rate of the generated AVI (the default is 25).

Bitrate (FFmpeg generator only)

Here you can change the bitrate (in kb/s) of the generated movie.

Key frame rate

This value indicates after how many frames a key frame is created (the default is 25).

Codec

Here you can change the codec that Bmp2Avi or FFMpeg uses to generate the movie. This can result in smaller movies, but it's possible that not all codecs are accepted by your video editing software.

Switch between FFmpeg or Bmp2Avi as movie generator (Advanced tab)

In the Advanced tab it's possible to switch movie generator between ffmpeg or bmp2avi on Windows (on Linux FFmpeg this is the only option).

The program will then ask you for the location of the FFmpeg or bmp2avi executable. You will have to browse for the correct executable (ffmpeg.exe or bmp2avi.exe). Since version 1.7.1 FFMpeg is also included in a sub-directory of the Route Generator installation.

After you have selected the correct generator, you will need to restart the Route Generator Preferences dialog, to re-configure your video settings for FFmpeg or Bmp2Avi.