ArcGIS Desktop

  • ArcGIS Pro
  • ArcMap

  • My Profile
  • Help
  • Sign Out
ArcGIS Desktop

ArcGIS Online

The mapping platform for your organization

ArcGIS Desktop

A complete professional GIS

ArcGIS Enterprise

GIS in your enterprise

ArcGIS Developers

Tools to build location-aware apps

ArcGIS Solutions

Free template maps and apps for your industry

ArcGIS Marketplace

Get apps and data for your organization

  • Documentation
  • Support
Esri
  • Sign In
user
  • My Profile
  • Sign Out

ArcMap

  • Home
  • Get Started
  • Map
  • Analyze
  • Manage Data
  • Tools
  • Extensions

Creating a path for use in animation

There are different ways to create the path along which the object and camera or view will move.

  • You can use existing line features, such as roads that are draped over a landscape, as the path. By selecting a particular line segment, the options Move Layer along Path and Camera Flyby from Path (Create Flyby from Path in ArcMap) will become enabled on the Animation toolbar.

    Learn about selecting features interactively

  • If you want an object to follow a 3D path, such as a plane following its trajectory, you can create a 3D line features using the Editing tools in ArcScene.

    • Learn about editing in 3D
    • Learn about digitizing 3D feature vertices
    • Learn about creating feature classes
    • Learn about 3D polyline features
  • If you want an object to follow a straight line that doesn't take into account the surface over which it is traveling, such as a plane flying above a landscape at a constant height, you can create a 2D line feature in ArcMap using the Editing tools, then apply an offset to the line so it is not obscured by other layers in the display.

    • Learn about editing
    • Learn about creating feature classes
    • Learn about 3D polyline features
  • If you want to set specific z-values for your line features, you can create 3D features for use as the path.

    Learn about 3D features

  • The 3D Graphics toolbar in ArcScene allows you to make 3D line graphics. These graphics will draw based on objects already in the view. Using the toolbar, you can digitize a line to use as a path along which to move a layer or from which to create a camera flyby. You may need to apply an offset to the line graphic so it is not obscured by the surface when the animation is played.

    Learn about the fundamentals of adding 3D graphics

    Using the Draw toolbar in ArcMap, you can create a line graphic to use as a path. Once you've added a graphic to your map, you can move it, resize it, change its color or symbol, and so on.

Related topics

  • Moving a layer along a path in ArcScene
  • About playing an animation automatically or manually
  • About moving the camera or view along a path
  • Moving the camera or view along a path

ArcGIS Desktop

  • Home
  • Documentation
  • Support

ArcGIS

  • ArcGIS Online
  • ArcGIS Desktop
  • ArcGIS Enterprise
  • ArcGIS
  • ArcGIS Developer
  • ArcGIS Solutions
  • ArcGIS Marketplace

About Esri

  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Esri Blog
  • User Conference
  • Developer Summit
Esri
Tell us what you think.
Copyright © 2021 Esri. | Privacy | Legal