Adobe After Effects CS4 - Manual (Page 307)

301 USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Drawing, painting, and paths
Last updated 12/21/2009
Clone Stamp tool
You can use the Clone Stamp tool to copy pixel values from one place and time and apply them at another place and
time. For example, you can use the Clone Stamp tool to remove wires by copying from a clear patch of sky, or you can
create a herd of cows from one cow in the source footage and offset the copies in time.
The Clone Stamp tool samples the pixels from a source layer and applies the sampled pixel values to a target layer; the
target layer can be the same layer or a different layer in the same composition. If the source layer and target layer are
the same, the Clone Stamp tool samples paint strokes and effects in the source layer, in addition to the layer source
image.
Angie Taylor provides a tutorial on the Digital Arts website that shows how to use tracking data and the Clone Stamp
tool to apply copies of an object in a scene while matching a camera move.
Eran Stern provides a video tutorial on the Creative COW website that shows how to use the Clone Stamp tool to create
copies of an object and offset them from one another in space and time.
More Help topics
“ Common paint tool settings in the Paint panel ” on page 297
“ Viewers ” on page 15
“ Add, edit, and remove expressions ” on page 647
“ Layer properties in the Timeline panel ” on page 159
“ Paint tools (keyboard shortcuts) ” on page 754
Use the Clone Stamp tool
As with all paint tools, you use the Clone Stamp tool in the Layer panel.
If the source layer and target layer are different layers, open each layer in a different viewer. Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N
(Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+N (Mac OS) to split and lock the current viewer.
You can identify what result a stroke will have before you make it by using the clone source overlay, a semi-transparent
image of the source layer.