Digital Commons at Penn State

iMovie 09 has a new feature that allows users to create custom animated maps to place in their video, this tutorial will outline exactly how to create and include one of these maps in your video.

To start we want to locate the "Maps and Backgrounds" button on the right hand side of the toolbar, clicking this button will show us the maps and backgrounds explorer.

At this point we can choose what style of map we would like to use, once we choose simply click and drag that map to any point in your timeline and drop it.

Now you will see the map on your timeline, an inspector window will automatically open allowing you to edit the map, this window will be located randomly on your screen, if you lose the window simply click on the map in your timeline to view it again.

From this inspector window you can change the duration that your map is displayed and set the start and end points for your map, as well as add a video effect to change the look of your map. Click on the start location to change the start city.

You will now be able to choose an airport or city that you would like to use, not all cities are available but you should be able to find something close, you can then change the display name at the bottom of this window. Once you select your start and end points click "Done" in the inspector window and iMovie will automatically animate a map between those two places.