Appearance
The Map Root and the layers
Every Atlas comp has one null, ATLAS Map Root. Its layer comment holds the map's georeference (module, projection, centre, scale, zoom, style, the build's options), which every later operation reads, so a comp remembers what it is. Every Atlas map layer and element is parented to it, apart from the 2D overlays that sit on the picture (the attribution, the scale bar and other furniture, legends, readouts, a texture on the screen) and particles layers, which follow the Root through their own controls. A rebuild puts the Root back at the comp's centre at 100 % unless its Position or Scale are keyframed.
The Map Root's effects
| Effect | What it does | Keyframe it to… |
|---|---|---|
| Centre Lon | Longitude at the middle of the frame, degrees | pan east–west; on a live globe, spin it |
| Centre Lat | Latitude at the middle of the frame | pan north–south; tilt a globe towards a pole |
| Roll | Rotation of the globe | roll the globe |
| Scale | The map's scale (multiplied by Scale Unit) | zoom in and out |
| Scale Unit | 1, or 1000 at street scales (After Effects sliders stop at ±1,000,000) | not by hand; Atlas sets it |
| Live Margin | How far beyond the frame live paths are still computed (1.2) | not usually |
| Live View Centre, Live View Half Size | Computed points that let a live globe skip paths off screen | never (expressions) |
| Height (%) | How high arcs and their particles rise into the air: on the globe, great circles lift off the sphere; on a flat map, arcs rise towards a tilted camera (0 by default, set from the Arcs and Hubs sections) | make arcs rise or settle |
| Sun UTC Hour, Sun Day of Year | Added by Style → Day, night and clouds: where the sun is. Once added, the slider's value wins over the panel's | move the day–night line |
| Cloud Offset | Added by Day, night and clouds: how far the clouds have drifted, degrees | drift the clouds |
The Root layer's own transform counts too: scaling or dragging the Root by hand is a zoom or a pan, and Update map, label sizes, line widths and the zoom levels all read it.
Notes:
- The map's own layers follow these sliders only on the map kinds listed in Map kinds: World or City, raster or vector, live or still.
- The Map tab's form follows the comp: open a comp with a map and the tab shows that map's settings (including a Root dragged or scaled by hand), so Build Map rebuilds what is there.
- The expressions read every slider by its position, not its English name, so they work in After Effects running in any language. A comp built with 1.0.0 in another language (French, German, Japanese…) is repaired by the first Atlas action in it (a pin, a build, Apply Style); there is nothing to do by hand.
Elements' own sliders
- Pins (
Pin: {name}, a null): Latitude, Longitude, Visible (100; keyframed 0 → 100 when a pin appears at a time). Drag a pin's Longitude slider and its dot, label, arcs and rings follow. - Point labels (
Label: {text}): Latitude, Longitude, Visible (the far side of the globe hides them). - Range rings (
Rings: {pin}): Radius N km per ring.
The camera rig
The first tool that needs a camera adds it:
ATLAS Camera Target: a 3D null at the Root. Animate its Position (where the camera looks), its Z Rotation (the heading) and its sliders:- Zoom: magnification, 1 = the map as built.
- Tilt: degrees off straight down (the camera rises from the south and looks north).
- Keep Label Size %: 100 keeps labels and pins the same size on screen as the camera zooms, 0 lets them grow with the map.
- Keep Labels Level %: 100 keeps labels and pins level when the camera turns.
ATLAS Camera: a one-node camera parented to the target; its expressions set its distance from Zoom and its angle from Tilt. Do not animate it directly.
With a rig every Atlas layer becomes 3D except the 2D overlays (attribution, scale bar, north arrow, locator, inset, legends, the data time label, the elevation graph, readouts, the vignette, a texture on the screen and particles, which draw through the camera themselves). A camera roughly halves the playback rate of a big vector street map. Camera → Camera options → Remove the camera takes it out and makes everything 2D again.
Layer names
| Layer | What it is |
|---|---|
ATLAS Map Root | the view null (above) |
ATLAS {Class} | a vector map class: ATLAS Ocean, ATLAS Bathymetry (Ocean depth), ATLAS Land, ATLAS Graticule, ATLAS Urban Areas, ATLAS Countries, ATLAS Elevation Bands, ATLAS Glaciers, ATLAS Contours, ATLAS Disputed Areas, ATLAS States, ATLAS Time Zones, ATLAS Lakes, ATLAS Rivers, ATLAS Roads Major, ATLAS Railways, ATLAS Countries Borders, ATLAS Coastline; on City maps ATLAS Waterway, ATLAS Roads Minor, ATLAS Roads Primary, ATLAS Roads Motorway… with … Casing layers beneath roads |
{class layer} · Underlay | a style's underlay under a line class (a glow or a gap) |
ATLAS Map (raster), ATLAS Map (raster) · level N | a raster World map and its sharper zoom levels |
ATLAS Plate z{zoom} | a City map's image (and its zoom levels, … · level N) |
ATLAS Map Sequence | a map baked to a PNG sequence (Playback) |
ATLAS Terrain | terrain shading or a hillshade |
ATLAS Imagery: {source} | a satellite or aerial imagery backdrop |
ATLAS Atmosphere | the Day, night and clouds render |
ATLAS Texture: {tile} (and … · octave) | a paper or grain texture |
ATLAS Vignette, ATLAS Globe Glow | the finish |
Pin: {name}, Pin: {name} · Dot, · Marker, · Label | a pin and its parts |
Callout: {pin}, Callout: {pin} · Text | a callout box |
Arc: {A} → {B}, Arc: A → B · Label, Traveller: A → B | an arc, its distance label, its traveller |
Route: {A} → {B}, Track: {name}, Elevation: … | a street route, a recorded track, an elevation graph |
Rings: {pin} | range rings |
Highlight: {name}, Spotlight: {names} | areas |
Label: {text}, Label: {text} · Leader | labels |
Data: {column}, Data Legend: …, Data Time: … | choropleths, bubbles, arcs layers and their legend and time label |
ATLAS Boundaries: {title}, ATLAS Dataset: {title} | an imported file as editable paths, or as an image |
ATLAS Heat map: {title} | an image heat map |
ATLAS Particles: {title}, ATLAS Point cloud: {title} | Atlas Particles layers |
ATLAS Readout: {title} · {piece} | a particles readout |
ATLAS Scale Bar, ATLAS North Arrow, ATLAS Locator, ATLAS Inset, ATLAS Inset frame | furniture |
ATLAS Camera, ATLAS Camera Target | the camera rig |
ATLAS Attribution | the credit (locked) |
ATLAS Scratch (safe to delete) | a 16×16 comp Atlas shows in the viewer while it builds (faster); safe to delete |
Each Atlas layer carries a marker at time 0 (ATLAS:pin:1, ATLAS:arc:1…) that the panel uses to find its own layers, so layers can be renamed in the timeline. Re-adding something of the same name updates or replaces it rather than stacking a copy (a pin of the same name keeps its arcs).