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News about Route Generator

18 February 2023: Version 1.11.0 released

The following new features have been implemented:

• Route Generator is now installed using a new installer. It is recommended to manually uninstall the old version first!
• GeoTiff support.
• Possibility to set fixed output resolution for output video's.
• Scrolling/sliding map with fixed resolution when generating video.
• Because background map resolution can now be higher than the output resolution, you can now specify a ratio in relation to the selected output resolution in the Google maps importer.
• It is now possible to select an existing output folder again (Route Generator will be more careful when deleting files).
• FPS setting now passed correctly to the ffmpeg commandline.
• Possibility to set different file type for generated video frames (e.g. PNG, JPG, etc.)

See General tutorial page for updated instructions. This tutorial page is also included in the Help->Tutorial of the application.

And also checkout this new Multiple routes and scrolling map tutorial

24 October 2021: Version 1.10.0 released

Several bugfixes and improvements:

• Application now default runs on 64 Windows, so it will no longer run on 32 bits Windows! Please let me know if you still require a 32 bits version!
• Panning and zooming of route map now possible using mouse (and scroll wheel)
• Now possible to select different map type in Google Maps import dialog (roadmap, sattelite, terrain, etc.)
• GPX import now automatically zooms map to boundaries of route
• Always force to create new empty folder when files are detected in output directory (to prevent that files are deleted coincidentally)
• Fixed default location of ffmpeg on linux (removed /usr/bin); assume it can always be found in the PATH
• Added more default (animated) vehicles (source: Gifs animés)

5 July 2020: Version 1.9.1 released

Several bugfixes and improvements:

• Now using Google map's (web mercator) lat,lon to x,y conversion (GPX import), so routepoints are better projected on the map
• Prevent zoomlevels with decimal numbers in Google map URL's
• Option to select previously saved maps after importing GPX route
• Google maps dialog size and position saved (i.e. dialog has same size and position when re-opened)
• Maximum size for custom vehicles increased
• Smoother vehicle movement, especially when route moves around direct north or south

19 April 2020: Version 1.9 released

For Linux users: the new version is now also available as AppImage!

The following new features have been added:

• GPX Import (both routes and tracks)
• Map and route can now be saved and loaded from project files (rgp)
• Storing geographic coordinates with map and route, so it is possible to import multiple GPX tracks and routes on a map that has been imported from Google maps once
• Manually enter FFMpeg commandline options (for advanced use)
• Maximize button on google maps import dialog
• Increased maximum resolution of google map to 8K
• Format of video files now configurable for ffmpeg (mp4, mpg, mkv, but default still avi)
• Map and route status icons in status bar
• SVG format support for custom vehicles

Because projects can now be opened and saved, the toolbar structure has slightly been changed. The open button now opens a project instead of a map image. The same counts for the save button, which now saves a project instead of a map image. For opening and saving map images, 2 new buttons have been added to the toolbar.

17 November 2019: Version 1.9-alpha-5 released

Saving/loading project files (rgp extension) now implemented

22 September 2019: Version 1.9-alpha-4 released

GPX import now supports multiple tracks in a GPX file (track can be selected)

31 July 2019: Version 1.8.1 and 1.9-alpha-3 released

The pixel format of output video's is now always set to yuv420p (instead of yuv444p), which is more commonly supported by video players and editors.

Also released 1.9-alpha-3 with new or unfinished features, see download section.

15 July 2019: Version 1.9-alpha-2 released

New alpha version with partially or finished features:

• GPX import.
• Automatic Google maps import from GPX coordinates (green rectangle shows GPX route boundaries).
• Map geographic coordinates stored, so no new import from Google maps is required when re-opening map with GPX file.
• Still under development: saving/loading project files with map and route coordinates.

14 June 2019: Versie 1.8 released

• The import from Google maps now works again!
• New version of Zeranoe FFmpeg (Windows only) included (4.1.3)
• Technical details: Upgraded code base to use Qt 5.12

For the rest no new features have been added, but ready for the future.

5 March 2016: Versie 1.7.1 released

In this version the Zeranoe FFmpeg generator is included and will by default be activated after installation on Windows. By using FFmpeg, the conversion of HD video's will go faster and result in a higher quality of the output video. It is still possible to switch back to the Bmp2Avi generator by re-activating it via Edit → Preferences → Advanced tab.

Thanks to Kyle Schwarz, the builder of the Zeranoe FFmpeg Windows builds.

2 Februari 2015: Version 1.7 released

It took some time, but finally released a new version of Route Generator. This new version doesn't contain a lot of new features, but hopefully some people will find them useful:

• You can now select a delay in seconds to add before the beginning or after the end of the generated movie.
• It's now possible to select FFmpeg as movie generator on Windows, instead of bmp2avi (on Linux FFmpeg was already the default). However, to use it, you will have to download and install it manually (see instructions in the Tutorial)
• Route Generator now supports the new interface of Google Maps.

These new features will be explained in more detail from the Help > Tutorial menu, under the topic New in version 1.7.

3 January 2014: Version 1.7 under development

Started developments for version 1.7 of Route Generator, see new Code rss feed page to monitor the progress.

10 November 2012: Version 1.6 tutorial added

The Route Generator v1.6 installer, didn't contain the tutorial. I've added a patch installer that will add the tutorial to the currently installed Route Generator.
It is still a litlebit outdated, but overall the process is still the same.

The tutorial patch can be downloaded from the Download section.

28 April 2012: Version 1.6 released!

Version 1.6 of Route Generator has been released, with the following new features:
(Thanks to the co-efforts of Fabien Valthier)

• Route will be editable (selected points can be moved or deleted after drawing) (Thanks Fabien)
• Redo
• Increased maximum duration of route
• New vehicle setting: Don't rotate with route direction
• Other improvements in vehicle settings
• Adding custom vehicles made easier
• Automatic deleting files when selected output folder not empty
• Several bugs fixed

The new version can be downloaded from the Download section.

4 April 2012: New version almost ready.

A new version will now soon be released, with the following new features:
(Thanks to the co-efforts of Fabien Valthier)

• Route will be editable (selected points can be moved or deleted after drawing) (Thanks Fabien)
• Redo
• Increased maximum duration of route
• New vehicle setting: Don't rotate with route direction
• Other improvements in vehicle settings
• Adding custom vehicles made easier
• Automatic deleting files when selected output folder not empty
• Several bugs fixed

Now still improving some final issues, so have a littlebit more patience please.
See development log for technical details of current status.

For the rest I would like to get rid of bmp2avi on Windows (for movie generation), because some people are running into problems with it. Would like to find out if I can use FFmpeg on Windows as well (like on Linux), but I don't think I will make it to get it into the next version.

9 June 2011: New website layout

• Improved the website by adding a side menu to make it easier to navigate.
• A few new features are in development for Route Generator, but need to be tested. One of the biggest improvements will be that routes will now be editable! More details will follow later...

16 January 2011: Released version 1.5 of Route Generator.

Mainly thanks to the contributions of Fabien Valthier (a new developer for Route Generator from France), the following features have been added or improved:

• Route generation improvements (smooth route)
• ffmpeg support for Linux (instead of bmp2avi)
• Start new route button on toolbar
• Vehicle orientation improved
• Dialog to set vehicle settings (icon size and orientation)
• Generate iconless begin/end frames checkbox moved to preferences dialog
• Google maps importer fix (map now scrollable and zoomable)

28 November 2010: Released version 1.4 of Route Generator.

This version contains the possibility to import a map from Google Maps to use as background map for your route (see Help->Tutorial for further explanation).

28 March 2010: Released version 1.3.1 of Route Generator.

In this minor update a few issues have been resolved:

• Automatic curve generation (in interpolation mode) did't work as expected and caused problems with sharp angles in the route (e.g. when going back on the same route). This problem has not been fixed, yet, but this feature has been disabled for now. Optionally this feature can be re-enabled through a new "Advanced" tab in the Route Generator Preferences.
• The "Advanced" tab also contains settings to control the update rate of the vehicle orientation.
• Draw mode will automatically be disabled when clicking on "Playback" or "Generate", to make sure that the route is interpolated first (in interpolation mode).
• First click on the map (after activating "Draw mode"), is now painted on the map as well.
• Route Generator installation now happens through an installer file, instead of manually extracting a zip-file.

23 August 2009: Released version 1.3 of Route Generator

This version contains the following new features:

• Variable route speed and automatic interpolation
• Bmp2Avi preferences (e.g. selecting different codec or frame rate of generated avi)
• Undo while drawing route (redo not implemented, let me know if you think it's useful)
• Select different line styles for your route
• Extended tutorial with new features (see Help->Tutorial)

29 July 2008: Released version 1.2 of Route Generator

• Added rotating vehicle with direction of route (RGVehicle)
• Added animated vehicles (using animated gifs) (RGVehicle)
• When loading large maps, scrollbars appear (QScrollArea)
• Added spinbox for angle correction
• Added stop button for playback

16 May 2008: Start-up of www.routegenerator.net!

Today www.routegenerator.net came available for my use, so I moved all the stuff from my homepage to this location.

05 May 2008: Released version 1.1 of Route Generator!

First release of Route Generator published on sourceforge.net and routegenerator.net

• In this version you can add custom vehicle icons, by adding image files (e.g. *.png) to the vehicles folder in the route generator installation folder.
• Also you can select a different color for the generated route.

29 April 2008: Released version 1.0 of Route Generator!

See background section for more details.