Line Animation in Power BI Map Visual

Power BI just got more powerful for spatial analysis. With the addition of the Path layer to the Azure Map visual, you can now animate lines over time - perfect for logistics, transport tracking, or storytelling with movement data.
Nov 17 / datatraining

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to visualize and animate delivery routes using GPS data, time dimensions, and a dynamic play axis.
Step 1: Ensure You Have the Right Version

You’ll need the November 2024 version or later.
Check your version via:
Help → About in Power BI Desktop.

Step 2: Add the Azure Map Visual

  1. Insert an Azure Map visual from the visual pane.
  2. Resize it on your report canvas.

Step 3: Add Latitude and Longitude

From your dataset:
  • Drag Latitude into the Latitude field.
  • Drag Longitude into the Longitude field.
This plots all delivery points on the map.

Step 4: Differentiate Delivery Agents

To distinguish each route:
  • Add Deliverer Name to the Legend field.
Step 5: Use Path Layer to Connect Points

To draw lines between points:
  • Use Path ID to define separate routes per agent.
  • Use Point Order to determine the sequence of each route.
From your data:
  • Add a column (e.g. RouteID) to use as Path ID.
  • Add a delivery sequence column (Time) to use as Point Order.
Step 6: Style the Map for Clarity

Adjust the map look:
  • Change base style to Grayscale Light.
  • Remove borders from bubbles.
  • Resize bubbles and adjust shadow effects.
  • Center the legend and disable the title.
Step 7: Build a Time Dimension Table

Create a Time table with:
  • Time
  • Hour
  • Minute
  • Optional: Quarter-hour buckets

    Connect Time from the Time table to the delivery Time column with a one-to-many relationship (single filter direction).
Step 8: Add the Play Axis Custom Visual

1. Go to Visuals > Get more visuals.
2. Search for Play Axis.
3. Add it and position it beside your map.

Use the quarter-hour bucket as the field.
Step 9: Display Current Time Filter with a Card

Add a Card visual:
• Show the selected quarter-hour bucket from the time table.
Step 10: Filter Deliveries Using a DAX Measure

Disconnect the relationship between Time and Deliveries in model view.
Then create a filter measure in the Time table:
This ensures:
  • Only deliveries up to the selected time are shown.
  • All deliveries are shown when no filter is applied (static mode).

Step 11: Apply the Time Filter to the Map

1. Select the Map visual.
2. Open the Filter pane.
3. Add Time Filter to visual-level filters.
4. Set it to show only where value = 1.

Now play the animation and watch the lines appear as time progresses!
Optional: Tune Animation Speed and Layout

  • Reduce animation duration (e.g. 250 ms).
  • Group visuals (Play Axis + Time Card + Map) for cleaner layout.
Final Result

Press play, and watch the delivery routes draw themselves on the map, updating in real-time as if you're tracking each courier live. It’s a visually stunning and functionally rich way to communicate time-based spatial data.

Hope you like it!

Give it a try and see how it works for you! I’d love to hear what you think or see how you use this trick in your own reports.

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