Camera Keyframes

Custom Keyframes give you complete manual control over the camera. Instead of picking a preset and letting AvoMap move the camera for you, you set the camera yourself at points along the timeline — its altitude, tilt, angle, and focus point — and AvoMap smoothly animates between them.

Starting a keyframe animation

When you switch to keyframes, AvoMap asks how you'd like to begin.

Expand

• Copy From Cinematic – start from the keyframes AvoMap generates for the Cinematic Flyover preset, then adjust them. This gives you a working camera move to shape and is the easiest way in.
• Empty timeline – start from scratch with just a start and end keyframe, and add the rest yourself.

Then press Start Keyframing.

What a keyframe stores

A keyframe is a snapshot of the camera at one moment. Each one holds four things:

Altitude is grouped into bands you pick from a dropdown, so you can jump to the right scale and then fine-tune:

• Street Level – 1–12 km
• Cities & Regions – 12–400 km
• Countries & Continents – 400–2,000 km
• Globe – 2,000–20,000 km

Set two or more keyframes along your timeline and AvoMap fills in everything in between, gliding the camera smoothly from one to the next.

The keyframe editor

Open the Keyframe Editor from the Camera tab. It has two parts, and it works hand-in-hand with the keyframe track on the timeline.

Expand

1. The navigator strip (top) shows every keyframe as a diamond. The selected one sits in the centre under the red needle.
2. The settings card (below) is titled Keyframe #N and holds the Altitude, Tilt, Angle, and Focus Point controls for the selected keyframe.
3. The keyframe track (on the timeline, just under your route segments) shows the same keyframes as diamonds, positioned by time. Each is labelled with its position as a percentage of the video.

Changes you make in the settings card apply to the selected keyframe, and the preview updates as you go.

Seeing which keyframe is selected

The selected keyframe is easy to spot in three places at once:

• In the navigator strip, it's the centred diamond that glows green under the red needle.
• The settings card is titled with its number, e.g. Keyframe #3, and has a green highlight.
• On the timeline track, its diamond is solid green and shows its percentage label.

As you move the playhead, the editor automatically follows along and selects the keyframe closest to it.

Selecting a keyframe

Any of these selects a keyframe and jumps the playhead to it:

• Click a diamond in the navigator strip.
• Use the ← / → arrows beside the strip to step to the previous or next keyframe.
• Click a diamond on the timeline track.

Adding a keyframe

There are three ways to add one:

• Add New Keyframe – the button at the bottom of the editor adds a keyframe at the current playhead time (it's labelled with that time, e.g. Add New Keyframe at 00:08.3). Move the playhead to where you want it first.
• Click the keyframe track – hover the track on the timeline and a faint "ghost" diamond previews where the keyframe will land; click to drop it there.
• Duplicate – the copy button next to Add New Keyframe drops a copy of the selected keyframe (same altitude, tilt, angle, and focus point) at the playhead.

New keyframes take the camera settings from that point in the animation, so they slot in without a jump. You can't place a keyframe right on top of another — leave a little space between them.

Moving a keyframe in time

Drag a keyframe's diamond left or right along the timeline track to change when it happens. Its percentage label updates as you drag.

A keyframe can't cross its neighbours, so the order always stays intact. To change the camera itself (rather than its timing), select the keyframe and adjust the sliders.

Deleting a keyframe

• In the editor, select the keyframe and press the trash button on the settings card.
• On the timeline, right-click a keyframe's diamond.
• With a keyframe selected, press Delete (or Backspace).

Either way, the first and last keyframes can't be removed — only the ones in between.

Copying settings between keyframes

To reuse a look, the settings card has Copy KF Settings and Apply KF Settings from Clipboard buttons. Copy the altitude, tilt, angle, and focus point from one keyframe, select another, and apply them — handy for matching two moments or repeating a look later in the video.

Recreating or resetting

The ⋮ menu at the top of the editor lets you start over:

• Create Keyframes from Cinematic Flyover – regenerate a fresh set from the preset.
• Reset Keyframes – clear everything and start from just the two anchor keyframes.

Limitations

• Desktop only — keyframing needs the timeline and fine controls, so it isn't available on mobile.
• The first and last keyframes are fixed — you can't move or delete them, only restyle them.
• Keyframes keep their order — you can't drag one past its neighbours.
• No stacking — you can't add a keyframe right on top of another; leave a little gap.
• Setting ranges — altitude 1–20,000 km (across four bands), tilt 0°–80°, angle −180°–180°.

Tips

• Fewer is smoother. A handful of well-placed keyframes usually beats many crammed together.
• Give moves room. Leave enough time between keyframes so the camera glides rather than lurches.
• Start from Cinematic. Copying the preset's keyframes gives you a working move to shape, instead of a blank canvas.
• Match moments with Copy and Apply settings when you want two keyframes to share the same look.
• Remove a keyframe by selecting it and pressing Delete — see all keyboard shortcuts.