Apple Motion Clones
There is a feature in Apple Motion that you have heard of, but have not yet really thought about, which is Clones. When I first started, Clones were a foreign concept for me. As a video editor, most of the materials I use are videos, pictures and text. We can duplicate items, but not clone them.
Today’s topic is about Clones, what is a clone, how to clone and what is the difference between a clone and a duplicate, why should we use a clone, and when should we use a clone.
If that sounds good, let’s go.
What is a Clone?
A Clone inherits all the properties of its original source. Any changes you make to a clone layer, the original source will remain the same and any changes you make to the original source will propagate to the clone layer.
Duplicate on the other hand, duplicates the original source. Any adjustment on the original file won’t affect the duplicate.
If you already know After Effects, clones are almost similar to a pre-comp.
How to Clone?
There are two ways to clone a layer.
Method 1: Using keyboard shortcut
Press K to clone a layer.
Method 2: Using the menu
What is the difference between a Clone and a duplicate?
We already have defined the difference between a clone and a duplicate above. But I want to add more details about their differences.
The image below shows three different text layers, a layer Source, Duplicate layer and Clone layer.
Let us now focus our attention on these two images. On the left, is the duplicate layer and on the right is the clone layer. Can you notice any difference?
If yes, that’s great, your attention to details is superb.
Both of the layers have the transform properties and blending properties. But if you take a closer look at the clone layer, you will notice that it has a drop shadow checkbox, four corner checkbox, crop checkbox and most importantly a timing property.
Now that we know the differences between a duplicate and a clone.
Let’s talk about why we should use a Clone.
Why Clone?
As mentioned, clones provide more flexibility than a duplicate, particularly when multiple animations are involved.
Look at this example.
I animated the scale of the text from 0 to 100.
Now look at this screenshot of the duplicate. You will see that the duplicate did not inherit the scale animation of the original source.
I will turn on the clone layer, and you will see that it inherited the scale animation of the original source
Let us now make multiple animations in our clone layer.
Let us now make multiple animations in our clone layer.
I have added an opacity animation, scale animation and a rotation animation. Only the clone layer is affected and the original source remains the same.
Let’s look back at the properties of our clone layer. Remember earlier when I said that the timing property in the clone layer is very important.? That is because we can change the speed, reverse our clone layer, change the end condition and end duration of our clone layer.
Speed
The keyframes on our original source starts at 0 and ends at 2 secs. With the speed control on the clone layer, we can speed up or slow down our animation.
Reverse
We can also reverse our clone layer.
End Condition - Loop
Changing the End Condition to Loop, you can loop your clone layer a few times. But there is a catch, you need to change the speed or trim your Clone Layer.After doing that, you need to adjust the end duration.
End Condition - Ping Pong
As the name suggests, the clone layer will do a ping pong when this end condition is selected.
End Condition - Hold
This condition holds the last frame of the clone layer. If you’ve cut the clone layer in the middle of the animation, the clone layer will hold that frame.
When should we use a clone?
The truth is we can use clones anytime we want. In my case, I use clones when I want to create multiple animations without affecting the original source. I also use clones when I want to hold a frame of an animation.
I hope that today’s beginner lesson about clones is helpful.
Let me know your thoughts and how you use clones in your projects.
Thank you and see you on to the next lesson.