Creating animated shipping lanes

[Joolsd]

I would love to create this effect animated and am struggling to reproduce. I can use stroke and even trapcode stroke but it isn't that easy to get the density.

I have also tried Plexus which is encouraging but still not quite right. The shipping lanes have to be fairly accurate. So that shipping experts don't slap me in the face.

I was hoping to find stock footage of this image as vectors. Or an image that I could mask on to create the 'bulk' of the image. Then do the main lines in stroke over the top. The design is 5 different coloured lines.  I could spend all week drawing the map, but I don't really have the time, to create this from scratch.

It is surprisingly difficult to find a stock image of this map.

Is there filter or something that can create this. Just looking for ideas. C4D can do trace lines.

Thanks

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Shipping_routes.png

[Mylenium]

Considering that in order to be exact this stuff is created based on database and GPS data there cannot be that many shortcuts if you need to apply similar precision just as it is unlikely that something that highly specialised exists as stock art. See your problem? so unless you can settle on a specific compromise, you just have to grind through it. It's ultimately secondary then how you re-create it - tracing in Illustrator will require just as much extra work as tracing/ rebuilding it in Cinema 4D or After Effects. for my money, Plexus seems a good place to start, though you may still end up with lots of separate comps and layers to represent the individual main shipping lanes. Perfectly doable.

Mylenium

[Joolsd]

Ok Thank you. I guess Plexus could be the way. Or just the hard way.

Julian

[Joolsd · Accepted solution]

To be honest there is stuff you can do in C4D R17 that can produce this sort of thing. But it's using X-particles. Harder than I was hoping.

[Parcel30293697j269]

Another way to know the whereabouts of your mailman is by calling the post office. Though they can give you the exact time he'll arrive because no one knows, they can be able to give you a time range to expect his arrival. They base this on the normal times the mail carrier delivers to your area. What Time Does The Mailman Come in My ZIP Code