**This is a frame by frame process, so, depending on how long your clip is, expect to spend somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour. My clip was about 50 seconds, and it took close to an hour.**
Ok. The first step is to make a new composition in After effects that is the size of your footage. Then import your footage and place it on the timeline. If you have one clone, put the footage in twice, if you have two, put it in three times, etc. (By The way, it's easier to edit the clips first, to get them all to the start points for each clone, unless they all start out in the same place, of course.)
Then you'll want to get your footage queued up to the part where your clone enters. Select the pen tool from the toolbox and the first frame that the clone enters, make a mask around him/her. Then for each consecutive frame, you'll want to expand the mask to fit around your clone. Now, I use an XL1s, which has a simulated progressive scan mode, so it's quite
easy to find the right place to put the mask (it needs to be close to the body). If you use a camera with interlaced footage, I'd suggest performing a de-interlace procedure in whatever editing suite you're using. I know premiere and final cut can do it. Otherwise, the effect might not look as good.
Obviously, depending on wheter or not your clone is in front or behind the original footage you want to have the one in front on the top layer in AE. If you're doing several clones, Just put them in order from front to back, and make sure you've masked the layers in front of it.
Here's a key step! In order to make the appearance of reality (heh.), you're going to need to feather the edge of the mask from 5-7 points. If you're not familiar with AE, you can do this by clicking the arrow next to the title of the footage in the timeline box, then click masks, then click mask 1, then there's the feather option. You shouldn't do any more than 7 points, because then your person is going to start disappearing.
By the way, on the footage I posted on here earlier, that was my first attempt at doing this. So you can see how
easy it is. My most recent attempt using the same footage, looks perfect. I used a feather of 6 on it, and again, it took me about an hour. So if you're not pleased with your first try, practice until you are! That's really all it takes.
Some other stuff you can do to get different effects:
If you want your person to be a ghost, lower the opacity of the clone layer by about thirty percent so you can see through them, apply a glow, and change the overall hue.
If you want to make a star wars style hologram, make some scan lines in photoshop (
easy ) and put that over your clone footage. Make it move up and down and probably put some different layers of it on. I know there's a tut. somewhere on that one.
If you think of anything else to try out, lemme know.
Also, I'd really love to see everyone's tests, so to those who try this out, lemme see!
If you have any questions, drop me a line on the
contact page.
Oh! This should be obivious, but make sure you use a tripod and keep your lighting the same, and make sure nothing changes from shot to shot. That way it doesn't look wierd.
Have Fun!