Map Creation in Davinci Resolve

Hi, I am new to this forum therefore don't really know if this is the right place to ask this question. I am looking for some advice on map creations, like the ones that we see in documentaries (for instance YouTube documentaries that discuss political events etc.)

I find a lot of YouTube tutorials that discuss the topic but all seem to use After Effects and a plugin named Geolayers 3. Is it possible to create such maps (and effects) in Davinci Resolve (free edition)? Are there any plugin like Geolayers 3 that work with Davinci Resolve? All advice and guidance will be greatly helpful.

You don't need a plugin, you can just use Fusion to trace routes and outline areas.

Thank you for the reply. I have been able to make basic map outlines and routes. However, I was looking to learn to create something advanced like Vox or Johnny Harris on YouTube (in case you have heard of him). Just wonder if that kind of work is possible in Davinci Resolve.

I am unable to post URLs else would have shared a YouTube video to show what I meant.

Thanks

You could post the title of the YouTube video and timestamp to point out what you are talking about. From the few videos I looked out from the 2 channels you mentioned, I didn't see anything that couldn't be done in Fusion.

Thank you very much from your advice and guidance. I greatly appreciate your effort.

As mentioned, the creators of the videos that I am referring to use After Effects and a plugin named GEOlayers 3 which is from a website named "aescripts dot com." For reasons that are obvious, it is very pleasing to hear that all this can be done in Fusion

One the YouTube videos by Johnny Harris (for was formerly working with Vox) is titled "How I Make My Maps" in which he explains two process of making his maps - a long process in which he has drawn vectors and quick process (using GEOlayers 3). Its a 29 minute video so if you could please skim though the video you will get an idea of what I mean.

For a more clear example, please see a YouTube video by Johnny Harris is titled: "Here’s What Happens If China Invades Taiwan" please see from 12:29 to 13:51.

Also see another video of Johnny Harris titled "Putin Will Lose, Here's Why" please see timestamps: 2:03, 2:09 etc. where he explains Russian army movement graphically.

I found that another creator named "Boone Loves Video" who worked with Johnny Harris explains in his video titled: "How to Create Troop Cluster Visualizations" how he created the Russian army clusters for the abovementioned Johnny Harris video. The video is 13: 17 minutes long so please do skim though it. This creator (Boone Loves Video) also uses GEOlayers 3 to create the kind of maps.

I checked out the videos you suggested. I think it all could be done in Fusion, you could make presets to reuse pretty easy, but it depends on how comfortable you are in using Fusion. The image I did below took me about 10 minutes including getting the map from Google Maps. With a little more time it could be possible to create something very similar to what is shown in the videos.

Very happy to know that all this can be done in Davinci Resolve Fusion. Thank you very much for all your time and effort to explain this and help me. At the moment, I am not very comfortable using Fusion, but I am making an effort to learn it - referring to Tutorials videos etc. But I realize it will take a lot of practice and effort, which I am willing to make. Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

Sir, as I am learning to trace/draw vector maps in the Fusion page, could you please suggest what tools/nodes I should use. I have been using Polygon and Click Append. However tracing with "Draw Append" seems smoother. Thanks!

Both Click Append and Draw Append have their uses. With Click Append, you have control over how many points you create for your shape, while Draw Append can add hundreds of points and if you have to modify your shape later, you might have some difficulty selecting just the points you want. You can always select your points if you use Draw Append after the fact and choose Reduce Points, which will keep the basic shape but reduce the number of points.

Thanks for the tip. I found the Reduce Points option. It is actually helpful. Now trying how it works.
Thanks a lot.

You're welcome.

Sir, if I may please ask you: Would you suggest that it would be easier/better to draw maps using a vector tool like Affinity Designer (which I have) and then transfer the file as SVG to Davinci Resolve, or should I do it directly in Davinci Resolve. Please do advice.

Use what works best for you, if you feel more comfortable in Affinity Designer, then use it. I prefer to do things like this in Fusion directly.

Thanks for the advice.

Hello,
I hop this is not too late but I have found a great tutorial that could really help you with that matter I tried it out and it's pretty good. you can draw any map you want, although you have to do it using the polygon tool, which takes a bit of time. Anyway, to find the video, just search the youtube channel MotionEpicFx. Look for a video called "Create Map Visualization in Davinci Resolve 18 - Davinci Resolve Tutorial".

Hope that helps!