Mapcomps

Mapcomps are Compositions filled with map imagery and/or geographical labels.

They are the basic building block of each GEOlayers project.

To start a project you need to create a Mapcomp. Do this by creating a new project from the projects window or click the little arrow top left in the main window and hit + Add Mapcomp.

There are two steps to add a new Mapcomp:

1. Composition options and location

Choose a name, pixel size, duration, and framerate. These values are set from the currently selected composition. Don't forget to navigate the preview map to the location you're interested in. You can also use the search bar to jump to a place. Once you did this hit Next

2. Map Style

Now select a basic style for your map. You can select imagery presets from the section below the preview map, choose color presets, or change individual colors. The Mapcomp can be styled more detailed once it is created, so hit Create for now!

Now you can see the actual Mapcomp has beed created in the currently selected composition. Above it you can see the Mapcomps anchor layer. This is a helper layer that matches the Mapcomp's view animation and can be used to parent layers.

If you don't want to start from scratch you can also choose a sample project to start from. Find the projects panel in the context- or flyout menu of the GEOlayers panel.

Whenever you open a project that already contains Mapcomps you can see and select them clicking top left in the main window. This will open the Mapcomp list.

As you hover over a Mapcomp the following buttons appear:

Below the list on the left side you can toggle display modes.

• Sort by linked Views to see exactly which mapcomps are linked
• Sort by Mapcomp name to order all Mapcomps by their Names
• Sort by Layer Order in containing Comp to show Mapcomps grouped by their containing comp in the layer order

Navigate your Mapcomp

A Mapcomps view consists of latitude, longitude, zoom, bearing, and pitch.

To navigate the Mapcomp you can use the preview map in the GEOlayers panel. Drag around to change the active position in your composition. Use and to zoom in and out. You can also use the slider in between for finer control. Additionally, you can right-click and drag to change the map's bearing and pitch. You can reset the bearing by clicking

If your Mapcomp is linked to the preview map the view will be synced each time you change it. If you unlink it you can apply the view by hitting .

With the button in the top right you can display your selected Mapcomps view in the preview map.

It is not recommended to set the composition viewers resolution to Auto because GEOlayers can't lower the resolution as it is working. This results in slow performance.

Animate your Mapcomp

You can animate your Mapcomps with the effect controls of your Mapcomp Layer in the timeline. The easiest way is to click bottom left of the preview map in the main panel. This will create keyframes on all properties at the current time. If you move the current time indicator to a different position and change a Mapcomp's view GEOlayers will automatically add keyframes to the properties that have changed. For example, only the zoom or bearing.

Finalize your Mapcomp

Once your animation is done you need to finalize your Mapcomp.

Finalizing a Mapcomp means:

1. Analyzing

The animation is analyzed and GEOlayers pulls the necessary tiles (imagery and data) from the basemap.

2. Rendering Imagery

The required geospatial data or imagery is downloaded, rendered, imported to your project, and blended according to your animation's zoom level transitions. If needed, a provider attribution is created.

3. Adding Labels

Labels are added and blended according to their importance.

Click the Finalize button in the top right of the main panel to finalize the selected Mapcomp and related ones. Mapcomps are related if their views are linked. Hold SHIFT to finalize all.

Additionally you can hold ALT/OPT to finalize in preview quality or CTRL/CMD to finalize only the current frame.

General

Name

You should change your Mapcomps name only here since related expressions will automatically be updated.

Linked Mapcomp

Select another Mapcomp here to link their views. Note that this option is only visible if you have more than one Mapcomp in your project.

Language

You can select a language for your Mapcomp here. This affects naming of features in the browser and search as well as the mapcomp labels. Note that not every location is named in every language. In this case, the international names are being used.

Max Zoom

This value describes how far the Mapcomp can be zoomed in. Note that this depends on the imagery you use. Imagery can be overzoomed but the quality will suffer in this case.

Attribution

Select a place that suits best for your data attribution. Note that all map providers require this unless otherwise agreed with them. You can find some info on how certain data should be attributed clicking .

Imagery

You can generally enable and disable imagery rendering for Mapcomps. This can also be done in the Mapcomp list. If it is enabled you have the following options:

Imagery Presets

Click one of the thumbnails to apply an imagery preset to your Mapcomp. Each preset has different options. You can set them up by clicking in the top right.

Quality

The quality describes the resolution related to the zoom in which the imagery is being rendered. Normally 80% is a good setting for most cases.

Blend Duration

Depending on the zoom level, imagery from map providers will have different detail levels being rendered. After finalization, those zoom level transitions are blended with the duration that is set up here. Note that the duration can be shortened if there is not enough time.

Mapcomp Labels

The labels are After Effects text layers which you can style however you want. Those layers are called Mapcomp Label Templates and can be found inside the Mapcomp.

You can enable and disable automatic labels for Mapcomps. This can also be done in the Mapcomp list. If it is enabled you have the following options:

Label Presets

Depending on the colors of your imagery, GEOlayers suggests label styles. You can click one of the presets to apply the labels to your Mapcomp. Note that the existing Mapcomp label template layers are being removed. Click in the top right to reveal the layers in your Mapcomp. This also helps you to apply colors to all layers with one click, select the contents and block certain labels.

Density

The label density describes the amount of labels per view. Note that a higher density results in a slower finalization and longer render times.

Size

Set up a global label size here. Relative sizes can be set on the individual label template layers. Reveal them by clicking in the top right.

Blend Duration

After finalization, Mapcomp labels are blended in and out depending on zoom levels and other more important labels that intersect. The blend duration can be set up here.

Pinned Layers

A pinned layer is a layer in your Mapcomp's containing composition that is fixed to a certain geographical position.

Have a look at the pinned layers effect controls and find the following options:

Latitude, Longitude and Height

These three controls represent the geographical position of the layer. The Height is the z-offset in pixels at the zoom the layer has been pinned.

Pixel Offset

3D point control is very handy to adjust the layer's geographical position with normalized values. Even if you're zoomed in very close and incremental latitude changes would lead to a different position of the label. This property allows for quick adjustments. Note that the z-offset here is independent from the zoom.

Scale with Map

Check this option to scale the pinned layer according to your Mapcomp's zoom.

Rotate with Map

Check this option to rotate the pinned layer according to your Mapcomp's bearing and pitch. Note that you must enable the label layer as 3D in After Effects for this to work.

Rotate along path

If the geoposition of the layer is animated it can be rotated along its movement path with this option.

Bearing offset

If the layer is rotated with the map you can set an offset for the bearing.

Position Progress

If the Latitude, Longitude or Height properties are keyframed you can animate the layer's position with this progress slider between a value of 0 and 100. Note that you need to enable the effect therefore. It makes things easier if you want to ease complex route animations.

If you want to overlay a layer to your map, you can also parent it to the Mapcomp anchor layer.

Label Template Selector

A label template is a composition with graphical elements and text or footage templates that will be set from feature properties when a feature is labeled.

In comparison to the mapcomp labels which are created automatically, these labels are more powerful and can be used to highlight certain places, add symbols, or even show whole datasets like weather information.

In the dropdown you can select the label template if you label a feature from the toolbar, the search, or the browser. You can hold ALT/OPT and click to reveal the label template Composition in your After Effects project. It is also possible to hold SHIFT to reveal the ColorComp of the label template if it has one. This is a composition where you can globally define colors for your label set.

You can easily filter the labels by name typing anything into the filterbar. If you're building template projects it might come also handy that you can right click the filterbar to set up filtering by Mapcomp. You can define label templates that are only visible if you have a certain Mapcomp selected.

Underneath the label template List you can find more options:

Label on preferred Mapcomp

If you have a group of linked Mapcomps you can set a preferred one to put template labels on in the Mapcomp list. This one will be used to label features instead of the currently selected Mapcomp. This is useful for more complex projects like 3D landscapes.

Shape Layer Style Selector

A shape layer style is a preset in which shape layers can be drawn. They are saved with the After Effects project.

They can be very powerful as their options can be data-driven by properties of the feature that is drawn.

In the dropdown, you can select a shape layer style that is used if you draw a feature even from the search or the browser.

You can easily filter the shape layer styles by name typing anything into the filterbar. If you're building template projects it might come also handy that you can right click the filterbar to set up filtering by Mapcomp. You can define shape layer styles that are only visible if you have a certain Mapcomp selected.

Underneath the shape layer styles you can find more options:

Additionally, there are some global settings for drawing shape layers:

Simplify Geometry

If enabled, GEOlayers will reduce geometry details that are visually unimportant. For maximum performance, keep this setting enabled. There is two modes, simply click the checkbox to toggle through the options:

• by Current Zoom: The geometry of the feature will be simplified according to the current view of your Mapcomp.
• by Max Zoom: The geometry will be simplified according to the largest zoom in your animation.

Auto Stroke Width

If checked, stroke widths will be animated according to the Mapcomp's zoom level so they appear to have the same width at each zoom.

Individual Layers

If you draw more than one Feature, you can select whether they should be drawn on a single or individual layers. Note that if feature styles have different extrusions, features will split to layers with the same extrusions.

Inside Mapcomp

For quick animations, you might want to draw features inside the Mapcomp so they appear below the Mapcomp Labels and don't add complexity to your containing composition.

Draw on preferred Mapcomp

If you have a group of linked Mapcomps, you can define a preferred one to draw on in the Mapcomp list. This one will then be used to draw Features on instead of the currently selected Mapcomp. This is useful for more complex projects like 3D landscapes.

Add Features

Click the button on the left side above the browser to add features to the browser. A few options will appear.

Filter Features

You can filter your list of saved features in the browser. Just type in a search term.

Anything

Any word will check all feature properties for a match.

Certain Properties

You can also filter by certian properties. Do this by typing in the property name, an operator, and a value. For example, kind=country or population<100000.

Additionally you can filter by geometry type (points, lines, polygons).

Feature Actions

Storing features in the browser is a powerful tool in GEOlayers. Select one or more features and the following buttons appear below the browser:

Default Labels

The default label templates are set up for two color schemes and can be customized. To do that open the following composition: GEOlayers 3 Items/Items/LabelColors. There you can adjust the fill colors of the containing shape layers or simply hide them if you don't want straps for example.

Once a feature is labeled you can change the label layer's anchor point property to offset the text strap while the pointer still sits at the correct geoposition.

Create Custom Labels

Each composition that is inside GEOlayers 3 Items/Label Templates in your After Effects project is noticed by GEOlayers as a label template. Note that the labels anchor point is at the center of the template composition by default. If you want it to be somewhere else add a layer called Label Anchor Point to your template composition. This layer should have a z-positon of 0 and be not parented to another one. The anchor point of each label created with this template will then be adjusted to this layer's position in the template comp. An expression will link its position to the label's anchor point. This allows dynamic labels.

If you want a Label Template to be a 3D layer as you add it to a map switch on the 3D layer flag of the Label Anchor Point layer. Same goes for collape transformation.

Additionally you can control a labels default behaviour by adding the following effect controls to the Label Anchor Point layer:

• Checkbox control: Scale with Map
• Checkbox control: Rotate with Map
• Checkbox control: Rotate along path
• Angle control: Bearing Offset

Text layers that are not locked are used as template fields. The text layer's name or content defines the text that is inserted to it as you create a label.

• Any name will tell GEOlayers to insert just the feature name.
• A feature property in curly brackets in the name or text layers' content will lead to replacing the source text with a certain property's value. Multiple properties are supported. So a text layer's name or content could be {population} or Latitude: {lat}, Longitude: {lon} for example. If the Features' property is an Array the text will be animated. Change the duration of this animation with the Default Animation Duration in the preferences.

Footage layers that are not locked and are named like a property in curly brackets are used as footage template fields. The layers' source will be replaced when the Feature provides a suitable property for this. Properties can hold the following data:

• An absolute local path to a file with or without the file extension D:\my_folder\my_file(.jpg)
• A local path or file name with or without file extension that is relative to the template footage my_file(.jpg)
• A http or https URI http://www.myserv.er/my_image.jpg

Inspect a feature's properties by clicking the feature properties button in the feature browser.

Edit Styles

Select a style from the grid to edit its properties. You can also drag them around, create new ones, duplicate, or remove them.

The selected style can be edited below. You can select whether a fill and a stroke property should be drawn. Unlike polygons, line and point geometries will be drawn with a stroke also if it is not checked. For each of the both you can define a color and a opacity. The stroke has some additional options. The Width, which is relative to your selected Mapcomps current view, and a dash slider. Use it to draw your Stroke dashed or dotted. Note that this increases the time for the drawing process.

A style can also contain an extrusion. As a result, the containing composition's renderer will be set to CINEMA 4D. Features with different extrusions will be drawn on separate layers due to limitations with After Effects. Same goes for different Layer Blending Modes and the Preserve Transparency toggle.

Data-driven Styling

Each setting of a shape layer style can be data-driven. Click the button to automatically adapt the setting to a certain feature property.

Type in the property's name and a value range. You can then, for example, colorize a stroke according to the drawn feature's population property. If you define numbers in the value range, colors in between will be styled across a range. String data (words) will change the setting on an exact match. Numbers can be treated as a string if you use quotation marks.

For Stroke Width and Outline Width you can choose Circle Area as an interpolation setting next to the Property name. Use it if you want to draw Point Features whose surface area should represent the property value. This makes visually more sense than the diameter which represents the stroke width. Note that in this case you should have only 2 items in the value range.

If the data-driving property of the Feature is an Array GEOlayers will animate the corresponding shape layer settings. In the browser you will see a little icon if the Features' property is suitable for an animation. The duration of this animation can be adjusted changing the Default Animation Duration in the preferences

By checking the rnd setting, it will be randomized in the given value range.

The little icon in the style thumbnail indicates that the style has at least one data-driven setting. Thumbnails in the feature browser also preview data-driven settings. If the icon is not spinning the Feature has no property to data-drive the Shape Layer Style.

Create a new Project

Click this button to create a new GEOlayers project and Mapcomp.

Import a Project

If you want to integrate a GEOlayers 3 project in the one that is already open. GEOlayers will take care of unique comp names, update expressions, merge shape layer styles of both projects, and sort your items into the required folder structure.

Open a Project

Click this button to open any After Effects project.

Recent Projects

In this section you can find and open your recent GEOlayers projects.

Sample Projects

You can directly download sample projects to get you started. The projects can contain shape layers styles and label templates. Features can be delivered with the project. In this case, they will be added to your browser when the project is loaded.

The icon top right lets you download the project with your browser.

If there is a top right you can also watch a related video to learn more.

Label template projects can be directly imported to your GEOlayers project if one is currently open.

General

Default Composition Settings

Choose some defaults for creating Mapcomps. Note that you can also select a Composition before you create a Mapcomp to apply its composition settings and place the Mapcomp inside.

Default language

Choose a language which Mapcomps will use by default.

Smoothen view animations

If this setting is checked all view animations will be eased automatically. Smoothing will also be applied if you animate a Mapcomp's view along a feature.

Easing

If you have smoothen view animations enabled you can choose the velocity influence for the keyframes.

Default animation duration

This duration is used for animating views, markers, labels, or draw shape layers along a feature. If the feature has timed information like GPX tracks and the Mapcomp's duration is long enough the original time will be used to animate. If the composition is not long enough the speed is scaled up relatively to match the default animation duration.

To adapt the animation length once it is drawn, select all the keyframes and drag the last keyframe around holding ALT/OPT.

Show Tooltips

You can disable tooltips here.

Show Hints

You can disable the Hints that pop up after certain actions.

Use System Color Picker

Select whether you want to use the GEOlayers color picker or the system default.

Finalize only containing comps work area

Instead of the whole duration only the work area of the composition your Mapcomp is placed inside is finalized. This can be handy for long, complex animations.

Show Bounding Box of previewed Features

Show a Bounding Box around Features in the preview map.

Feature Search

Services

You can set up multiple services for your searchbar and the search by coordinate function. Note that MapTiler is only available if you have have connected your MapTiler Cloud account.

Mapcomp Imagery

Render Directory

Into this directory all the Imagery will be rendered.

Render to project directory

Enable this setting and GEOlayers will try to render the imagery to the directory your After Effects project file is stored. It is more efficient to use a global render directory and collect files as the project is finished since GEOlayers will be faster using already rendered imagery on different projects.

Labels

Custom Label Template Project

Apart from the Default Label Templates you can define a custom .aep that will be loaded when you create a new GEOlayers 3 project.

Ask for missing data before adding Template Label

If you want to add a label for a feature and the Label Template requires data that can't be provided by the feature GEOlayers will show a dialog that lets you enter the missing data.

Renaming

You can set up a renaming table for the automatic Mapcomp labels. Type in the location name you don't want to see and a name with which it should be replaced.

Shape Layer drawing

Change renderer for extruded layers

The After Effects Classic 3D renderer can't display extrusions. GEOlayers can change the renderer to Ray-Traced or the CINEMA 4D renderer once a shape layer is drawn with extrusion. The Mapcomp itself can't be rendered with a different renderer such as Classic 3D due to the layer blending during zoom level transitions. This is why extruded shapes can't be drawn inside Mapcomps. They will be offset in z-space.

Cast shadows

You can set up newly drawn shape layers to cast shadows by default.

Accept shadows

You can set up freshly drawn shape layers to not accept shadows by default.

Duplicate Features across Date Line

Draw features multiple times if they cross the date line or your view is zoomed out that far that it shows the whole world multiple times.

Dash Zoom Threshold

As you zoom a map that has a shapelayer with a dashed stroke attached and it was drawn with the Auto Stroke Width setting GEOlayers needs to adjust the dash length according to the stroke width to keep it visually balanced. This slider lets you adjust how much streching of the dash length is allowed. 0 means no stretching at all. A value of 1 ends up in one step each zoomlevel.

Accurate Topology Simplification

Polygons with shared borders are simplified more accurate to avoid glitches. This method is slower.

Simplification Detail (Zoom Offset)

Features are simplified according to a certain zoom of your map. Increasing this value will lead to more detail in the geometry allowing you to add a little zoom to your animation afterwards without the need to draw the feature again.

Finalization

Max tiles for finalized Mapcomp

The maximum number of imagery layers GEOlayers will allow during finalization. Keep in mind that your machine might get pretty busy if you allow a really high amount of layers.

Base Sample Rate

Define the frames to be left out during analyzation before finalizing. GEOlayers will automatically sample more details depending on the map movement it detects. Nevertheless, if you have problems with missing tiles on the mapcomp edges, you can lower this value and finalize again.

Mapcomp Label Engine

There is a complex algorithm setting up the Mapcomp labels. Changing these values might end up in unwanted results.

Title Safe Area

The minimum distance from the border of the frame, relative to the Mapcomp size, in which Mapcomp labels can be drawn

Label Buffer

The buffer around each label, relative to the Mapcomp size, which prevent labels from displaying if they collide.

Min Appearance Time

If a label doesn't reach this time to be displayed it won't be added to the Mapcomp since you wouldn't be able to read it.

Collision Sample Rate

The rate in which GEOlayers looks for label collisions and sets up blending during finalization.

Max labels to sample per view

The maximum amount of labels that can influence each other.

Lock Mapcomp Labels

Lock created Mapocmp labels after finalization.

Pinned Layers

Rotate along path smoothing

This setting describes the smoothing applied to the rotation, if you animate a pinned layer or label along a feature and enable its rotate along path effect.

Scripts

Script folders

Add directorys that store .jsx or .jsxbin files to run them from the GEOlayers toolbar.

Detect script files in project directory

Show .jsx or .jsxbin files in the toolbar script runner that are in the same directory as your current After Effects project file.

Render Queue

Once your Finalization is done GEOlayers displays the option to add a compostion to the After Effects or Media Encoder Render Queue.

Render Directory

You can either keep the default behaviour of After Effects setting your output folder or specify an absolute or relative path.

Create Directory if not existing

You can allow GEOlayers to create the render directory if it doesn't exist.