Canvas Motion Paths and Record Animation

Create custom animation trajectories in Explayner: draw precise polyline motion paths with ✎ Path, record hand-drawn gesture animations with ⏺ Rec, and fine-tune timing, speed, and looping.

4 min read•Last updated: September 2026

Custom Motion Authoring Tools

Explayner includes two advanced canvas tools for creating custom movement instead of choosing only preset animations: ✎ Path (drawing precise polyline paths) and ⏺ Rec (recording real-time hand drag gestures).

Both tools are available in single-element animation controls and in multi-selection groups.

Before Using Motion Tools

Open a scene in Edit mode.
Select one element, or select multiple elements with Shift-click or marquee selection.
Open the element's animation controls in the properties panel.
Choose an animation type that can move along a path: move for a one-time motion path or scroll for a repeating path.

Selection Required & Formation Movement

The ✎ Path and ⏺ Rec buttons are disabled until at least one element is selected. When multiple elements are selected, the motion path is applied relatively across all elements so they move together in formation.

Drawing a Custom Path with ✎ Path

Use ✎ Path when you want to draw a deliberate trajectory directly on the canvas:

Select the element(s) that should move.
Click ✎ Path.
Click points on the canvas to define the custom motion trajectory / polyline.
The button displays a live point count, such as ✓ Path (6).
Click ✓ Done to apply the path, or ✕ Cancel to discard the in-progress drawing.

Relative Trajectory Coordinates

The path is stored as relative movement from each element's authored position. For a move animation, the element follows the path for its configured duration. For a scroll animation, the path repeats continuously.

Recording Animation Gestures with ⏺ Rec

Use ⏺ Rec to capture natural hand movements:

Select the element or group of elements.
Click ⏺ Rec. The button changes to ⏹ Stop Rec.
Drag the selected element across the canvas along the route you want.
Click ⏹ Stop Rec when finished, or click ✓ Done from the motion-capture controls.
Choose how to process the captured gesture: Smooth (resamples points for clean motion-graphics curves), Original (preserves raw drag fidelity), or 🗑 Delete to discard.

Animation Capture, Not Screen Recording

Recording is an animation authoring tool; it captures coordinate displacement over time and does not record screen video or audio.

Finishing, Canceling, and Deleting Paths

✓ Done: Finish and apply the current path or recording workflow.
✕ Cancel: Exit motion capture without saving the active path.
🗑 Delete Path: Remove the motion path from the selected element while preserving all other properties (fill, stroke, text, position).

Motion Timing Controls

Control	Values	Description
in (s)	e.g. 0.5s	Seconds into the scene when the animation starts.
out (s)	e.g. 2.5s	Seconds into the scene when the animation ends.
speed	0.25× to 4× slider	Adjusts playback rate. Increasing speed shortens duration; decreasing speed creates slow motion.
loop	once \| twice \| loop \| custom	Determines repeat behavior.
custom	Positive integer	Number of repeat iterations when custom looping is selected.

Previewing Path Animations

Click ▶ Anim in the Canvas toolbar to preview the current scene's animations. The preview runs at the same deterministic 30 FPS timing used by the final video renderer, then restores authored element states. While playing, the button displays Animating….

Always verify your custom paths with ▶ Anim, then click ✓ Apply & re-render before downloading your MP4.

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