What's new

Map videos now export up to 1.6× faster

Exporting your map animation now means a lot less waiting. We reworked how Mappi draws each frame of your video, so much less time goes to waiting for the map to load. Videos now finish in roughly a quarter to a third less time. Here is how long a few exports took in our tests, before and after:

• A 4-stop flight map across Europe: 10.9 seconds before, 7.1 seconds now.
• New York, London and Tokyo on the globe: 12.0 seconds before, 7.6 seconds now.
• A road trip template with 14 stickers: 10.6 seconds before, 7.4 seconds now.
• A short 2-stop map: 3.8 seconds before, 2.7 seconds now.
• The gain was even bigger on a slower computer. With the processor slowed down to match an older laptop, the Europe map went from 30.5 seconds to 18.5 seconds.

These are 1080p videos at 60 fps. How long yours takes depends on your computer, your connection, and your map.

Speed did not cost any quality. Your video keeps the same resolution, sharpness, and frame rate, and we compared every frame of our test videos pixel by pixel to make sure. Two small things change for the better: pins, glows, and outlines now fade in exactly the way they do in the preview, and exporting the same map twice gives you the same video. Open the editor to try it, or see how to size your video for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

Introducing the Mappi Help Center

Stuck, or just curious how something works? The new Help Center answers it with short video guides, recorded right in the editor, so you can watch exactly where to click.

• 29 short video guides, each a screen recording of the real editor with numbered steps that match the video.
• Every video comes with the same steps in writing, plus a full transcript, for when you would rather read.
• Eight topics cover the whole editor: getting started, destinations and routes, pins, labels and icons, map styles and themes, animation and camera, export and formats, troubleshooting, and your account.
• Search finds the right guide, and quick answers to common questions sit alongside the guides.

Start with making your first map animation, or browse everything in the Help Center.

Send feedback from the editor

Found a bug or have an idea? There is now a Send feedback link in the header of the editor, and your message goes straight to the Mappi team. You do not need an account to use it.

• Pick a type: general feedback, feature request, bug report, support, or UI and design.
• Attach up to 3 screenshots by picking, dragging, or pasting them.
• Add an email if you would like a reply. It is optional.
• Your draft is kept if you close the form, so you can finish it later.

Design your own custom map themes

You are no longer limited to the built-in map themes. Create a theme from your own colors, preview it on your map as you go, and save it to reuse on any map. It is a quick way to match your map style to your brand colors.

• Open the Palette menu on the map and choose Create your own under Custom themes. Click the pencil on any saved theme to edit it.
• Pick colors for water, roads, land, parks, and more, with a detail slider and a switch for map labels.
• Start from your current map, any Mappi theme, or a ready-made mood, then hit Shuffle (or press S) for fresh colors. Lock the colors you like and shuffle the rest.
• Undo and redo every change, and rename your theme right in the title. Mappi suggests a name from your colors.
• Your map previews every change live and keeps playing, so you can judge a theme in motion. A banner and a highlighted border show you are editing a theme.
• Cancel and Save theme sit at the bottom of the preview, where the map menu was. On mobile, swipe the editor down and they stay within reach.
• While you edit, Export and your saved maps menu are paused so nothing is exported or switched mid-edit. They come back as soon as you save or cancel.
• Starting from Satellite? A new theme starts from the Light theme.

Anyone can open the editor and try it. Saving and using your own themes is a Pro feature. Without Pro, a map shows its fallback Mappi theme. Learn more about custom map styles.

Swap your route icons with Mappi icons or your own

The icon that travels along your route is no longer limited to the default airplane or ship. You can now swap it for any icon from the new Mappi icon library, or upload your own artwork, like a brand mascot, a hot air balloon, or a custom vehicle. It is an easy way to make a flight path animation or road trip route feel like your own.

• Added an Icon tab to the route settings, with a live preview of the icon on your route.
• Added a Mappi icons tab with a growing library of ready-made icons that are free for everyone. A search box appears as the library grows.
• Added a My uploads tab for your own icons. Drag and drop an image anywhere on the picker, paste one from your clipboard, or browse for a file.
• Upload PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, SVG, or AVIF files up to 10 MB. Mappi trims empty margins and optimizes each icon automatically, so it looks sharp and sits centered on the line. Transparent backgrounds work best.
• Save up to 100 custom icons and delete the ones you no longer need. Uploading is available on Pro, and anyone can manage the icons they already uploaded.
• Added icon size, from small to large, so the icon fits the scale of your map.
• Added icon color, which tints the icon in any color to match your route line or brand.
• Added a Direction option: Turn with path (flights), Face travel, or As drawn. Added Flip image for artwork that is drawn facing left.
• Added Reset to go back to the default icon for the route's travel mode at any time.
• Icons work with every travel mode, and show up in both the live preview and your exported videos.

Open any route in the editor and look for Icon in the route settings to try it. If you use a custom icon without Pro, your route shows its default icon in the preview and in exports. Your upload is kept, and it comes back as soon as you upgrade. For more on routes, see the route animation tutorial.

Save your maps

You can now save your map and come back to it later. Use the Saved configs menu at the top left of the editor to save, load, update, or delete your maps.

• Save your current map with a name.
• Load any saved map from the menu, or search for it by name.
• Save changes to update a map, or Save as new to make a copy.
• Undo is available after loading, updating, or deleting a saved map.
• Saved maps are stored in your browser, so they are not synced across devices yet.

Custom zoom and placement for every place

You now decide exactly how each place is framed. Until now, Mappi picked the zoom and centered the pin automatically. With the new Adjust view tool, you can zoom in tight on a single landmark, pull back to show a whole region, or move the pin off-center to leave room for a title or lower third. It is a simple way to get the cinematic camera framing you want without touching anything else.

• Added an Adjust view on map button to every place. The preview jumps to the exact moment the camera rests on that place, so you frame it on the real shot.
• Drag the pin to reposition it, and scroll, pinch your trackpad, or pinch on a touch screen to zoom. Toolbar buttons and keyboard shortcuts are available too: arrow keys to nudge (hold Shift for bigger steps), + and - to zoom, Enter to save, and Escape to cancel.
• Added a Zoom slider and a Center pin button to the place settings on desktop, with friendly labels like "2x closer", "Auto", and "1.4x wider".
• Added Reset to auto to return a place to Mappi's automatic framing at any time.
• Your framing is relative to the automatic framing, so it carries over cleanly when you switch between vertical, square, and widescreen sizes.
• The pin position and zoom hold through the intro, the outro, and the push-in on single-place maps, and blend smoothly along flight routes between two places with different framing.
• Boundaries, pins, and labels move with the camera, so everything stays lined up in the preview and the exported video.

Your changes are only applied when you hit Save, so you can experiment freely and cancel to go back. Open any place in the editor and look for Camera in the place settings to try it. To shape how the camera travels between places, see the camera movements and easing tutorial.

Sea routes that follow real shipping lanes

The new Sail travel mode turns any two coastal destinations into a realistic ocean voyage. Instead of drawing a straight line that cuts across islands and continents, Mappi now plots your route along the shipping lanes real vessels use, hugging coastlines and threading through straits and canals the way a ship actually would. It is ideal for cruise recaps, ferry hops, historical voyages, trade-route explainers, and any ocean or sailing route animation.

• Added the Sail travel mode, available alongside Fly, Drive, Walk, and Transit on every route leg.
• Added sea routing that keeps the animated line on open water, around landmasses, and through the passages ships really take.
• Routes start and end exactly at your chosen ports and places, rather than at a point somewhere offshore.
• Long ocean crossings that pass the international date line stay continuous, so trans-Pacific voyages draw as one smooth path.
• Sea routes use the ship travel icon by default, which rotates to face its heading as it sails along the route.
• Sea routes work with every route line style, including dashed lines, glow, arrows, and custom thickness and color.

Sea routes plug straight into multi-stop trips, so a single map animation can fly you to a port, sail between islands, and drive the last stretch to your hotel. If you are planning a longer journey, the route animation tutorial shows how to mix travel modes across legs.

New map style showcase on the home page

The map animation home page now has a dedicated showcase section with real exported videos, so you can see exactly what Mappi produces before you open the editor. Every clip was rendered straight out of Mappi with no external compositing, and each one is paired with the map style it was built on so you can recreate the look in a couple of clicks.

• Added satellite imagery examples that show high-resolution aerial detail during zooms, flyovers, and route reveals.
• Added satellite with elevation examples where terrain relief and hillshading give mountains, valleys, and coastlines real depth as the camera moves.
• Added a documentary style built around muted tones, restrained labels, and slow cinematic camera moves.
• Added a newsroom style with high-contrast borders, bold place labels, and clean region highlights that read clearly on broadcast and social feeds.
• Added a travel style with warm colors, friendly typography, and route animations tuned for vlogs, itineraries, and trip recaps.
• Added additional looks for real estate, sports, education, and minimal dark-mode intros, each shown as a finished video rather than a static thumbnail.

Every style in the showcase is available inside the editor and can be adjusted further with Theme Studio. If you want to go beyond the presets, our guide on custom map styles walks through colors, labels, and terrain settings, and the documentary and news pages dig deeper into those two workflows.

Export presets for Canva, CapCut, Premiere Pro, and more

Added one-click export presets sized for Canva, CapCut, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, and Premiere Pro, so you can drop your animated map video straight into any video editor without re-encoding or cropping. Browse the full list of supported editors on the integrations page, or jump straight to the workflow guides for Canva, CapCut, and Premiere Pro.

Timeline controls for every map element

The animation timeline now gives you per-element control over your map video. Every marker, route, label, and highlight gets its own track, so you can fine-tune exactly when each part of your map animation appears, moves, and exits.

• Added timeline controls for individual map elements, including markers, routes, labels, and region highlights.
• Added multi-select editing so you can move, trim, or retime several timeline elements at once.
• Added snapping for animation keyframes, making it easy to align camera moves, route reveals, and label animations to the same beat.
• Added copy-and-paste support for keyframes, so a camera move or easing setup you like can be reused across your project.

Custom camera keyframes

You can now place custom camera keyframes anywhere in your map animation. Set the position, zoom, rotation, and tilt at each keyframe and Mappi interpolates the camera path between them, giving you full directorial control over how your animated map video moves. Read the camera movements and easing tutorial to see how keyframes fit into a typical project, or see how Camera Director makes cinematic map camera moves easy.

• Added custom camera keyframes with per-keyframe position, zoom, rotation, and tilt.
• Improved interpolation between camera keyframes for smoother, more natural map camera movement.
• Added an option to lock camera rotation for map animations that should stay north-up.

Airplane, car, train, and ship travel icons

Travel icons make an animated route map instantly readable. This release adds a full set of animated vehicle icons that follow your route as it draws, whether it is a flight path between two cities, a multi-stop road trip, or an ocean sailing route.

• Added airplane, car, train, and ship travel icons that animate along your route.
• Added icon rotation based on travel direction, so vehicles always face the way they are moving.
• Added animated icon trails for a classic dotted-line travel map look.
• Added customizable travel icon sizes and optional icon shadows.
• Added support for uploading custom travel icons, so branded or themed vehicles can lead your map animation.

Tutorials hub

Launched a tutorials section with step-by-step guides on how to make a map animation, customizing map styles, and exporting map videos for YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels.

Animated text titles

Text is now a first-class element in your map videos. Add animated titles for destinations, chapters, or an opening card, and control exactly how each one enters and leaves the frame. Our guide on adding custom labels and callouts to map videos shows these tools in action.

• Added animated text titles with configurable timing.
• Added text entrance and exit effects, including fade, slide, and scale.
• Added text tracking and spacing controls for headline-quality typography.
• Added support for multiline labels for longer place names and captions.

Showcase gallery

Added a public showcase of animated map videos made with Mappi, including travel route animations, road trip maps, and flight path videos you can use as inspiration or starting templates.

4K, GIF, and image sequence export

More ways to get your map animation out of Mappi and into whatever you are making. 4K video export delivers the sharpest possible animated map video for YouTube and client work, GIF export is perfect for embedding a looping route animation in docs or newsletters, and image sequences slot into professional compositing pipelines. Read why Mappi map video exports look so professional for the technical details.

• 4K video export for ultra-sharp animated map videos.
• GIF export for lightweight, looping map animations.
• Image-sequence export for frame-by-frame compositing workflows.
• Customizable export frame rates, including 24, 30, and 60 fps.

Route line styling controls

Route lines are the heart of an animated travel map, so we gave them a proper styling toolkit. Combine these options to match your route animation to any map style or brand look. New to route animation? Start with how to animate a route on a map, or explore the animated route map use cases.

• Added animated route arrows that travel along the line.
• Added dashed route-line styles for a classic expedition map look.
• Added route-line thickness controls.
• Added route glow effects for high-contrast, cinematic map videos.
• Added animated route progress indicators showing how far along the journey is.
• Added support for curved travel paths that arc naturally between distant destinations.
• Improved route-line drawing animations for smoother reveals.

Animated location markers

Location markers can now animate, pulse, and scale, turning every destination on your travel map into a moment instead of a static pin. The pins, labels, and icons tutorial covers everything you can do with markers in a map animation.

• Added animated location markers with configurable drop-in timing.
• Added animated pulsing markers, great for drawing attention to a key destination.
• Added marker scaling animations tied to camera zoom.
• Added start and end marker animations for route beginnings and arrivals.
• Added custom marker icon uploads, so any logo or symbol can mark a location.

Animated map rotation and tilt

Added animated map rotation and map tilt animations, bringing a true 3D feel to your map videos. Combine a slow rotation with a tilted camera for the kind of establishing shot you would expect from a documentary title sequence. Our guide on slowing down map zooms for a cinematic effect pairs well with these new moves.

Smoother camera flight animations

Improved camera easing and flight path interpolation between destinations. Zoom-ins, fly-overs, and point-to-point map animations now move with cinematic, natural motion at every playback speed, and camera pans between map locations are noticeably smoother. Learn how easing shapes a map animation in the camera movements and easing guide.

Animated border drawing and region fills

Region highlighting gets its biggest update yet. Borders can now draw themselves on screen, fills can animate in, and you can highlight multiple regions in one map animation. These tools power geography explainers, political map videos, and travel recaps alike. See how to highlight a country with an animated border for a walkthrough.

• Added animated border drawing that traces a region outline over time.
• Added animated state and province highlighting alongside countries.
• Added region fill animations with configurable timing.
• Added gradient region fills for richer, more editorial map styles.
• Added support for multiple highlighted regions at once.
• Added customizable border thickness.

Country and region highlighting

Added animated country boundary and region highlighting, perfect for geography explainers, political map videos, and travel recap videos that call out every country you visited. The highlighting countries, states, and cities tutorial shows how it works, and the Region Selector announcement covers the one-click workflow.

Drag-and-drop GeoJSON import

Bring your own geodata into Mappi. Drop a GeoJSON file onto the editor and your points, lines, and regions land on the map ready to animate, which makes it much faster to build a map animation from data you already have.

• Added drag-and-drop GeoJSON import for points, lines, and polygons.
• Improved CSV location importing with better column detection for place names and coordinates.
• Fixed latitude and longitude values being interpreted incorrectly in some CSV files.

Multi-stop route animations

Route animations now support unlimited stops in a single map video. Chain cities, airports, and landmarks into one continuous animated travel route with per-leg duration control. Read the Route Builder announcement or follow the route animation tutorial to plan your first multi-stop trip.

• Added support for multi-stop routes with unlimited destinations.
• Added automatic route sequencing that orders legs based on your destination list.
• Added adjustable animation duration for each route leg.
• Improved route animation timing accuracy so leg durations match their configured length exactly.

New aspect ratios for social media

Added vertical 9:16, portrait 4:5, square 1:1, and widescreen 16:9 canvas sizes, so your animated map videos fit TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and standard YouTube uploads perfectly. Our guide to map animation sizes for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube explains which ratio to pick for each platform, and we cover the vertical workflow in how to create a vertical map animation for TikTok.

Autosave and project recovery

Your map animation projects are now protected against crashes, closed tabs, and lost sessions. Autosave runs continuously in the background while you edit, and recovery kicks in automatically the next time you open the editor.

• Added autosave for animation projects.
• Added automatic recovery after browser crashes.
• Added project duplication, so you can spin off a variant without touching the original.
• Improved loading times for large projects with many destinations and routes.
• Fixed projects occasionally failing to reopen.

Faster place search

Upgraded location search with instant autocomplete for cities, addresses, and points of interest worldwide, making it quicker to plot destinations on your animated travel map.

Performance and stability fixes

Fixed map tile loading stutter during preview playback, resolved a marker flicker on zoom animations, and reduced editor load time for smoother map animation previews across all browsers. Performance and stability improvements continue to land throughout the map animation editor with every release.