What It Does
Normal Scanner generates normal maps directly from video footage inside After Effects and Premiere Pro. Unlike static normal map workflows used in 3D tools, it is optimized for video processing, producing a temporally stable normal pass frame after frame without flickering. The output can be used for interactive relighting setups or piped into any 3D application for geometry-aware lighting.
All processing happens locally on your machine. No data is sent to a server, and the plugin requires no Python environment since it is written entirely in C++.
Key Features
Video-optimized normal estimation. The model is built specifically for footage rather than still images, which keeps normals consistent across frames and avoids the flickering that plagues frame-by-frame approaches.
Human Normal Maps model. A dedicated estimation model targets human characters, producing more accurate normals for people in the shot.
Normality integration. Pair the normal pass with the Normality plugin to drive interactive relighting directly inside After Effects, using lights in your composition to relight footage based on its geometry.
Depth Scanner bundle. Buy it alongside Depth Scanner 2 for a 30% discount, and use both passes together to build full VFX pipelines in external 3D tools.
Built-in geometry visualization. A visualization mode lets you inspect the direction of normals across the scene before committing to a render.
Hardware acceleration. Supports Apple Silicon on macOS Sequoia and NVIDIA GPUs on Windows. Non-NVIDIA Windows GPUs will work but are significantly slower.
Who It’s For
Motion designers and VFX artists who need to relight live footage without a full 3D pipeline, or who want to generate VFX passes for use in tools like Cinema 4D, Blender, or Nuke. The Normality integration makes it particularly relevant for After Effects-based relighting work. Note that Apple Silicon Macs require macOS Sequoia and at least 32GB RAM for practical performance.
Pricing
Normal Scanner is a one-time purchase at $99.99 for a single-user license. Floating server and render-only licenses are also available. A free trial can be downloaded for both macOS and Windows.