Overview
Animating a map by hand is a miserable job. You find a reference, trace coastlines, place labels, guess at projections, and then the director asks to move the camera and none of it holds up. This extension replaces all of that by fetching real map data into the composition, styled and separated into layers you can animate normally, with the geography mathematically correct at every zoom level.
The build here has the license applied and the extension panel registered, along with the style presets and the vector data handling components. It works inside an existing After Effects installation and does not modify anything about the host beyond installing the panel and its supporting scripts.
Getting map data into a composition
Choose a location and a zoom level in the panel and the extension builds a composition containing the map, either as high resolution imagery or as vector data separated into layers for roads, water, land use, boundaries and labels. Because the vector layers are real shape layers, each can be styled, coloured, animated and masked independently, which is what makes the result look designed rather than screenshotted.
Several map styles are available covering the usual visual approaches, satellite imagery, terrain shading, plain political outlines and dark and light minimal styles, and custom styling can be applied on top since everything arrives as ordinary layers. Projections are handled correctly, so a zoom from a continent to a street does not distort in the wrong way.
Animation and camera work
Camera moves across a map are driven by geographic coordinates rather than pixel positions, so keyframing a move from one city to another is a matter of entering the places. The extension handles level of detail as the camera moves, swapping in higher resolution data as you zoom without a visible seam, which is the part that is genuinely hard to do by hand.
Data driven animation is supported through imported coordinate sets, so a route, a set of markers or a flight path animates along real geography. Marker layers can be duplicated from a template and populated from a data file, which is how a sequence with forty labelled locations gets built in minutes rather than an afternoon of manual placement.
Working with your own data
Vector geography files can be imported and rendered as shape layers in the same projection as the base map, which is how region specific boundaries, custom territories or survey data end up on screen correctly registered. Elevation data can drive a displacement for terrain relief.
Everything the extension produces is standard After Effects content: shape layers, precompositions, expressions and solids. Once generated, a map composition can be handed to someone without the extension installed and it will still render, which matters when work moves between machines in a facility.
What you get
- Real map data imported directly into a composition at any zoom level
- Vector output separated into roads, water, land use, boundary and label layers
- Multiple base styles including satellite, terrain, political and minimal
- Correct projection handling across zoom ranges
- Camera animation keyframed by geographic coordinates rather than pixels
- Automatic level of detail swapping during zooms with no visible seam
- Data driven markers and routes populated from imported coordinate sets
- Import of your own vector geography and elevation data
- Output is standard layers that render without the extension installed
Inside the archive
- GEOlayers extension installer
- Style preset collection
- Vector data handling components
- Sample projects demonstrating camera moves and data driven markers
- Install notes covering panel registration and host compatibility
System requirements
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 22H2 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Host application | A compatible After Effects install already present |
| Processor | Six core recommended for large vector maps |
| Memory | 16 GB minimum, 32 GB for high zoom vector work |
| Graphics | 4 GB VRAM |
| Storage | 2 GB for the extension, plus cached map data |
Installing it
- Close After Effects completely before starting.
- Unpack the archive and run the extension installer as administrator.
- Let it detect the host installation and register the panel.
- Reopen After Effects and open the panel from the extensions menu.
- Generate a small test map to confirm the panel builds a composition without errors.
Mirrors
| Route | Region | Note | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct, primary | Europe | No wait, resumable | Online |
| Direct, secondary | North America | No wait, resumable | Online |
| Torrent magnet | Global | Direct is usually faster at this size | Online |
Release history
- Level of detail swapping smoothed during fast camera moves
- Additional base styles added
- Fixed label layers losing their styling on regeneration
- Elevation driven terrain displacement added
- Custom vector import projection handling corrected
- Data driven marker population from coordinate files
Questions about this release
Does the map data come with it or download?
Base styles and the sample data are included. Specific locations at high zoom are fetched and cached, so a fully offline machine is limited to what is already cached.
Will the composition render on a machine without the extension?
Yes. Everything it produces is standard layers and expressions, so a generated map renders anywhere.
Can I use my own boundaries?
Yes. Vector geography files import and render in the same projection as the base map, correctly registered.
Why is a high zoom vector map slow?
Vector maps at street level contain an enormous number of shapes. Disable the layers you are not using before generating, which cuts the shape count dramatically.
Comments
Handed the finished comp to a colleague without the extension and it rendered fine.
Imported our own boundary file and it registered correctly against the base map first try.
Comments are read before they appear. If a build stops working, say so here and it gets rebuilt rather than quietly left up.
Coordinate keyframed camera move from a country to a street with no seam. Would have taken me two days by hand.