Basic CLONE EFFECT INTERACTION - After Effects Tutorial

Want to take your CLONE EFFECT to the next level? Want to know how to make your clones INTERACT?
In this tutorial I will show you a simple way to interact with your clones!
TIME STAMPS
00:00 Introduction
01:34 Tutorial Start
03:21 Tips for Filming Clone Videos & Timing
04:05 Creating the Clone Interaction Effect using Masks
12:26 Final Colour Grading
14:37 The Final Effect
Get the FREE tutorial files here: www.surfacedstudio.com/tutori...
Basic cloning tutorial here: • How to Clone Yourself ...
All comments and feedback welcome :)
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Video & Music - Copyright © 2017 Surfaced Studio

[@DingBoyVR]

This tutorial is 3 years old but it's still very useful. I was able to follow this video with the sample footage using the free version Davinci Resolve.

[@SunilKumar-hs6xn]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3rNiZmGhb-jgKs

[@AspirationHD]

Another inspiring video. You have a great skill in simplifying complicated tasks.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you :D This one isn't that complicated, but I figured it would be fun to share anyway!

[@psssantosh]

now THIS is what a tutorial SHOULD BE!!!:DDD

[@SurfacedStudio]

Aw, thank you so much :D It's fairly simple, but I do hope to get around to some more complex effects in the new year! Christmas time has been crazy for me!

[@psssantosh]

AWESOME!:)

[@TatianaBalashova]

what a great tutorial!! thank you! (from a compete AE beginner), love videos with clones, trying to learn the how-to. Re color grading, interesting the way it works with 1 filter layer applied to all clips.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you for the comment :) Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RoyAndrews82]

Awesome, thanks a million. Nowadays were doing this in OBS.. lol. Messin with my friends in messenger etc. etc. hahahaha, needed a reminder how it's done, thanx for the Ae tut.

[@SurfacedStudio]

You're welcome, glad you found the AE tutorial helpful even if you're doing this effect in OBS :D

[@johnnyesmond9176]

i want to make myself fighting with myself after watching this lol, hopefully I can

[@SurfacedStudio]

Good luck and let me know how that turns out :D

[@nerdess]

you want to fight with yourself' i want to kiss myself :D

[@ncjr372]

You are incredible the voice memo to know what to do is amazing

[@DazModeWatercooling]

That was fun to watch. Thank you for tut.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks for the comment :) Glad you liked it!

[@4rjohny5]

awesome Tobias, i didn't even think that you just leave the bag and the actor moves and the actor just acts like the bag is gone, i thought you had to somehow match the same position of the bag's previous position. thank u for sharing this =) Happy New Year!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks for the great comment - it's a pretty simple trick, but I figured it'd be fun to share anyway :)

[@vfxsameer1925]

Another bang from this killer motion graphics artist. You are phenomenal.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Ah shucks! This wasn't all that complicated, but just something fun and silly that I thought would be cool to share in the form of a small tutorial :) Very glad you enjoyed it though and thank you so much for the comment :D Means a lot!

[@Slenderar]

Surfaced Studio yea we want this tutorial

[@mengm6088]

Very useful, thanks for explaining entire progress.

[@SurfacedStudio]

You're welcome :)

[@BikerNic]

Very good and informative tutorial. I learnt a lot

[@SurfacedStudio]

Great to hear!

[@karadytube]

The great thing about you is that you give intensive detail, about the shortcuts....etc. Big respect.

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@AfterEffectsTemplatesIntro]

awesome Tutorial. Thank you so much for share

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are welcome :)

[@5KIDEAS]

Awesome!

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@MrNiceGuyICT]

Just amazing...Thanks

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you for your comment!

[@Selahre]

fantastic even today

[@SurfacedStudio]

Glad to hear that! Thank you for the comment 😊

[@HelloWORLD_Verlag]

really great stuff. thnx from Germany

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks for the comment :) Greetings from Australia!

[@QuizTriviaWorld]

Wonderful.

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@psssantosh]

Happy New Year Tobias 👍👍🎉🎉🙌🙌

[@SurfacedStudio]

Happy New Year to you too :D :D

[@moneygrowsgreen]

Keep up the good work guys!

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D That's the plan!

[@ElMylhamPlaysD]

Amazing video!!!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you very much :D

[@5Gamingx]

Nice One! Happy Holidays ✨☺

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you :) Happy holidays to you too!

[@legendary-drizzy]

Thanks for making it simple to do

[@SurfacedStudio]

You’re welcome!

[@GugartsAnimations]

Awesome video! Thank you so much for share! =D

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are very welcome! Thank you for the comment :)

[@createprokart3615]

Thank you so much

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are very welcome :D Thanks for the comment!

[@drissachar3622]

oh very nice ..you are creative

[@SurfacedStudio]

Aw shucks. I just had some fun doing this and figured it might be nice to share as a tutorial :)

[@drissachar3622]

Thank you. You are our professor

[@CinAndersson]

Wow...Nice done..:)

[@Celmare01]

thank you very much !

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are very welcome :)

[@AndreClassicCuts]

Dope video you made this look extremely easy lol

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you :) And it really isn't all that hard

[@smaksostx3079]

Good tuto 👌🏻 keep making more.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks man :)

[@acegunner9907]

Very Superb Tutorial Helps me in my projects

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks man!

[@hanslangenberg3617]

Very cool. Going to try it.

[@SurfacedStudio]

It's actually a pretty simple effect, just a little bit of trickery required :)

[@kechochanacommeunerose]

Very nice explanation congrat man & thanks ! (Y)

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you for the feedback!

[@billhack880]

good job bro , I fan VFX !!!

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@Open_Nx]

thank you so much 😁😁

[@SurfacedStudio]

You’re very welcome!

[@arkoshihab9323]

well explained. Thanks.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Glad to hear you liked it :) Thanks!

[@hirenprabtani8796]

Amazing sir

[@SurfacedStudio]

Glad you liked it!

[@HitfilmUniversity]

A great introduction to clone interaction. Particularly on the importance of planning the shot sequence in advance. Recording the script is a great tip. Oddly enough, I've never done that. I choreograph those kinds of shots to music, myself. I think that's my age showing. I've done stuff long enough where easy digital recording--not to mention smartphones--weren't really an option back in the day (and who wants to deal with microcassette tape?) when I formed some work habits. That was a *facepalm* moment. As far as the actual VFX part, hey, masking is masking, right? I miss the days when Ryan Connelly would drop in the "child's chorus" of "masking tool" in every episode that was a mask effect. :D Have a good NYE, and I look forward to seeing what you and Walter put out in 2018.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Happy New Year to you too! We're in 2018 here in Australia now! Never thought of choreographing to music, but I reckon that would work really well too - though I'm worried I might start breaking out into random dance haha! There's so many cool effect you can create with masking, I think people tend to underestimate it and go 'make more advanced' when you can push the basic tools pretty far before you really need 'more advanced' tools :)

[@HitfilmUniversity]

Surfaced Studio I started choreographing to music on fight scenes (the "Mortal Kombat" theme works well. It's at a great tempo for a snappy fight that's safe for the actors), and carried it to other things. Masking/roto is the #1 tool any editor/vfx artist should learn in any program. It's the key to almost everything. Even glancing through the comments on this video, so many of the effects/tutorials questions come down to masking. Coincidentally, down the line I have a similar clone tutorial planned, but with tea instead of nachos. But, my goal is to pass tea in order A, B, C, A. Same basic techniques/planning you used, just a bit more elaborate on the setup.

[@AhAsif-sc6bg]

wow! It was cool tut man

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks man, that is great to hear :D

[@villadseskesen]

Nice video!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you!

[@doeyroo]

This was helpful thank you🙏

[@SurfacedStudio]

Glad to hear you found it useful! :)

[@rogelioncagampan6552]

Thanks!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Wow, thank YOU! 🙏

[@ikermcginniss]

great! amazing!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Glad you liked it!

[@team2302]

very nice

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you!

[@talhassaiv]

💕Thank you so much.💕 ❤️Love from Bangladesh❤️

[@SurfacedStudio]

You’re welcome!

Verry nice

[@SurfacedStudio]

Glad you liked it!

[@jdogfunk100]

The amount of thought that went into this is amazing. I tried to replicate it and failed, then realized how perfect each shot has to be, so I watched the tutorial multiple times and downloaded the files. I could have never figured it out without this much detail. Many thanks!

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are very welcome :) It’s a nifty little trick to take the cloning just a tiny bit further :D

[@BicaSimion]

The narrating tip it's just exceptional, never thought of that...good job sir!

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are very welcome :) It makes it a TON easier to get those clones synced up haha! If you do need your clones to talk you may need visual queues (e.g. record a small clip or get someone to hold up signs off-camera for you), that works as well :)

[@BicaSimion]

Surfaced Studio Thanks for the tips, again :) I used to make a lot of clones videos and always the hardest part was to sync with each clone. I used to count in my mind but it turned out weird bcoz it would affect my acting, lol.

[@Jashanrangpuri]

This is really cool Good tutorial

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you very much :)

[@QasimMaqbool]

Thanks friend God bless you.

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are welcome :D

[@akshayshawncreations2822]

THANKD

[@SurfacedStudio]

WELCOMD

[@tfraiss]

After Christmas I feel pretty cloned myself :) thanks for your entertaining and helpful videos and eine guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr! see you soon.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you very much :D Great to hear you enjoyed it! Einen guten Rusch ins neue Jahr auch an dich :D

[@vedbathina6143]

Masking helped me a lot with everything

[@SurfacedStudio]

Surprisingly yes! It's one of the fundamental tools of VFX

[@vedbathina6143]

@@SurfacedStudio I figured

[@asiancapalot]

Amazing

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@iamShubhamMote]

First love from India ❤️ again

[@SurfacedStudio]

Indeed :) Greetings from Australia!

[@elbrujomaya]

Greetings from Barrow Alaska

[@imoldoldim3539]

thanks!

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are welcome

[@vfxrushi]

really nice Sir :)

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you!

[@danskrrt05]

Nicd tutorial,, it's easy for beginer

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you :)

[@Alex-rr1qc]

Cool!

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@HRzero8]

As usual awesome 😘 .. btw can u make an effect in which a guy slaps another guy and his head keeps on rotating on his body considering his body at rest 🙄 . Plz ??

[@payals8572]

HRzero8 that would be funny 😂😂

[@mukutkalia6702]

yeah that'll be funny 😁😂

[@rachitgupta2336]

sounds interesting !

[@daerel81]

it can be done but its too time consuming and the tempo of the action should be perfectly synced to each other character.

[@vedbathina6143]

John Travolta?!

[@IsaacTheAnimator]

You have a great sense of humor!

[@SurfacedStudio]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with that 'sense' of humour hehe

[@IsaacTheAnimator]

LOL!!!!! Can this be done in Hitfilm Express?

[@somaer792]

Waw great tutorial .i like it.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you :D

[@MaheshRajeditz]

Nice Brooo

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks brooo

[@CAMVIDEOSR80]

I like this tutorial...

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@adisubhash3288]

THANKS A LOT

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are welcome!

[@GoldScopeFM]

Thank god this exists, i usally just lower the ocapacity of both of my clones.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks! Got a basic cloning tutorial here as well :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2qZhWVpqZyte6s

[@bloo4315]

Hey, did you guys notice the random shadow on the second guys foot? When the third guy comes in?

[@animrus]

Hello from the guy who created Om Nom (the little green creature, represented by one of the figurines on your shelf), and now enjoying your tutorials :) Thank you for your videos!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Hi, how did you create Om Nom?

[@SurfacedStudio]

Also, thank you!

[@animrus]

I worked on the original "Cut the Rope" game, and designed/animated Om Nom )

[@user-ko3ep7bc8r]

Very nice and detailed! Thank you. 👏

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are welcome!

[@KaviDey]

I love how you take basic effects like cloning and take them to an entirely new level. Great job, this is an amazing tutorial.

[@SurfacedStudio]

It's still fairly simple, but a little step further than the basic effect :) I might do more advanced clone effects in the new year, but not sure yet

[@KaviDey]

Great, maybe have 2 clones interact with the same thing at once? That might be pretty hard though :)

[@gamerplayer6523]

awesome

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@hector8354]

Waow it's amazing haha So hello from France 👋👋❤

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you for the nice comment :) Hello from Australia!

[@aladdinaouimeur2649]

Slt mdr

[@hector8354]

Hey salut 😂 tu viens d'ou?

[@SurfacedStudio]

Hi, sorry I don't speak French - and Google translate is not doing a good job translating for me XD

[@hector8354]

Surfaced Studio ow okay haha😂

[@clarenceplays9285]

Your the best

[@SurfacedStudio]

:D

[@Jahnnalee]

Thank you so much for creating this video and doing such an amazing job! I've been searching for awhile on how to get my clone characters to be able to interact and I'm so going to use this trick for my next video! Could you please do a tutorial on how to have your clone characters walk in front of each other? Would be so cool to be able to add that realistic element so then the clone characters actually look even more like individual people even though they aren't! 😍

[@daerel81]

If you need them to walk in front of eachother, rotoscope is your only tool of choice.

[@gabriel82991]

You've been of great help Tobias, I'm leaning a lot about video editing with your videos. Thx from Brazil :)

[@SurfacedStudio]

No worries at all, glad you enjoyed it :) Greetings from Australia!

[@oddity4650]

How would you fix the shoe covering the other shoe, do you have a video like that?

[@SurfacedStudio]

Just use basic masking to cut out one and overlay it onto the other :) I have tutorials on masking as part of my beginner series for After Effects

[@syedarmaghanhassan4652]

Thanks Tobi for sharing... Best thing about this tutorial, you provided practice footage. Love you videos man. Do you do video production client work professionally, or is it just a hobby of yours?

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks for the comment, glad you liked it! I just do this on the side, but been doing this for over a decade now. I feel old haha

[@syedarmaghanhassan4652]

@@SurfacedStudio Hahah. That is great though. I am also working a day job and trying to make films on the side. You know, something to live for rather than just eating, sleeping and running on the hamster's wheel. I don't think you are getting older. Your manly biceps tell that you are a strong young man!

[@SunilKumar-hs6xn]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3rNiZmGhb-jgKs

[@syedarmaghanhassan4652]

9:40 is there any way to use arrow keys to slide the timebar forward or backward? If I use the arrow keys, the whole mask moves. I only want the timebar/cursor to move through timeline. another thing i notice is that zooming in and out. How do you do it so easily. If I use the touchpad on my laptop, it just zooms in way to much or way too less. How to zoom in smoothly? Also, you toggle between hand tool (to move the footage) and the arrow tool very quickly. How? another question about resizing: If I open my project in 720p, I have to reduce the footage size to come inside the working area, such that it covers the whole working area, instead of from resizing it from the corners..? I would really appreciate your tips. Thanks Tobi!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Hi Syed :) If you are just starting out with After Effects, I recommend checking out my beginner tutorial series for it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqrZqoWBqdt6jrc I use a mouse - and thus have a mouse wheel to scroll, but you can also set up hot-keys if you prefer

[@syedarmaghanhassan4652]

@@SurfacedStudio Thanks very much Tobi. God bless you!

[@thesolid9091]

AAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG I've been trying too hard for two days but no success. one piece was missing which is MASK PATH that I have not noticed UNTIL now. THANKS A LOT DUDE. PLEAAAAZE DON'T STOP THE TUTORIALS.

[@SurfacedStudio]

You're welcome :) If you're new to After Effects, be sure to check out my beginner tutorial series here: kzbin.info/aero/PLs2aOcA-EaLN1TwemqyxdjTg2puGtwvkQ

[@thesolid9091]

@@SurfacedStudio yes I'm new. started this week. thanx can you do a tutorial about how make someone turns into a 30ft giant while camera is moving around!!!!??

[@mohamadsubhan2535]

I am your fan sir

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you for the comment :) Happy to heat you are enjoying my tutorials!

[@sajidanwarr]

Cool!!!!!!!!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you :D

[@rokey454]

Merry Christmas

[@SurfacedStudio]

Merry Christmas to you too :D

[@rokey454]

Happy New Year

[@SurfacedStudio]

Happy New Year to you too! :D

[@RonyCuzco]

as always, great!!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you :)

[@poryprom]

Could you film a fourth video of an empty living room so that you can edit in that video in the mask in order for you to not have to time the other videos? (Hopefully this makes sense)

[@philpritchard5173]

Grt video thanks. Do you have any video tutorials where you overlay clones? I.e using Rotoscoping or Green Screen to have them overlapping? Thx.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you! I don't have any specifically for overlapping clones but the techniques should be just as applicable :) I got tutorials for rotoscoping: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6nSYWxmat9moMk and green screening: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fafQh6qEiLppoJo

[@philpritchard5173]

@@SurfacedStudio Thanks. I need a tutorial on something specific I want to key. Do you do consultations? Thx.

[@karadytube]

You are great, happy to find you, of course, like and subscribe.

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thank you very much :) Glad you like it!

[@SirCheeseKnight]

Great tutorial! Though it appears the bag you ate from in the tutorial isn't the same (or at least not the same colour) as the one used in the starting sketch

[@SurfacedStudio]

Walter ate all the red Nacho bags.... only green was left when it came to filming my tutorial... and he took that one too ;_:

[@SirCheeseKnight]

Surfaced Studio Ok that's a pretty strong point. I'm sorry for you. But you did try to steal his cookies so I guess you're even

[@rustyspurproductions]

Great technique. Keep up the good work!

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks for the comment :D

[@wynestine2950]

There are so many clone tutorials , every single one shot using a tripod. Please teach us a EASY WAY to do interactive cloning in handheld shots. Even when a green screen is used its hard to get it realistic when the camera moves in z space (The keyed footage looks like a card). Is there any way to fix this?

[@SurfacedStudio]

There is no 'easy way' to do cloning with a moving camera. Your options are a) fake the camera movement (e.g. film on tripod and then add some movement to the shot in post production) or b) get a camera on a programmable slider so you can repeat the exact same camera movement. You may also be able to green screen the entire clone and track it into the 3D space of your scene

[@SceneSurgeSnippets]

Can we expect the old background music to come back any time soon? Or are you sticking with the new one :)

[@SurfacedStudio]

I'm likely going to stick with the new one (though that might change too going forward). I don't think I'll be rolling back though :) Still trying to find something that fits well, has some energy but is not too overbearing on me talking - it'll be a long search haha!

[@juoleuse3636]

wow! this is awesome thank you so much for the tutorial sir

[@SurfacedStudio]

No worries, glad you liked it!

[@Pj_animate]

how do i close the mask. because the video under isnt visible if i go on the mask layer

[@SurfacedStudio]

Check out my basic masking tutorial ;)

[@sace2466]

Hey dude could u help me out, basically whenever I have more than 1 clip I can only see one any help thanks.

[@SurfacedStudio]

If you are just getting started with After Effects, check out my beginner series :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqrZqoWBqdt6jrc It covers all of the basics

[@sace2466]

Surfaced Studio ok will do thanks.

[@hybridtheflimmaker6384]

So if I just create a mask I can put my self twice in a video (if there's no interaction between them)

[@SurfacedStudio]

Check out my beginner cloning tutorial :)

[@stiphler7079]

love you Sir. I am from Myanmar..your tutorial is so clean everyone can understand..Thanks so much. please teach us like that step by step so we can learn easily..i am just start using and learning Adobe After Affects..i am a beginner your video is so helpful for me..Thanks Again.

[@StudioMS]

clone hugging vfx tutorial...please

[@talhazaheer3360]

You just solve my problem. Thank You! :)

[@SurfacedStudio]

You are very welcome :D

[@truthseeker3907]

Thanks!! : )

[@SurfacedStudio]

Welcome :D

[@SochnayKiBaat]

Very nice Love from Pakistan

[@SurfacedStudio]

Thanks man!

[@gamer_henry7222]

Sacrifice my OWN life for pakistan