Is it possible to define custom camera animation on google maps in Android? This perhaps boils down to being able to create custom CameraUpdateFactory methods that interact with the animateCamera interpolator, etc. -- or just pass a custom animation.
The simplest thing I want to do is animate the camera at constant speed through multiple points. Say I have an array of LatLng, I want to accelerate once (perhaps zoom too), move at constant speed through all of the intermediate points, and decelerate at the last point (and perhaps reset zoom). Using map.animateCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newCameraPosition(..)) has the unfortunate effect of zooming in/out and accelerate/decelerating at each point.
This seems too simple to not be supported out-of-the-box (both array or list of LatLng and being able to extend the camera animation functionality).
Thanks
Unfortunatelly you can't have that functionality right now.
Chaining camera positions will look fine for some cases (see lines 80-100 here), but I guess not in your case.
One thing I can suggest is positng a feature request on gmaps-api-issues.
Related
It's a simple question, but I could not find the information online.
In Street Level, ARController can be used to achieve downwards representation. This is the so called CAMERA view.
My question is: How can I make the map view pitched downwards in MAP View (not in CAMERA view)? The view should be from up to down with an angle around the x-axis.
Thanks for your help.
To set the tilt (pitch) of the Map you can use the Map#setTilt(float) method.
There are also compound operations available for changing the state of the Map such as Map#setCenter(PointF newCenter, Animation animation, double zoomLevel,float orientation, float tilt)
The StreetLevel (i.e. StreetView) feature is controlled using the StreetLevelModel object. To change the pitch of a StreetLevel scene, use the StreetLevelModel#setPitch(float) function.
When using the LiveSight (Augmented Reality) feature, by default the Map state is controlled automatically using device sensor information. In this case, tilt (pitch) will be adjusted automatically. To disable the default behaviour and allow calls to Map#setTilt() to work, call ARController#DownViewParams#setAutoPitchEnabled(false, false)
see also: HERE Maps Android Developer Guide
I'm trying to write an Android app that will allow a user to search for a generic destination (e.g., "gas station") and be presented with up to ~5 nearby locations to choose from. The screen results would display the user location in the center, and possible destination options would be indicated by markers.
The trick is that I don't want to rescale the map from its starting scale, and so some of the possible destinations may not be visible on the screen. I want to dynamically draw a clickable direction indicator (such as an arrow) that emanates from the user location and points to any off-screen destination. If there are multiple off-screen destinations, I'd probably want to scale the arrow lengths to indicate relative distances. If the user clicks on the arrow, they should be "teleported" to the off-screen location.
Any thoughts on how to best implement this? The only information I've found on overlays uses static files (Most overlays seem to be just .PNG files for markers; one example had a route that was drawn from an XML file). I'd need to calculate the arrow based on direction
to the destination (direction the arrow points) and the relative distance to that location (arrow length), so the overlay is something I'd have to come up with at run time.
I think the main challenge is drawing the clickable arrows, but another question that comes to mind is, should I search using the Google Maps API, or is this job more suited to the Google Places API?
Thanks!
I guess we should put the teleportation on hold until the problem of a dynamically-drawn, clickable overlay is solved then!
A dynamically-drawn, clickable overlay is merely a subclass of Overlay. You will override one or both of the draw() methods to render your arrows using the Canvas 2D drawing API. You will override onTap() to be notified of taps on the map, to see if they tapped on an arrow. You add the overlay to the MapView via addOverlays().add().
Most overlays seem to be just .PNG files for markers
Those are usually ItemizedOverlay classes. That's much simpler to implement, particularly if you are one of those developers (like me) who is all thumbs when it comes to Canvas. However, you cannot achieve what you want with an ItemizedOverlay, in all likelihood.
I'd need to calculate the arrow based on direction to the destination (direction the arrow points) and the relative distance to that location (arrow length), so the overlay is something I'd have to come up with at run time.
Correct. You can use a Projection to help convert between pixel space and geo-space (latitude and longitude), if needed.
Note that this all assumes you are trying to use MapActivity and MapView. You are also welcome to use WebView or a plain browser to bring up your own JavaScript-based maps, if you prefer.
I want to build an app that uses GPS data and a building map I provide to show the user where in the building on the map they are. This will be done in a specific building that i already know gets GPS and cell service.
At first I thought the easiest way to do this was to see if I could use Google maps to plot the users location and then just "overlay" my custom building map on top of the Google map so that I wouldnt have to deal with any of the gps information or the complexities of the mapping I would just have to scale my "overlay" to fit properly on top of the Google map so that the user was shown in the correct room in a building. I'm wondering if anyone can provide me any information on how to do this or if there is an easier way to accomplish my map. Any information at all is helpful!
You want...
Google Map View
...and more specifically you will probably want to read the subsection appropriately titled: "Part 2: Adding Overlay Items"
EDIT: Whoops! Nevermind! I misread your question... that is only if you want to overlay an item on the map. Sorry...
There is no possibility to use closer zoom level than that you can see on standard GMap i.e. in browser. Other problem is that google uses GeoPoint class based on cardinal microdegrees to draw overlays, and it's accuracy is to low.
You can look on jGarminImg - it's java library - unfortunately written for using with swing, but it should be relatively easy to make it work with android. On the other hand - you have to make your own map.
You can use standard overlays, or you can make your map in kml format and use this example to display it.
You may be able to achieve this with a custom view that displays your building plan and knows the precise co-ordinates of each corner of the building.
When you receive your location updates you can add a marker to your custom view by translating the real world position into a position in the image using something along the lines of:
pseudocode:
markerX = realWorldX - mapStartX;
markerY = realWorldY - mapStartY;
if( isOnMap( markerX, markerY ) )
{
drawMarker( markerX, markerY );
}
Yes you can overlay bitmap images on top of the Google MapView.
All you have to do is subclass the Overlay class, override the draw method, and draw on the canvas. You have to provide a rectangle of GeoPoints (probably the top left and the bottom right corners) to anchor the building bitmap on top of the MapView. You use mapView.getProjection() to translate the latitude and longitude into xy coordinates on the canvas.
I assume drawBitmap(Bitmap bitmap, Rect src, RectF dst, Paint paint) will be useful here. Bear in mind that src and paint can be null. If the GeoPoints you used are accurate, the bitmap will adjust automatically to pans and zooms, although it might get pixelated if the user zooms in too much.
edit: I am not so confident that Google Maps will have your building stays at the exact same GeoPoints in different zoom levels, so you might have to adjust those values for different zoom levels
If you need only the map of the building, it should not be too difficult to plot the location on an image without using Google Maps, provided that you can determine your location as coordinates inside the building.
You need to know two coordinates: north-west and south-east corners of the building map you are using. When you get GPS location updates, the correct location on the map image can be easily calculated based on these corner coordinates.
I would do it like this,
Place a marker on the google map to indicate the position of the building
Drilling down on the building would load your building map as a custom view. Plot the user location on the custom view
I think trying to overlay your building map on a google map while possible will be more complex to code than doing it via a custom view.
Also overlaying the lowest zoom level with your building map is not going to give you enough resolution unless you have a thumping big building. Whole blocks are pretty small
One issue you have probably already considered is the device will revert to cell tower and wifi for it's location when inside the building giving you a less accurate location fix.
I implemented a custom android SurfaceView class which draw (onDraw method) something often bigger than the available device width and height. When the user toutch the screen and move it's finger I need to implement a kind of picture movement with a speed and direction matching the speed and direction given by the user. That part I'm able to do it within onTouchEvent method. But here is my question: now I also want the speed to decelerate progressivly. I think this probably have to be coded with DecelerateInterpolator... Is there some samples or demos somewhere involving a SurfaceView, onTouchEvent and DecelerateInterpolator... ?
I was thinking of a too complicated way to address the problem. Finally found a way to solve my problem here: Smooth scrolling in Android The OnGestureListener simplify all gestures management.
If a user does a "pinch zoom" on the map, my overlays don't properly size until the end. This has been noted in other posts, so i assume it is a known issue.
Problem is, my client finds it totally unacceptable, as I am tasked with making the android app look as good as the iphone version.
Is there any way to correct this, even if it is a horrible hack? For instance, can I subclass the mapview and handle drawing or override some other method?
The common solution is to not draw overlay during zoom animation.
UPDATED:
Sorry, I've confused zoom and move.
The problem with zoom is that you can't rely on zoom level. Instead you need to draw your overlay based on MapView.getProjection().