Using Nimbo in After Effects with GeoLayers 3

In the fast-paced world of broadcast production, clarity and timeliness are everything. Whether you are animating a map for a daily news report, a deep-dive documentary, or a geopolitical weather segment, your audience expects high-quality, up-to-date visuals.

Nimbo provides broadcast professionals with a unique edge: complete, homogeneous, and cloud-free base maps updated every month since 2019. Unlike standard static maps, Nimbo allows you to visualize seasonal changes or urban developments with high-resolution Sentinel-2 data directly within your After Effects projects using the GeoLayers 3 plugin.

Video Tutorial

Watch the full integration process in the video below:

1. Prepare your Data Access (TMS)

Before opening After Effects, you need a URL to access Nimbo’s imagery stream.

Go to the official Nimbo Documentation.
Select the TMS (Tile Map Service) page from the menu.
Copy the example URL template.

Customizing the URL

You must modify the template parameters to choose the specific data you want to display :

Year: The year of the imagery (e.g., 2025).
Month: The month number (e.g., 8 for August).
Data Number: Use 1 for standard RGB (Natural Color) imagery.

Example URL Structure: .../tms/1.0.0/2025_8_1@kermap/{z}/{x}/{y}.png

2. Authenticate with your Token

To retrieve data from Nimbo, you must append your personal API token to the URL.

Log in to maps.nimbo.earth.
Click on your Dashboard.
In the bottom right corner, copy your personal token—a unique string of numbers and letters.
Add this token to the end of your URL: ?kermap_token=YOUR_TOKEN_HERE.

2. Setting Up GeoLayers 3

With your URL ready, move into After Effects to register Nimbo as a custom imagery source.

Accessing Preferences

In the GeoLayers 3 panel, click the icon next to the title and open Preferences.

Opening GeoLayers 3 Preferences menu — Accessing the Preferences menu within the GeoLayers 3 panel.

Adding the Custom Layer

Scroll down to the Mapcomp Imagery section. Under Custom Imagery, click the Plus (+) icon to add a new entry.

Adding a new custom imagery entry — Adding a new custom imagery source in the Preferences.

Configuration Parameters

Enter the following technical details to ensure the stream displays correctly:

Name: Provide a clear name (e.g., “Nimbo August 2025”).

Entering the name for the Nimbo layer — Assigning a descriptive name to your Nimbo base map.

URL: Paste your customized Nimbo TMS URL.
Format: Select TMS from the dropdown menu.

Selecting the TMS format — Ensuring the format is set to TMS for proper tile loading.

Max Zoom: Set this to the highest possible value (23) for maximum detail during close-ups.

Setting maximum zoom to 23 — Setting the Maximum Zoom to 23 for high-resolution detail.

Tile Size: Set to 256 pixels.

Setting tile size to 256 pixels — Configuring the tile size to 256px.

Attribution: Enter “Nimbo” in the copyright field.

Entering Nimbo attribution — Adding the required Nimbo attribution.

Click Apply and then click Apply again to validate the preferences.

3. Creating the Map Composition

Once registered, you can load your new base map into your project.

Click Create Mapcomp at the top of the GeoLayers panel and click Next.

Clicking Create Mapcomp — Initiating a new Map Composition.

Select your Nimbo base map from the top of the list, verify your settings, and click Create.

Finalizing the Mapcomp creation — Selecting the Nimbo base map and finalizing the creation.

Final Result

The Nimbo data is now loaded into your composition and is fully editable for your broadcast animation.

Nimbo data loaded in After Effects — Final Result: Nimbo satellite imagery integrated and ready for animation.