You’ve always wonder how they do it, are they twins, is it magic? No! They just used Final Cut Express and cloned them selves!

In this tutorial you will be learning to clone your self, don’t know what that is? Check out the video above to see a example of cloning! When you are done this tutorial you will be  master cloner and be able to move into more intense and advanced clones (i.e talking to your self and interacting with your clone)

****NOTE: In this tutorial I will be using Final Cut Express, version 4.0.1.****

So with out any further a due, here it is,

To clone your self you are going to need:

1. Final Cut Express (Duh)

2. A video camera (Double duh)

3. A tripod or level surface

Optional:

- Lighting

- A script

-  A Mac (because PC’s suck)

(Just joking PC’s are cool too)

(But actually you need a Mac because Final Cut is a product of Apple)

Now what you have to do first is shoot your video, whether it be you just standing in a shot, or you make a script and start to talk to your self (it’s actually harder then it sounds!).  You will be recording two shots (or however many clones you want to make) one of the shots will be of you on the right side, and the other on the left. Try to make a distinct line between the two shots, meaning that there is a “no mans land area” this is a area were you do not go into, it doesn’t have to be huge, buts its necessary.  Also a VERY important point is that the background (of at least the “No mans land”) is UN-CHANGED this means that nothing can differentiate between the two, if the no mans land is disputed, then the whole thing will not work and all of your time will be wasted!

So now that you have shot the two clips (making sure that the no mans lands are not disrupted) you want to import your footage, personally I use iMovie but you can use what ever you wish.  For many, you may need to go pick up a firewire cable, they are not too expensive and they are a great asset to you.  So, import the footage into whatever software you choose and save the file (you may save it on the desktop if you want but that is not crucial) Once you have done this, launch Final Cut Express!

Oaky, so now you have imported the footage, and you want to do some fun stuff, so go to File -> Import -> Files.  When you have done this, select the two clips, then select one clip (it doesn’t matter which one) and drag it into the timeline.  Then select the other clip, and instead of dragging it into the time line, drag it into the right play window, when you do this a little drop down menu (even though it comes from the side) you want to select the “Superimpose” one, its kind of a pinky purple.

Now you are almost done! But not quite, all you will have is two clips on top of each other, and you wont be able to see the other.  So what you want to do is first, make sure that the clips are lined up in the time line, so they are the same time length and are even.  Once you have done this you are about to get into the part when you do the actually cloning,  so get ready………. now go to the bottom right of the screen, and select the cropping tool, if you do not know what that looks like, refer to the image below. Now using your cropping tool go over to the left or right of the play window (on the right) and wait until that cropping tool is shown, you may have to play around by going slightly to the left or right so be patient.  Now that you have gotten the cropping tool to show (where the pointer would normally show) drag your mouse across the window until you reach the the no mans land, you will notice that you will be able to see two of your self in the same shot! Again make sure that the line you have made between the two clips is not disrupted, so no arms are going over the line and the clip around the line is always the same.

Now all you have to do is render the project and impress your friends and family with a professional looking clone.

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and will keep coming back to theTechBulletin!

****Also dont forget to subscribe to our new YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/techbulletinvid

Owen.