What you'll learn
How to generate a depth map from anime footage using Anime Scriptor, convert that depth map into actual 3D geometry with MIR3, texture it with the original clip, and then place a point light that reacts physically to the scene's depth — so the light wraps around the character instead of sitting flat on top of the video.
Plugins required: Anime Scriptor, MIR3. Optional for finishing: Deep Glow, Tritone, Optical Flares, Light Rays, BCC Film Grade.
Step 1 — Generate the Depth Map
Open your composition and run the Anime Scriptor script. In its settings:
- Set Depth Model to Standard.
- Set Depth Map Quality to High.
Click Extract Depth Map. After Effects processes the clip and automatically imports the finished depth map into your project. The result is a greyscale layer where bright values represent areas closer to the camera and dark values represent areas further away — or the reverse, depending on the model. Keep track of which direction yours uses.
Step 2 — Build 3D Geometry with MIR3
Create a new Solid (Layer → New → Solid, color black) and place it below the depth map layer in the timeline. Apply the MIR3 plugin to the solid.
Geometry Settings
Inside the MIR3 effect controls:
- Set Size to XYZ Individual.
- Set the X and Y size values slightly larger than your composition dimensions — just enough to cover the full frame.
- Increase X Vertices and Y Vertices drastically — around 900 for both. This gives MIR3 enough polygon density to accurately reproduce the fine depth detail from the map. Low vertex counts produce blocky, stepped geometry.
Fractal Settings
- Set Amplitude Layer to your generated depth map.
- Pull the Amplitude value into the negative range.
A negative amplitude inverts the displacement direction, pushing the geometry outward from the screen toward the viewer based on the depth map's bright areas. The character's face and foreground elements lift forward; the background recedes. This is what creates the actual 3D shape from a flat image.
Step 3 — Texture and Smooth the Geometry
In MIR3's Texture Settings:
- Set Texture Layer to your original video clip.
- Set the source to Effects and Masks.
Turn off the visibility of the original video layer — it is now being read as a texture directly by MIR3, so the visible result comes entirely from the solid.
Smoothing
Add a subtle blur effect to the solid to soften the hard polygon edges that appear at sharp depth transitions. After applying the blur, set the solid's track matte to Luma Matte — this uses the depth map's luminance values to clean up the matte edges and remove fringing artifacts from the 3D displacement.
Step 4 — Place the 3D Light
Create a new 3D Light (Layer → New → Light). Set the type to Point Light.
Make sure the solid layer has 3D enabled. With a point light in the scene and a MIR3 solid that has real depth, the light now calculates physically: it hits the elevated (foreground) geometry at full intensity and falls off across the receding (background) geometry. Moving the light left, right, up, or down causes it to wrap around the character's face and body rather than sitting flat on the frame.
Adjust the light intensity, color, and fall-off to taste. Positioning the light slightly off-center and above the subject tends to read as the most natural result.
Step 5 — Polish the Composite
Once the 3D light is reading correctly, add finishing effects on top to integrate the light into the overall image:
- Deep Glow — adds bloom and spread to the lit areas, making the light feel volumetric.
- Tritone — push the shadow and highlight tones to separate the lit and unlit regions more dramatically.
- Optical Flares / Light Rays — add lens artifacts and rays emanating from the light source for additional realism.
- BCC Film Grade — overall film emulation to unify the composite.
A light color correction pass on the original clip before it feeds into MIR3 can also help — if the source footage is too neutral, the light has less contrast to work with and the effect reads subtly. Pushing the clip slightly darker in the shadows before depth extraction gives the light more room to land.
