Rescroll

Free travel map animation maker

Show where the trip goes: a dashed line runs from one city to the next with a car at its head, on a map the camera follows. Download it as a 1080p MP4. Free, no sign-up, no watermark.

The basics

What is a travel map animation?

A travel map animation is a clip that shows a journey on a map: a line moves from where you set off to where you're going, usually with a small car, plane, train or ship at its head. It's the shot that opens a travel vlog or sits between two chapters of a trip.

This one drives a car from Paris to Rome along a dashed line, on a solid map in paper colors with a serif typeface. The camera follows the car, then pulls back to show the whole route and its 1,105 km. Swap in your own two cities, and change the car for a train, a ship or a plane.

A trip with several stops is several clips. Make one for each leg, with the city you arrived in as the next one's start, and join them in your editor: every clip opens on its first city and ends resting on the finished route.

To put it on your video, see how to add a map animation in CapCut, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro.

What you download

Price
Free. No sign-up, no email, no watermark.
Format
MP4 (H.264), no audio
Resolution
1080p: 1080×1920, 1920×1080, 1080×1080 or 1080×1350
Frame rate
30 or 60 fps
Route
Any two of 1,208 cities, drawn along the great circle between them
Map
A dot-matrix or solid world map, from Natural Earth's public-domain data
Travels by
Plane, car, train, ship or dot, on a solid or dashed line
Length
2 to 12 seconds of travel, plus up to 5 seconds resting on the finished map
Colors
Six looks, or any route color on any background color
Overlay
Green background for chroma key, or black for a Screen blend
Where it runs
In your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

How it works

How to make a travel map animation.

Four steps, about a minute, and nothing to install.

  1. 1

    Pick two cities

    Search for the city the route starts in and the city it ends in. There are 1,208 to choose from. Each pin shows its city's name, or type your own label, such as an airport code.

  2. 2

    Choose the map and the vehicle

    Dots draws the land as a grid of dots, like a departures board; Solid fills it in with a fine coastline. Send a plane, a car, a train, a ship or a plain dot along a solid or a dashed line.

  3. 3

    Set the camera and the look

    Pull back starts close on the first city and widens to the whole route, Follow stays with the vehicle, and Still shows everything from the start. Then pick one of six looks, or your own route and background colors, and a frame shape.

  4. 4

    Download the MP4

    Press Download. The map is rendered in your browser at 1080p and saved to your device, usually in a few seconds. No account, no watermark.

More versions

Make a different one.

Each one opens its own maker with the settings filled in. Change anything, then download.

Map route animation

A route between any two of 1,208 cities on a world map, with a plane, car, train or ship traveling it and the distance shown.

Flight path animation

Los Angeles to Tokyo across the Pacific, white on black in a 16:9 frame, with the distance in miles.

When a map animation isn’t enough

The free map animation is the starting point.

Here you get one route on a clean world map. In Rescroll you describe the graphic you actually want, say “drop a pin on Lisbon as I say it, then draw my flight to Tokyo with the dates of the trip”, and it's designed from scratch on your own video. Attach a screenshot of a map style you like, or your logo, and it matches them. Not right yet? Ask for the change in the chat.

Free map animation

Rescroll

One route between two cities

Any map graphic you can describe, matched to a screenshot, your logo or your fonts

A clip you overlay and key out yourself

Built on your own video, placed around you

You line it up in your editor

The pin drops on the exact word you say

Change it with the settings here

Change anything by asking in the chat

Make it yours in RescrollSee AI motion graphics

Part of the Pro, Ultimate and Scale plans.

Flight map. The pin drops as she says the city.
Travel plans. A departures board flips in each city.

Both built in Rescroll from a description.

Questions

Travel map animation: your questions, answered.

How do I make a travel map animation for a vlog?

Choose the city you start from and the city you end in, pick a vehicle and press Download. This page opens on a road trip from Paris to Rome, and you get a 1080p MP4 with no watermark. For a vertical vlog keep the 9:16 frame; for YouTube switch to 16:9.

Can I show a trip with more than two stops?

Not in one clip: each clip is one leg, from one city to another. Make a clip per leg and join them in your editor. Start each from the city the last one ended in and the journey reads as one.

Does the line follow the real roads?

No. The line is the direct path between the two cities, whatever the vehicle. It shows where you went, not the road, rail or sea route you took to get there.

My town isn't in the list. What can I do?

Pick the nearest city that is, then type your town's name into that pin's label. The list has 1,208 cities, mostly capitals and larger cities, so the pin stays on the city you picked and only its name changes.

Can I change the car to a train, a ship or a plane?

Yes. Under “Traveling by” choose Plane, Car, Train, Ship or Dot. Each is drawn from above and turns to face the way the line is heading.

Is the map animation maker free?

Yes. It's free to use and free to download, with no account, no email address and no watermark on the video. There's no limit on how many you make.

What format and resolution is the video?

An MP4 with H.264 video, at 1080p in the shape you choose: 1080×1920 (9:16) for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, 1920×1080 (16:9) for YouTube, 1080×1080 (1:1), or 1080×1350 (4:5) for the Instagram feed. You can export at 30 or 60 frames per second.

Can I get the map animation with a transparent background?

MP4 can't store transparency, so the map animation comes ready to key instead. Set the background to green and remove it with chroma key in your editor. If the graphic is light, you can also set the background to black and use the Screen blend mode. Either way only the map animation is left over your footage.

Is my video uploaded anywhere?

No. The map animation is drawn and encoded on your own device, using your browser's built-in video encoder. Nothing is sent to a server and there's no render queue.

Can I use the map animation in client work, ads or monetized videos?

Yes. The video you download is yours to use in personal and commercial projects, with no attribution needed.

Can I match my brand, add my logo or change the design?

Not in the free maker, which is deliberately simple. That's what Rescroll's AI motion graphics are for: describe the graphic you want in plain English, attach your logo, fonts or a screenshot of your style, and it's designed from scratch on your own video, placed around you and timed to the word you say. Ask for any change in the chat. It's part of the Pro, Ultimate and Scale plans.

More free tools

Other graphics you can make here.

All free, all made in your browser, all without a watermark. See every free tool.

Arrow animation

A hand-drawn red arrow that sweeps in, flicks its head and taps at the spot, with a handwritten label.

Confetti overlay

Rainbow confetti fired from two cannons in the bottom corners, tumbling as it falls, on black.

Fireworks overlay

Ten multicolor bursts on pure black, rising, opening and sparkling out over an 8-second loop. Ready for a Screen blend.

Money rain

Banknotes and gold coins falling at different depths, notes fluttering and coins spinning. Any currency sign, any note color.

Snow overlay

Soft falling snow in four depths on pure black, with the nearest flakes out of focus. Loops, ready for a Screen blend.

Emoji animation

A 😂 that springs in, overshoots, wobbles and settles with a ring and sparks. Or make any emoji rain, float up or burst.

Keep reading

Where to go next.

Map route animation

Back to the map route animation maker, with everything it can do.

AI motion graphics

Counters, charts, app screens and maps designed from a description, on your own video and timed to your words.

AI video editor

The whole edit from a sentence: silences and bad takes cut, captions, color, zooms and graphics.

Rescroll vs After Effects

When to keyframe a graphic yourself, and when to describe it instead.

Rescroll vs CapCut

Preset text animations against graphics designed for each moment. Often used together.

Your next video,
edited like the top 1%.

Drop it in. Say what should appear. Read the plan, press Build, and export the finished video — no After Effects, no editor, no template.

Make your first graphic

Part of Pro, Ultimate and Scale · Export is free · Failed builds are refunded