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After Effects
- New
STMapper
Distort layers with ST maps, plug in UV passes from your 3D renders, and create blank ST maps to bake down your transforms and distortions.
STMapper is the ST map plugin that After Effects has always been missing.
If you've ever round-tripped through Nuke just to apply lens distortion, wrestled to use a UV pass from a 3D render, or given up on baking down a stack of transforms into something reusable, STMapper is for you. It brings the industry-standard ST map workflow natively to After Effects, with a streamlined and easy-to-use workflow.
- Core Features -
Distort with ST Maps
Drop in an ST map from SynthEyes, 3DEqualizer, or any other software to undistort/redistort your footage to run a proper lens distortion workflow.
Apply UV Passes
Drop in a UV pass and retexture your 3D renders from Cinema 4D, Blender, or any other 3D software directly in After Effects.
Generate Blank ST Maps
STMapper doesn't just read maps, it can make them too. Generate blank ST maps at any resolution, run a stack of transforms and warps on top, and render it to bake it down into a single reusable map. Apply it anywhere.
- Getting Started -
What is an ST map?
An ST map is an image where every pixel has a red and green value that corresponds to an X and Y coordinate. Each pixel tells the plugin where in the source layer to sample from.
What is an UV pass?
A UV pass encodes UV coordinates into the red and green channels, creating a map of UV space. With it, new textures can be added without the need to track them on.
Distorting with an ST map
- Import your ST map, interpret it as data: Raw or preserve RGB, and add it to your comp.
- Sometimes you have to apply the EXtractoR effect to the ST map if it is showing up blank. It's best to then precomp this effect.
- Apply the STMapper effect to the ST map layer/precomp and select the input layer you’d like to distort. Also, make sure you turn off the input layer.
- Set Offset to +0.5 Offset (ST Map) and select a Filter option (default is bilinear).
Applying a UV pass
- Render a UV pass from your 3D software as a 32-bit float file. Quick tip: It will be helpful to render out some sort of matte for the specific object you want to add texture to.
- Import your UV pass, interpret it as data: Raw or preserve RGB, and add it to your comp.
- You will probably need to apply the EXtractoR effect to the file if it's a multilayered EXR. It's best to then precomp this effect.
- Set up a new comp with a square resolution (we’ll call this texture comp). Quick tip: Bring in an image of the unwrapped object UVs from the UV editor to use as a reference.
- Apply the STMapper effect to the UV pass layer/precomp and select the texture comp as the input layer.
- Set Offset to no offset (UV Map from 3D render) and select a Filter option (default is bilinear).
- Composite the result over your beauty render, using your 3D matte/alpha to hold it out.
Generating a blank ST map and baking
- Create a composition at the resolution you’d like the ST Map to be at.
- Create a solid and apply the STMapper effect to it, and change Mode to Create blank ST Map. This is your blank ST Map.
- Apply any distortions on top, transform, turbulent displace, Mesh Warp, optics compensation, anything.
- Precomp or prerender the result. That's your baked map ST map that you can now apply to any layer.
- FAQ -
If you're using an ST Map, use +0.5 Offset (ST Map). If it's a UV pass rendered from a 3D application (C4D, Blender, Maya, Houdini), use No Offset (UV Pass - 3D Render).
Q: My footage and my ST maps are different sizes. What happens?Make sure your comp resolution matches the undistorted ST Map resolution. STMapper will distort the footage to the undistorted ST Map resolution. (e.g., a 2048×1080 plate with a 2352×1240 undistort map)
Q: Does it clamp highlights or negative values?No. The plugin passes negative and overbright values through untouched.
Q: Does STMapper distort the alpha channel too?Yes, both the rgb and alpha are remapped together, so semi-transparent layers, mattes, and rotoscoped elements carry their transparency through the distortion correctly.
Q: Does it work with lower comp resolutions?Yes and no. When the composition preview is not set to Full Resolution, there will be a slight offset. It’s best to work at Full Res preview if possible since the render export will need to be set to Full.
Q: What project bit depth should I work in?Work on a 32-bpc project. This plugin will work at 16-bpc and 8-bpc, but it will not be accurate, and the result will be offset or distorted because of the lack of data.
No. STMapper currently does not have GPU acceleration. It has been heavily optimized and supports multithreaded CPU rendering.
Q: My distortion looks banded or steppy.Most likely, the After Effects project color depth is not set to 32-bpc. If the project is set to 32-bpc and there is still banding, double-check that the ST map is a 32-bit file.
Q: How can I get rid of extended edge color?If your ST map has an alpha channel, you can check Premultiply which will multiply the input layer by the ST map alpha channel to remove that extended edge.
Q: Can the ST map be an image sequence?Yes. STMapper samples the map every frame.
Q: My ST map looks fine, but the distortion is slightly off?Very likely a color management issue. Make sure to interpret your ST map and UV pass as data: Raw or preserve RGB, otherwise it won’t be accurate.
Q: What OS is supported?Windows x64 / macOS Universal (Intel + Apple Silicon)
Discussions
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Head over to r/aescripts to chat with fellow users about this product.
Need Support?
Please open a support ticket to be connected directly with the author of this product
Version History
1.0 -
Jul 23, 2026
Compatibility
After Effects
2026, 2025
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