Bring Your Route to Life with 3D Flyover Animation

There's a moment every adventurer experiences: you have your GPX file loaded, you see the route on the map, but you're still wondering—what's it really like out there? What does the terrain feel like? How does the elevation change over the course of the journey? Where exactly are those POIs?

That's where PitStopper's new Route Flyover feature comes in. It's an immersive 3D animation that takes you on a virtual journey along your entire route, with a dynamic camera that follows every twist and turn of your path. See the terrain flow beneath you. Watch the elevation profile sync in real-time. Spot POIs as they appear along the way.

It's not just route planning—it's route storytelling.

Experience Your Route in Motion

The Route Flyover is fundamentally different from static maps. Instead of studying your path point-by-point, you experience it as a journey. The camera smoothly follows your route, maintaining an optimal viewing angle that shows both the immediate terrain ahead and the broader landscape context.

As you fly along your path, you'll immediately understand:

• Elevation rhythm - See how climbing and descending flow together across your adventure
• Terrain character - Feel the true shape of the landscape, not as abstract contours but as real 3D features
• POI positioning - Discover exactly where your discovered resources sit along the route, and how elevation relates to them
• Route personality - Some routes are gentle meandering journeys. Others are intense climbs followed by thrilling descents. The flyover shows you which is which.

Unlike studying a 2D map, animation reveals patterns and relationships that aren't obvious in static views. A climb that looks moderate on paper might feel very different when you see it unfold across the actual terrain.

Full Playback Control

The flyover isn't a passive experience. You're in command:

• Play/Pause - Pause at any moment to study the terrain or POIs
• Speed Control - Slow down to 0.25x speed for detailed inspection, or speed up to 4x to quickly preview your entire route
• Skip Forward/Back - Jump to any section of your route instantly
• Keyboard Navigation - Press Space to play/pause, arrow keys to skip, all without taking your hands off the wheel (metaphorically speaking)

Whether you want to leisurely explore every detail or quickly preview your entire adventure, you control the pace.

Synchronized Elevation Tracking

One of the most powerful aspects of the flyover is the synchronized elevation chart at the bottom of the screen. As your camera flies along the route, a marker on the elevation profile shows your exact position. This creates an intuitive understanding of:

• Where you are in the elevation profile
• How much climbing remains ahead
• How terrain difficulty relates to distance
• Where key landmarks and POIs appear relative to elevation changes

It's like having a living, breathing elevation profile that unfolds as you watch.

See Your POIs in Context

All the POIs you've discovered appear as markers along the route during the flyover. But seeing them animated into the landscape is fundamentally different from seeing them on a 2D map. You'll understand:

• Timing - Is a water source at the base of a climb or at the top?
• Elevation - Is that mountain hut accessible, or does it require significant extra elevation?
• Relative distance - How far along your journey do you encounter key resources?
• Spatial relationships - How POIs group together and what that tells you about the area

POI data transforms from abstract information into actionable route intelligence.

Switch Map Styles on the Fly

The flyover works with PitStopper's beautiful map styles. Watch your route dance across different visual perspectives:

• Outdoor - Classic terrain-forward style for understanding elevation and geography
• Satellite - Real aerial imagery to recognize landmarks and landscape features you'll actually see
• Topographic - Detailed contour lines for the serious route analyst
• Cycling - Optimized for bikepacking routes with cycling infrastructure highlighted
• Custom Styles - Switch between any of PitStopper's available map styles

Each style reveals different information about your route.

Optional 3D Terrain Enhancement

Toggle 3D terrain rendering on or off to suit your preferences and your internet connection. The 3D terrain adds stunning visual depth and realistic elevation visualization. Disable it for faster performance on slower connections, or enable it for the most immersive experience.

Record Your Flyover as Video

Here's something special: you can record your flyover as a high-quality WebM video and download it. That means:

• Share your adventure - Send friends and family an immersive preview of your route before you go
• Document your planning - Keep a video record of how you analyzed your route
• Create content - Use the video for social media, blog posts, or presentations about your adventure
• Inspire others - Show people why your chosen route is so compelling

Just press R or click the Record button, fly your route, and download the video when finished. It's that simple.

Fullscreen for Maximum Immersion

Press F or click the fullscreen button to eliminate distractions and experience your route in a fully immersive environment. No UI clutter, just you, the terrain, and your upcoming adventure.

How to Use It

Once you've loaded a GPX route into PitStopper:

1. Click the "Route Flyover" button in the main interface
2. Watch the preview load and the animation begin (or click Play if it's paused)
3. Use speed controls to find your preferred viewing pace
4. Switch map styles to see your route from different perspectives
5. Optionally record your flyover using the Record button
6. Press F for fullscreen to fully immerse yourself in the landscape

Keyboard shortcuts make it even easier:

• Space - Play/Pause
• Left/Right Arrows - Skip backwards/forwards through your route
• F - Toggle fullscreen
• R - Toggle recording

2D Route Animation: A Lighter Alternative

Not every situation calls for the full 3D treatment. Sometimes you want a cleaner, simpler visualization that focuses purely on the route itself. That's where PitStopper's 2D Route Animation comes in.

2D Route Animation showing a cycling route through Madeira

The 2D Route Animation presents your route on a static map view—no camera movement, no tilting, no rotation. Instead, you watch as your route draws itself progressively from start to finish. A pulsing marker shows your current position as the route line extends along your path.

This simpler approach offers several advantages:

• Lightweight performance - Uses Leaflet instead of 3D rendering, runs smoothly on any device
• Clear overview - The entire route context is always visible since the map doesn't move
• Quick loading - Map tiles load once before animation starts
• Focus on the route - No terrain distractions, just your path drawing across the landscape

The 2D animation includes all the same playback controls as the 3D flyover: play/pause, speed control (0.25x to 4x), skip forward/back, and keyboard shortcuts. You can also toggle POI visibility, choose between progressive POI reveal (POIs appear as the route reaches them) or show all at once, and switch between map styles including streets, satellite, topographic, cycling, and dark mode.

Recording 2D Animations

While the 3D Flyover includes built-in video recording, the 2D Route Animation uses your operating system's screen recording tools instead. This actually gives you more flexibility—you can choose exactly what to capture.

macOS: Use QuickTime Player (built into macOS). Open QuickTime, select File → New Screen Recording, then choose to record a portion of your screen. Draw a rectangle around the map area and click Record.

Windows 11: Use the Snipping Tool (built into Windows). Open Snipping Tool, click the video camera icon to switch to screen recording mode, select the area you want to capture, and click Start.

Linux: Use OBS Studio, SimpleScreenRecorder, or your desktop environment's built-in recorder.

Tip: For the best results, put the animation in fullscreen mode (press F) before recording. This gives you a clean, distraction-free video of your route.

Why This Matters for Route Planning

The traditional route planning workflow is static. You load a GPX file, study the elevation profile, examine the map, read descriptions. But our brains are built to understand movement and narrative. We understand journeys better when we experience them, even virtually.

The Route Flyover bridges that gap. It transforms route planning from an analytical exercise into an experiential one. You don't just understand where you're going—you feel where you're going.

This is especially powerful for:

• First-time routes - Understanding a completely new area before you arrive
• Complex routes - Multi-section adventures where terrain changes dramatically
• Elevation challenges - Seeing how much climbing really unfolds over distance
• POI planning - Identifying where to position your rest stops and resources
• Route sharing - Showing friends and family why your chosen route is special
• Pre-adventure preparation - Building mental models of upcoming terrain

The Future of Route Visualization

The Route Flyover represents a new way to think about route planning. Static maps have served us well, but animation and narrative reveal truths about journeys that flat images simply can't convey.

Ready to experience your route in motion? Load your GPX file into PitStopper, scroll down to the Route Flyover section, and take flight. Your next adventure is waiting.