If you're going to animate it then flash is the way to go but if all you want to do is show how the borders change over time then just make the physical map and save it then make copies with the various boundary changes, then compile them all together into one large image that shows like 4 maps.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
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I'm not so sure about the flash thing. Gif's 256 color limit for something like this really should be enough, and like Steel General said, flash is a pain, on the developer, and sometimes the user's end. If anything, you can't attach easily viewable flash content here, or many other places for that matter.
Flash has its uses, but for a non-interactive image... nah.
Should be able to do something with GIMP animation if all you want is an animated GIF. If you just want something that you can control, then do a terrain map as a background and each era is a new layer above it. That way you can turn on and off the layers to demonstrate the era you currently have in mind.
You could even make it a short movie clip that gets played on the REPEAT setting on your player. Since all you are doing is changing which area of the map is highlighted (with legend text) then it shouldn't be too hard I'd imagine. Of course I have never done anything of the sort, so take my opinion with a truckload of salt.
If you want a simple line map with solid fills, sure. Antialiasing really eats up your colors, though, and if you want to do something fancy like Mercator-style faded edge political borders, then you're into gradients, which take still more colors. To say nothing of using a shaded relief map underneath. Gif might be an okay place to start, but I think its limits will come into play very quickly.Originally Posted by Notsonoble
'Tis true that there are some accessibility issues with Flash. The development problems aren't a big deal, though, really. As long you're not creating an interface or doing something fancy like that, it's pretty easy to get along with: vector drawing tools and keyframe animation. Only a bit tougher than learning Inkscape or Illustrator, in my opinion.
Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
http://www.bryanray.name
It is also possible to do image overlays using css and javascript.
-Rob A>
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Wow, this is all so much for me to take in! I have read all the options. I must apologize to say i really don't have any clue where to start. I know some flash and i am a programmer so i can work with javascripting.
Any suggestions on where to begin making these maps? what might be a good beginner step?
RobA, i'd also be interested in learning more about how you do it with Javascript/example you might have...
rekaj
Here is an example I cobbled up with the china map at wikipedia:
http://ffaat.pointclark.net/test/mapdemo.html
You will have to wait for all the images to load (I didn't bother with a prefetch).
I just created thumbnails across the bottom, but those images could be replaced with a timeline set of graphics.
Alternately, this could be animated with some javascript.
-Rob A>
My GIMP Scripts: Rotating Brush ~ Gradient from Image ~ Mosaic Tile Helper ~ Random Density Map ~ Subterranean Map Prettier ~ Tapered Stroke Path ~ Random Rotate Floating Layer ~ Batch Image to Pattern ~ Better Seamless Tiles ~ Tile Shuffle ~ Scale Pattern ~ Grid of Guides ~ Fractalize path ~ Label Points
My Maps: Finished Maps ~ Challenge Entries ~ My Portfolio: www.cartocopia.com
Interesting, didn't realize that could be done with CSS.
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hmm to add my two cents, RobA's idea seems a nice way and if you know java it shouldnt be a problem for you.
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