Cloner makes copies of everything above it in the stack. Each copy is moved, rotated and scaled one more step than the last, like After Effects' Repeater. Effectors placed below it then act on each copy separately.
How to use it
- Select a shape or text layer.
- Choose Geo Ops ▸ Generators ▸ Cloner (or add it from the Geometry Operators section).
- Set Copies and the per-copy Offset, Rotate and Scale.
- Add effectors below it (Random Transform, Color, Delay…) to vary the copies.
Parameters
| Name | What it does | Default/range |
|---|---|---|
| Copies | Number of copies. | 3, 1–1024 |
| Copy Offset | Which step copy 1 starts on (AE's Repeater Offset). Negative runs copies back the other way; −(copies−1)/2 fans them out on both sides of the original. | 0 |
| Offset X / Y | Move per copy. | 100, 0 px |
| Offset Z | (3D comp, extruded shape) Depth per copy. | 0 px |
| Rotate (Rotate Z in 3D) | Rotation per copy. | 0° |
| Rotate X / Y | (3D comp) Tilt per copy. | 0° |
| Scale | Scale per copy, compounded. | 1×, min 0.01 |
| Scale Z | (3D comp) Depth scale per copy. | 1× |
| Anchor X / Y | Point the rotation and scale happen around. | 0, 0 px |
| Fade | Opacity multiplier toward the last copy. | 1×, 0–1 |
| One shape per copy | With several shapes in the layer, each copy keeps one of them in turn instead of all of them. Put it on the last of two stacked cloners to vary a whole grid. | On |
| Random | (with One shape per copy) Pick the shape at random per copy instead of in order. | Off |
| Seed | (with Random) Which random pick. The dice button picks a new seed. | random at add time |
Tips
- Offset Z, Rotate X/Y and Scale Z only show in a 3D comp and only draw on a shape with Extrude turned on under 3D Geometry.
- Two cloners stacked (one along X, one along Y) make a grid; Grid does the same in one row.
- To draw the copies on one after another, put Trim Paths below the Cloner and set Trim to Simultaneously.
- For the classic per-group AE Repeater inside shape contents, see Shape Ops on Groups.