Great tutorial! I was looking for a solution to one specific problem, and by giving an oversight in the beginning of the video I could easily navigate it and find what I needed. Amazing guidance, and great video overall! GJ!
Next level, sometimes it takes a lot of dedication and brains to get it done! Glad I found this channel, it will be exciting to follow your journey mate.
Hey Cody...I am the first time visiting your channel, and I am very happy I discovered it ..Best Ae content aware fill tutorial I have seen on RUclips. Big congrats and thank you very much for sharing! 🧡
Outstanding tutorial, very complex by the way. I am facing something similar right now trying to remove some things from some clips I have, but I don't know if I will be able to make it happen.
Very helpful, thanks 🙂 Had a very complex scene, and this worked really well. Not perfect by far, but that's more of me working too fast, and using too liittle reference frames. Spent 2 hours on a 4 second clip, and the result is useable 🙃 Did had to mask out 2 subjects, that's why, 2 hours.
Yea it’s unlikely the software would do it perfectly, but the more info and reference you give it, the better it will preform. Glad it helped you get the job done, great to hear
This is amazing but what happens when the object you're removing becomes obscured or moved off screen? What do I do with the mask at that point? It remains and content aware keeps filling the mask. ?
Move the mask off screen with the object. Content aware fill will probably mess up when the object goes off screen so you’ll probably have to do some manual fixes there
This super duper awesome. Too bad I still can not apply it. I have to watch repeatedly to understand. Since I just held after effect a few days ago. Btw when I see this video and look back on my project result, boom. It's total different. I wish I can apply this method soon :'( . Because I'm tired of editing 1 hours or more (still bad) just for a video duration of 7 seconds.
Just wondering if you could use auto-tracking to generate a single zoom level from all the footage before doing this, so you don't have to manually align different zoom frames? (something like track/remove movement, do reference frames, invert tracked zoom correction) probably only possible with a locked camera location, any movement will give too much parallax for this idea
That would be a really interesting experiment to test out. I bet you could make that work on some shots! For this shot, it may not work because of the change in perspective. Is there something in AE to do the track/remove movement that you mention? Would be cool to test that out.
Also - I just found a method that accomplishes a similar task in a slightly more automated way. It utilizes Photoshop's photomerge function. So instead of manually aligning the reference frames each time in PS, you just run automate>photomerge, and add your reference frame, and the frame you are using to clean/remove the object in PS, and it automatically aligns it for you. Can save a lot of time!
Yes, it will work the same way that you see in this tutorial, you’ll have to continue to add new reference frames as the background moves/changes. Does that make sense?
@@CodyPyper Hi Cody! As I clicked on the Generate Fill Layer, I got a warning message as CAF Out of Memory even if I already clear cache. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
So make sure you’ve cleared your cache in AE, make sure your disk space isn’t running low, and make sure you have enough RAM to run AE (close other programs if you can). Also restating your comp doesn’t hurt
Great tutorial. I am a new user of After Effect. I want to know if I can use Content Aware Fill for AE Version 2017. If it works for AV Version 2017, how do I have to download the Content Effect Fill program? Please advise. Thank you, Cody!
You are welcome! Unfortunately, it is only available in CC 2019 and later. It isn't an external download, it installs internally in AE once you upgrade. Hope that helps!
Hey Cody! I'm about to finish this sick video that is mainly comprised of content aware fill and reference frames thanks to your help with all these videos, but I noticed that the fill was messing up because one of the frames were off, and when I tried to open up the frame's photoshop file, I cannot find it anywhere. Here's the path I took so far: Drive > Users > Me > AppData > Roaming > Adobe > Adobe Photoshop 2021 and I have no clue where the reference frame is stored from here. Maybe I took a wrong path somewhere? Or, maybe I can check Photoshop's preferences and see where its sending all the saves (I used Ctrl+s whenever I was done a frame)? Thank you!
So it sends it to wherever your project folder is, and then a folder called fills, and then a numbered list of folders. Best way to find it is to find it in the timeline, right click and hit “reveal layer source in project”. Then in the project panel right click and hit “reveal in finder”. That will take you the exact file location.
@@CodyPyper Lol, I deleted my comment to not bother you because I forgot I could just ask google. Sorry. I will be posting the video on Instagram, I will tag your instagram when its out. Thanks for the help and dedication!
Great tutorial! But I have a slight problem, I have a stock video of the background (without the subject or the thing I wanted to remove) and it is separated from the main video, I was wondering if I can just import an image to the timeline and just set that image as a reference frame, instead of going through photoshop and editing things, will after effect detect my image as a reference frame? Or do I have to go through the photoshop process? Thanks in advance! 🙌
Hey! The best way to do that would be to create a reference frame using the content-aware window, and then when it opens up in photoshop, just drag in your clean image that you want to be referenced over top of the frame AE created, and then just save the reference frame in Photoshop (don't save as). That should do it!
It would definitely help the process. If you are working on a scene with a lot of motion, that might be pretty difficult to pull off using only Content Aware. But with some manual corrections, I'm sure it can be done
Nice video. I have a question, how can you easy re-edit a referance frame if you forgot a spot? Can it be done or du you have to delete it, and re-edit the whole frame?
Yes you can easily edit your reference frames. Just find your frame in your timeline in After Effects, right click, go to open, edit original. That should open it in Photoshop. You can make your edits there and then make sure you save the file - don’t save as!
Oh man… This tutorial gave me great insight into what I need, but I'm having trouble understanding some parts (I’m not particularly good with Photoshop or After Effects-and English isn’t my native language). I recorded a friend’s wedding with my drone and got a really nice zoom-out shot, but I ended up appearing in it with a very excited expression (such a dumbass). I’d like to remove myself from the shot, but it seems incredibly hard as there are too many moving elements...
Cody, first off, top tier tutorials, very well done! Secondly, please forgive the amateur question, but how is this method "easier" than doing the standard: tracking the camera path, applying that motion to a freeze frame clean plate, and then masking to reveal or hide whatever you need? Or does the tool work in most situations without all these extra steps?
Good questions! First answer: So I usually try that as the first thing because tracking a still frame is easier, and if it works, there’s no need to do all the extra work! But when the camera is moving a significant amount (more so in this tutorial than in my previous one), than the freeze frame becomes very obviously not a part of the scene. I explain this briefly at the beginning of the video but not really in-depth. For reference check out the final render at 12:00 minutes in, and pay attention to the two trees in the center of the frame. They’re right next to each other at the start but by the end of the shot, they’re pretty far apart. If you used a still frame, the elements in the scene such as these trees that shift and drift apart from each other, wouldn’t line up. And it’s pretty obvious when there’s a change like that. Another reason that wouldn’t work here, is that it’s pretty tough to replicate what Content Aware does as far as the masking and revealing/hiding as he walks across the frame. The still frame route usually looks like something is fading on and off, and is difficult to blend in my experience. Second question. Yes, most of the time content aware fill will work just fine IF the camera doesn’t move (or doesn’t move much), or if the background doesn’t change considerably. Hope that makes sense, and thanks for watching!
@@CodyPyper This is purely my curiosity talking, but I'd love to see a tutorial describing how to do a traditional clean plate shot compared with your innovative method. The comparison of workflow congestion, overall number of steps involved, and final product could be very interesting. I've been taking notes and plan to try this method, thanks again!
I don’t know what you mean by AF, but let me try to clear up the terms for ya! So it’s not a Content Aware Fill every second, you are placing a “Reference Frame” every second. You create the reference frames in the timeline and manually remove the object in photoshop. Those reference frames are then used by after effects when you create the “Fill” layer using Content Aware Fill. That creates a new layer that fills in the hole(s) you made, but instead of “guessing” every frame, it uses the reference frames you created so that it can be more accurate. Does that make sense?
Hey Cody, great tutorial. I was just wondering, could you use reference frames to fix anomalies by bringing the reference frame layer to the top? Essentially using reference frames as replacement frames?
Hey Cody! Yes, that is what I did at 9:54, but you will need to track the movement and have your reference frame move along with the shot, and blend it in and out by fading. Does that make sense?
@@CodyPyper That makes sense! I guess I was pondering more of a replacement of a frame with a reference frame. Like let's say I had 3 reference frames, but there is still ghosting or weirdness when CAF is rendered. I could just change the layer hierarchy, so that the reference frame overlays the clip's frames. I guess I'm wondering if the the reference frames degrade the quality of the clip if used to replace frame. Or if thats a fine way to go about things.
@@codyfennell9326 Hmm, we may be talking past each other here. Let me try to get us on the same page. Using CAF, when you click generate fill layer, it creates new "filled" frames for your entire timeline EXCEPT where you created reference frames. It leaves those frames untouched, and since the mask is set to subtract on your main layer, it "sees through" to the reference frames you created. If you changed the layer hierarchy, it actually wouldn't change anything with your final result. And if you did have ghosting or places where CAF got weird, those reference frames are only 1 frame in length, so they still wouldn't help in that situation... unless you extended them and then tracked their movement. That's what I was getting at before. Does that help?
@@CodyPyper hmmm interesting. We are on the same page. I was experimenting using multiple reference frames, because my adjustment was tiny and quick to clone stamp and CAF wasn't giving me the best fill. The extra insight on how CAF left those frames untouched may be the key to my trouble shooting. I may of been toggling the "subtract", which I now know would effect the reference layers.. Going to look in to that next! Thanks for getting back to me!
When you complete a reference frame, and save it in photoshop (don’t save as), it will automatically update in after effects. No step needed of bringing it back into AE
I am in a tough spot and cannot find a tutorial anywhere. I have to remove an object from the background that both characters pass in front of. Handheld camera moving forward and panning right. Any ideas?
You’ll basically need to go frame by frame at the point they’re walking in front of the object. When something comes in front of the object, CAF can’t really figure out what to do, so that mostly needs to be manually done. So you basically create a clean frame in PS, frame by frame until they pass by. Feel free to send me an email with clips if you want some detailed feedback. Happy to do that for my subs : )
Here's 5:25 when I do work command + j And I delete vector mask And create a new one as you did The image returns to normal That is, I cannot separate the masks and make more than one mask, and the masks I have are white, completely opposite to you. Do you have a solution, please? I really appreciate your effort to convey the information in its good form.
Yes, when you add a layer mask make sure to hold option and click layer mask so it comes in black instead of white. Or if you add it and it becomes white, you can always invert the layer mask to make black (command + I or right click > invert)
I have a question. If I take a video with a blurred out spot. And I take detail from a different source file, and make a load of reference frames adding in the detail, skin, fabric, stone etc texture (that isn't anywhere in the video, but now on all the reference frames. Would it add that detail in?
I think that It would work, but I don’t think it would do that great of a job. Something like EB Synth might work better for that. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
hello, i have a question when i try to put the brush to blend it doesnt work unless i click on the reference frame, but when i blend it it only blends the reference frame by itself so im kind of confused why its doing that
@@CodyPyper sorry my question didnt make sense....hahah what I wanted to ask: is it possible to use the effect the other way around? Instead of let an object disappear - having just the object. Basically what you do having a greenscreen background. Have a clean mask of just the object.
Yes that is possible. You can do that by rotoscoping (creating a very clean mask only around the subject) which is probably you’re best option. One way to try your suggestion would be to do a “difference matte” after the removal. I forget how to do it but I know there’s tutorials out there. Not sure which would be faster or cleaner. That’s an interesting thought!
i need help, i have 80 refference frames, is there any way to create a folder and transfer all of the frames into that folder to make it more organized?
I wish you could in an easy way. I think the only way to do it is to select all of your reference frames and right click and pre compose. That should put them in a new comp and only show up as one layer. I haven’t tried it, but I think it might mess up the “reference” part when you generate a new fill layer. If you give it a shot let me know if it works!
Hmm. You should be able to locate the file in the project panel, and then locate it in finder/explorer. Then open it up in photoshop (and might help to set all .psd files to default to photoshop if you haven’t already). Also you could try making sure that the content aware settings say that it will automatically open it in PS?
I can't seem to get the reference frame to work. It acts like that layer is filled and ignores it. I'm using AE 2022 and i've tried the Beta too. Neither seem to work. I'm on a mac. I tried to change if the reference frame layers are above the masked layer, below it, i've turned them off, I've selected them before hitting create fill layer. Object mode is horrible, but the edge blend will work, but it still ignores the reference frame. The problem with my footage is that i'm replacing a bridge and have cars driving under neath it. So it picks up the cars when it replaces. I've spent HOURS creating reference frames, and it just ignores them. Do you have any tips for it actually use the reference layers? Thanks!
Hey! Make sure you have the mask on your main layer you are 'removing' the cars from set to subtract. Also make sure your reference frames have the cars removed, and that you SAVE the layers in Photoshop when you are done with them and do not SAVE AS. If you save as it will no longer reference the correct file. Hope that helps! If not feel free to email me and I can take a look at screen records or screen grabs of the issue - codypypervideo@gmail.com
@@CodyPyperHey Cody. thanks for replying. I've gone down so many rabbit holes on this project and im about out of time :( I tried somany things. I always make sure the mask is set to subtract. I made sure the reference frames were simply saved, as I could see AE updating theem. The problem is that when it tries to replace the object, it acts like the reference frames are actual frames. IOW, when the subtract mask is on a frame that has a reference frame, CA goes "ok i dont need to do anything with this layer now." and it doesnt touch that frame at all. It does NOT refrence any of the reference frames for it's CA either. I finally abandoned it and am trying to work in silhoutte, but that's a huge set of another can of worms. I am really at my wits end and I've got to turn this in tomorrow. I am out of time and i have no idea what im going to do. something that should be pretty simple has turned into a frakking nightmare. And what kills me...is that CA used to work beautifully.
@@sharonpalkowetz Sorry about your trouble. It shouldn't replace the reference frame though - when you give it a reference frame to work with, AE interprets that as what you want to be in the shot. So its designed to not modify your reference frame. Not sure why the rest of the fill layer generated doesnt see your reference frames though. Weird. Sorry about that! Best of luck
@@CodyPyper No it's ok! I ended up using Ca to remove the cars, rendered out an mov, then brought it back and used CA on the bridge. That seemed to work the best.
@@CodyPyper Hey i posted a response, but not sure if it loaded up, so if i post this twice...chalk it up to my dead brain. I used CA to take care of all the cars that were going under the bridge i was trying to get rid of. Then i rendered out an mov, brought it back into AE, and used CA to remove the bridge. It's not super, but it's enough. I tried using silhouette (and got a crash course in that software) but i just couldn't get it the way i wanted. Anyway, I really appreciate you responding with the info!!
ehaitem depends on what your time is worth! For this shot, no it was probably not worth it. But if I had to redo this shoot it would probably take me half the time because of what I’ve learned. So sometimes it may take longer on the front end when you’re learning, so that can be a good use of your time as well. This is also the reason I make videos like this - so I can help you out and save you the extra time!
@@ehaitem This is my clip for The Fire Cats and it depends how valuable the clip is. It obviously took Cody more time to correct it than either of us anticipated, but he learned a ton of new techniques that he shared with everyone (Cody be like that :) ) and he gets professional credit and my undying appreciation.
I'm working with a clip at the moment where I need to remove a logo from clothing. Whenever I attempt to use the Content Aware fill with multiple reference layers, it generates a good fill, but it leaves a flicker where the reference photos are. Would you be able to give me some pointers to help fix this flicker effect? Thanks!
Hey! My first guess would be that maybe those reference layers got turned off or taken out of the comp? What kind of flicker? Is it a completely black frame as if the ref frame is missing? Or like it’s going back to the original footage?
@@CodyPyper From what I can tell, it looks like the reference frames are causing a flicker in exposure, as if the reference frames are a hair brighter than the frames around them. I figured with more Reference frames it would help the software blend those small changes together, but it still seems to be happening, regardless of how many reference frames I use.
Hmm. Check to see there are no effects on any layers that would cause that. And then I would find your ref frame in finder and bring it back in to see if the psd is acting weird for some reason
Not sure if you’re asking me to do it or asking if it can be done, but yes there are sites that will allow you to download videos from RUclips. Try a quick google search
Or if you are asking my permission to download this video, that is fine as long as it’s for personal use. If you are using it anywhere else please check with me first
The clone stamp will not work as well because it is not what is originally there. Clone stamp would work fine if the area that is being cloned is staying on screen the whole time. But because the area being cloned goes “on and and off” you need to be more accurate than the cloning can give you. For example, let’s say you use clone stamp method, and the guy walks in front of a pile of leaves. Before he walks in front of the leaves, and after he walks in front of the leaves, the viewer will see the “real” leaves”. But when he is crossing over and in front of the leaves, and you use clone stamp and content aware, it will not be the “real” pile of leaves, and then AE will try to merge between real leaves and fake leaves (clone leaves) and it will create weird streaks and call attention to that area. Hope that makes sense
Yes, but Mocha was not working for me. I could not get the tracking data back into after effects. Even tried working with Adobe tech support and we couldn’t get it to work. I need to update AE and try again since it’s been a while
Can you help me out? I'm kinda new to PC editing softwares, I usually edit in smartphone using alight motion,VN apps. Now i wanna edit for a book, First I want the title of the Book on the front cover to appear from no where which is already there in the original video,The letters should appear one by one with a shining effect around the letters or something like that kinda effect for the title. And I tried to use content aware fill , so that the front page of the book will look plain at the starting of the video.And then I want the letters to appear.But while using it , I don't know how to fill a layer with the same background colour. The colour of the front colour of the book nd the fill layer looks completely different even if i tried to match them up. So please tell me a solution for the video i mentioned before,like is there anything else like duplicating layers nd masking the letters. Paste me some video links relatable if you have it, or type a solution if you can, will help me a lot. Thank you.
Yea I understand, sorry about that! Would you mind watching this video before I post to see if the music is better? I made sure it wasn't as loud as this one, but it feels so dry without any music at all. Thanks! ruclips.net/video/efQg0RABrL8/видео.html
@@CodyPyper Hello Cody. Thanks for the feedback. It is clear that you care about what your visitors experience watching your material. That is positive :) I watched the new video and the level of the music is much better than this one. I am gonna tell you from my point of view why this background music is annoying when one tries to get into the video. Since the video has a lot of steps and I am not an expert in AE, I have to be more aware about every single thing you tell and show. The song has a hard beat with a loud bass and bass drum. I am a musician and rhythms like these just make me follow the music. It takes my mind out of the focus for the video. I would suggest to use instrumental songs without rhythmic beats. For example songs with only keyboard strings which are rich in harmonies and melodies but not in rhythm. I hope you understand my point. Thanks for your video tutorials :D
Sorry to say but it is completely visible that the picture was altered. This way you can clean up some home videos, this is just not for pro users. Sorry to see so much of your time wasted.
I like how you lay out what you'll do in the video in bullet points at the start.
bro basically inspired generative fill in Photoshop... mad respect for reference image tech
That's some pretty intensive commitment to removing objects. Great to see the video.
Yes it was intense for sure!
Great tutorial thanks. Also glad to see that Lauren is so keen (08:48) ;-) and I hope you slept well too!
Took me longer than expected so she was like bye I’m going to bed hahaha
way to be resourceful! Respect for implementing some elbow in your work. The pioneers of film making would be delighted.
That is dedication. Maybe it would be easier to go back and shoot it again. But for instances where it's not possible it's great to have this tool.
Agreed, don't want to rely on it, but in some instances it's the only option. Thankful for it when it's needed haha
I dont know if you are american, but seeing an american confusing brought with bringt, brings me relief lol.
Haha I am American, born and raised. Just kinda dumb sometimes I guess
Very complex but ultimately successful. Hopefully Adobe improve Content Aware for AE in years to come.
Amazing Cody! Amazing work! I’m gonna have to give this technique a try
Thanks Jim! Let me know how it works out for you
Impressive, both the technique and quality of this tutorial!
Great tutorial! I was looking for a solution to one specific problem, and by giving an oversight in the beginning of the video I could easily navigate it and find what I needed. Amazing guidance, and great video overall! GJ!
Lol liked the bring'd it part.
Great tutorial... Nice work buddy
Haha thanks man, sometimes it's good to take a second and make fun of yourself
To be honest I thought the thumbnail was click bait until I watched the video... awesome ❤️❤️
Thanks man! No click bait here haha
Great tutorial - even though I'm a beginner and I came hoping for more of a "Hit the magic content-aware fill button and Voila!!!"
Great work! Thanks for the tutorial! And the Firecats project is a great effort as well!!
Next level, sometimes it takes a lot of dedication and brains to get it done!
Glad I found this channel, it will be exciting to follow your journey mate.
I ha to watch the last tutorial of the live event 200 times. This one I only had to watch 150 times. Still don't fully get it but that's progress!
Bro this is so cool ❤❤❤❤thanks for this I have learnt something new
Hey Cody...I am the first time visiting your channel, and I am very happy I discovered it ..Best Ae content aware fill tutorial I have seen on RUclips. Big congrats and thank you very much for sharing! 🧡
Hey you are welcome! Thank you, that means a lot. Glad to have you as a subscriber! See you round!
Outstanding tutorial, very complex by the way. I am facing something similar right now trying to remove some things from some clips I have, but I don't know if I will be able to make it happen.
If you wanna send an email with the clip, I can take a look and tell you if it’s worth trying before you get too far on it!
Awesome work. Thank you for sharing these techniques. Extremely detailed and well presented.
Hi . . . . Thank you Cody . . . . .You help me sooo much
Very helpful, thanks 🙂
Had a very complex scene, and this worked really well.
Not perfect by far, but that's more of me working too fast, and using too liittle reference frames.
Spent 2 hours on a 4 second clip, and the result is useable 🙃
Did had to mask out 2 subjects, that's why, 2 hours.
Yea it’s unlikely the software would do it perfectly, but the more info and reference you give it, the better it will preform. Glad it helped you get the job done, great to hear
noice 2h for a 4sec clip
Happy to find your channel!
Welcome my friend!
Great tutorial man. Especially for Content Aware Fill starters. Thanks!
we agree 👍
Hey Cody! Really Great tutorial Helping me out HEAPS amazing work!
So glad it helped you! And thanks!
Thank you for this! Life. Saver.
For sure!
1:30 fook yeah.. love the idea of multiple ref frames.. 👌
Well explained, it could be better if you adjust the background music lower.
wow man! you are real kickass! hello from Russia)!
This is amazing but what happens when the object you're removing becomes obscured or moved off screen? What do I do with the mask at that point? It remains and content aware keeps filling the mask. ?
Move the mask off screen with the object. Content aware fill will probably mess up when the object goes off screen so you’ll probably have to do some manual fixes there
Such a good video, dude! High-quality tutorial 👏👏
Thanks man, appreciate that!
@@CodyPyper keep it up and you'll rise to top quickly 👊🏻
Thumbs up for the sweet text message popping up at 8:46
This is NEXT LEVEL. Wow. 👏👏👏
Big thanks!
Thanks man, this helped me a lot!
No problem! Happy it helped 🙃
Just found your channel. Great content! thank you!
You’re welcome! Glad you found it 😎
This super duper awesome. Too bad I still can not apply it. I have to watch repeatedly to understand. Since I just held after effect a few days ago.
Btw when I see this video and look back on my project result, boom. It's total different.
I wish I can apply this method soon :'( . Because I'm tired of editing 1 hours or more (still bad) just for a video duration of 7 seconds.
Gotcha, sorry about that. Lemme know if you have any questions that I might be able to help with!
i want to practice , please provide first footage
It's not my footage to share, it was for someone else's documentary
Good stuff dude thank you!
Willie Drone for sure!
Just wondering if you could use auto-tracking to generate a single zoom level from all the footage before doing this, so you don't have to manually align different zoom frames?
(something like track/remove movement, do reference frames, invert tracked zoom correction)
probably only possible with a locked camera location, any movement will give too much parallax for this idea
That would be a really interesting experiment to test out. I bet you could make that work on some shots! For this shot, it may not work because of the change in perspective. Is there something in AE to do the track/remove movement that you mention? Would be cool to test that out.
Also - I just found a method that accomplishes a similar task in a slightly more automated way. It utilizes Photoshop's photomerge function. So instead of manually aligning the reference frames each time in PS, you just run automate>photomerge, and add your reference frame, and the frame you are using to clean/remove the object in PS, and it automatically aligns it for you. Can save a lot of time!
very practical tutorial 👍
Thanks!
@@CodyPyper 🙏🙏
Hi cody! Thanks for sharing this tutorial. I am learning After effects. but I want to know if this will also work for a moving background?
Yes, it will work the same way that you see in this tutorial, you’ll have to continue to add new reference frames as the background moves/changes. Does that make sense?
@@CodyPyper Thank you. I will try what you said.
@@CodyPyper Hi Cody! As I clicked on the Generate Fill Layer, I got a warning message as CAF Out of Memory even if I already clear cache. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
So make sure you’ve cleared your cache in AE, make sure your disk space isn’t running low, and make sure you have enough RAM to run AE (close other programs if you can). Also restating your comp doesn’t hurt
I wonder if today, in 2024, with the content aware fill functions this technique is still recommended...
Great tut regardless.
I’ll look into it and see if it needs to be updated. Thanks!
hi cody and thanks for this great tutorial. how long did it take to achieve this result?
Very helpful ... nice tutorial!
Thanks! Glad it was helpful for you 👍🏼
Great tutorial. I am a new user of After Effect. I want to know if I can use Content Aware Fill for AE Version 2017. If it works for AV Version 2017, how do I have to download the Content Effect Fill program? Please advise. Thank you, Cody!
You are welcome! Unfortunately, it is only available in CC 2019 and later. It isn't an external download, it installs internally in AE once you upgrade. Hope that helps!
Cody Pyper thank you so much. I’ll just upgrade my AE to the latest one.
Hey Cody! I'm about to finish this sick video that is mainly comprised of content aware fill and reference frames thanks to your help with all these videos, but I noticed that the fill was messing up because one of the frames were off, and when I tried to open up the frame's photoshop file, I cannot find it anywhere. Here's the path I took so far: Drive > Users > Me > AppData > Roaming > Adobe > Adobe Photoshop 2021 and I have no clue where the reference frame is stored from here. Maybe I took a wrong path somewhere? Or, maybe I can check Photoshop's preferences and see where its sending all the saves (I used Ctrl+s whenever I was done a frame)? Thank you!
So it sends it to wherever your project folder is, and then a folder called fills, and then a numbered list of folders. Best way to find it is to find it in the timeline, right click and hit “reveal layer source in project”. Then in the project panel right click and hit “reveal in finder”. That will take you the exact file location.
Hope that helps. Would love to see your before and after!
Or “reveal in explorer” on windows : )
@@CodyPyper Lol, I deleted my comment to not bother you because I forgot I could just ask google. Sorry. I will be posting the video on Instagram, I will tag your instagram when its out. Thanks for the help and dedication!
Absolutely! I will be on the lookout for that
Great tutorial! But I have a slight problem, I have a stock video of the background (without the subject or the thing I wanted to remove) and it is separated from the main video, I was wondering if I can just import an image to the timeline and just set that image as a reference frame, instead of going through photoshop and editing things, will after effect detect my image as a reference frame? Or do I have to go through the photoshop process? Thanks in advance! 🙌
Hey! The best way to do that would be to create a reference frame using the content-aware window, and then when it opens up in photoshop, just drag in your clean image that you want to be referenced over top of the frame AE created, and then just save the reference frame in Photoshop (don't save as). That should do it!
Cody Pyper Woah, thanks for such a quick response, Cheers! 👏
Would content aware fill work to successfully remove a movie character from a close up fight scene?
It would definitely help the process. If you are working on a scene with a lot of motion, that might be pretty difficult to pull off using only Content Aware. But with some manual corrections, I'm sure it can be done
Nice video. I have a question, how can you easy re-edit a referance frame if you forgot a spot? Can it be done or du you have to delete it, and re-edit the whole frame?
Yes you can easily edit your reference frames. Just find your frame in your timeline in After Effects, right click, go to open, edit original. That should open it in Photoshop. You can make your edits there and then make sure you save the file - don’t save as!
Oh man… This tutorial gave me great insight into what I need, but I'm having trouble understanding some parts (I’m not particularly good with Photoshop or After Effects-and English isn’t my native language). I recorded a friend’s wedding with my drone and got a really nice zoom-out shot, but I ended up appearing in it with a very excited expression (such a dumbass). I’d like to remove myself from the shot, but it seems incredibly hard as there are too many moving elements...
why didn't you use the projection effect? is it possible?
Explain what you mean by projection effect?
Cody, first off, top tier tutorials, very well done!
Secondly, please forgive the amateur question, but how is this method "easier" than doing the standard: tracking the camera path, applying that motion to a freeze frame clean plate, and then masking to reveal or hide whatever you need?
Or does the tool work in most situations without all these extra steps?
Good questions! First answer: So I usually try that as the first thing because tracking a still frame is easier, and if it works, there’s no need to do all the extra work! But when the camera is moving a significant amount (more so in this tutorial than in my previous one), than the freeze frame becomes very obviously not a part of the scene. I explain this briefly at the beginning of the video but not really in-depth. For reference check out the final render at 12:00 minutes in, and pay attention to the two trees in the center of the frame. They’re right next to each other at the start but by the end of the shot, they’re pretty far apart. If you used a still frame, the elements in the scene such as these trees that shift and drift apart from each other, wouldn’t line up. And it’s pretty obvious when there’s a change like that. Another reason that wouldn’t work here, is that it’s pretty tough to replicate what Content Aware does as far as the masking and revealing/hiding as he walks across the frame. The still frame route usually looks like something is fading on and off, and is difficult to blend in my experience.
Second question. Yes, most of the time content aware fill will work just fine IF the camera doesn’t move (or doesn’t move much), or if the background doesn’t change considerably. Hope that makes sense, and thanks for watching!
@@CodyPyper This is purely my curiosity talking, but I'd love to see a tutorial describing how to do a traditional clean plate shot compared with your innovative method. The comparison of workflow congestion, overall number of steps involved, and final product could be very interesting. I've been taking notes and plan to try this method, thanks again!
@@DarthdYT That would be a cool video to do, I may do that in the future. Let me know how it goes when you do try this method!
I'm new on AF. So you did a manual "Content-Aware Fill" on PS every second so that the AF Content-Aware Fill work on the frames between?
I don’t know what you mean by AF, but let me try to clear up the terms for ya! So it’s not a Content Aware Fill every second, you are placing a “Reference Frame” every second. You create the reference frames in the timeline and manually remove the object in photoshop. Those reference frames are then used by after effects when you create the “Fill” layer using Content Aware Fill. That creates a new layer that fills in the hole(s) you made, but instead of “guessing” every frame, it uses the reference frames you created so that it can be more accurate. Does that make sense?
@@CodyPyper Thanks, Now I understand. Btw I mistype AE ( After Effect) as AF
Gotcha! Glad you get it now 👍🏻
damn this is great! subbed! :)
Hey Cody, great tutorial. I was just wondering, could you use reference frames to fix anomalies by bringing the reference frame layer to the top? Essentially using reference frames as replacement frames?
Hey Cody! Yes, that is what I did at 9:54, but you will need to track the movement and have your reference frame move along with the shot, and blend it in and out by fading. Does that make sense?
@@CodyPyper That makes sense! I guess I was pondering more of a replacement of a frame with a reference frame. Like let's say I had 3 reference frames, but there is still ghosting or weirdness when CAF is rendered. I could just change the layer hierarchy, so that the reference frame overlays the clip's frames. I guess I'm wondering if the the reference frames degrade the quality of the clip if used to replace frame. Or if thats a fine way to go about things.
@@codyfennell9326 Hmm, we may be talking past each other here. Let me try to get us on the same page. Using CAF, when you click generate fill layer, it creates new "filled" frames for your entire timeline EXCEPT where you created reference frames. It leaves those frames untouched, and since the mask is set to subtract on your main layer, it "sees through" to the reference frames you created. If you changed the layer hierarchy, it actually wouldn't change anything with your final result. And if you did have ghosting or places where CAF got weird, those reference frames are only 1 frame in length, so they still wouldn't help in that situation... unless you extended them and then tracked their movement. That's what I was getting at before. Does that help?
Also, no degradation, the reference frames are identical in quality to the original video.
@@CodyPyper hmmm interesting. We are on the same page. I was experimenting using multiple reference frames, because my adjustment was tiny and quick to clone stamp and CAF wasn't giving me the best fill. The extra insight on how CAF left those frames untouched may be the key to my trouble shooting. I may of been toggling the "subtract", which I now know would effect the reference layers.. Going to look in to that next! Thanks for getting back to me!
excellent. keep it up.......
Thanks a lot!
I think you missed a step. We didn't get to see how you put the reference frames inside of AE. Does anybody know?
When you complete a reference frame, and save it in photoshop (don’t save as), it will automatically update in after effects. No step needed of bringing it back into AE
I am in a tough spot and cannot find a tutorial anywhere. I have to remove an object from the background that both characters pass in front of. Handheld camera moving forward and panning right. Any ideas?
You’ll basically need to go frame by frame at the point they’re walking in front of the object. When something comes in front of the object, CAF can’t really figure out what to do, so that mostly needs to be manually done. So you basically create a clean frame in PS, frame by frame until they pass by. Feel free to send me an email with clips if you want some detailed feedback. Happy to do that for my subs : )
@@CodyPyper Thank you. I just sent you an email.
Here's 5:25 when I do work command + j And I delete vector mask And create a new one as you did The image returns to normal
That is, I cannot separate the masks and make more than one mask, and the masks I have are white, completely opposite to you. Do you have a solution, please? I really appreciate your effort to convey the information in its good form.
Yes, when you add a layer mask make sure to hold option and click layer mask so it comes in black instead of white. Or if you add it and it becomes white, you can always invert the layer mask to make black (command + I or right click > invert)
@@CodyPyper Really thanks for your interest. I have benefited greatly from you
I have a question. If I take a video with a blurred out spot. And I take detail from a different source file, and make a load of reference frames adding in the detail, skin, fabric, stone etc texture (that isn't anywhere in the video, but now on all the reference frames.
Would it add that detail in?
I think that It would work, but I don’t think it would do that great of a job. Something like EB Synth might work better for that. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
hello, i have a question when i try to put the brush to blend it doesnt work unless i click on the reference frame, but when i blend it it only blends the reference frame by itself so im kind of confused why its doing that
sorry, is it possible to invert that ? so to mask ask someone without using greenscreen ?
Not sure what you mean? Explain a little more and I can try to help
@@CodyPyper sorry my question didnt make sense....hahah what I wanted to ask: is it possible to use the effect the other way around? Instead of let an object disappear - having just the object. Basically what you do having a greenscreen background. Have a clean mask of just the object.
Yes that is possible. You can do that by rotoscoping (creating a very clean mask only around the subject) which is probably you’re best option. One way to try your suggestion would be to do a “difference matte” after the removal. I forget how to do it but I know there’s tutorials out there. Not sure which would be faster or cleaner. That’s an interesting thought!
i need help, i have 80 refference frames, is there any way to create a folder and transfer all of the frames into that folder to make it more organized?
Inside of AE? Or in Finder/Explorer?
@@CodyPyper AE. I want to minimize all my frames to one file.
I wish you could in an easy way. I think the only way to do it is to select all of your reference frames and right click and pre compose. That should put them in a new comp and only show up as one layer. I haven’t tried it, but I think it might mess up the “reference” part when you generate a new fill layer. If you give it a shot let me know if it works!
Oh! Another way would be to hide the reference layers using the layer hide function. And then just hide and unhide them when needed
amazing
Thanks!
very impressive!
Thanks!!
super!
When I click create reference frame it says it cannot locate an application to open 110.psd...i have Photoshop.
Hmm. You should be able to locate the file in the project panel, and then locate it in finder/explorer. Then open it up in photoshop (and might help to set all .psd files to default to photoshop if you haven’t already). Also you could try making sure that the content aware settings say that it will automatically open it in PS?
I can't seem to get the reference frame to work. It acts like that layer is filled and ignores it. I'm using AE 2022 and i've tried the Beta too. Neither seem to work. I'm on a mac. I tried to change if the reference frame layers are above the masked layer, below it, i've turned them off, I've selected them before hitting create fill layer. Object mode is horrible, but the edge blend will work, but it still ignores the reference frame. The problem with my footage is that i'm replacing a bridge and have cars driving under neath it. So it picks up the cars when it replaces. I've spent HOURS creating reference frames, and it just ignores them. Do you have any tips for it actually use the reference layers? Thanks!
Hey! Make sure you have the mask on your main layer you are 'removing' the cars from set to subtract. Also make sure your reference frames have the cars removed, and that you SAVE the layers in Photoshop when you are done with them and do not SAVE AS. If you save as it will no longer reference the correct file. Hope that helps! If not feel free to email me and I can take a look at screen records or screen grabs of the issue - codypypervideo@gmail.com
@@CodyPyperHey Cody. thanks for replying. I've gone down so many rabbit holes on this project and im about out of time :( I tried somany things. I always make sure the mask is set to subtract. I made sure the reference frames were simply saved, as I could see AE updating theem. The problem is that when it tries to replace the object, it acts like the reference frames are actual frames. IOW, when the subtract mask is on a frame that has a reference frame, CA goes "ok i dont need to do anything with this layer now." and it doesnt touch that frame at all. It does NOT refrence any of the reference frames for it's CA either. I finally abandoned it and am trying to work in silhoutte, but that's a huge set of another can of worms. I am really at my wits end and I've got to turn this in tomorrow. I am out of time and i have no idea what im going to do. something that should be pretty simple has turned into a frakking nightmare. And what kills me...is that CA used to work beautifully.
@@sharonpalkowetz Sorry about your trouble. It shouldn't replace the reference frame though - when you give it a reference frame to work with, AE interprets that as what you want to be in the shot. So its designed to not modify your reference frame. Not sure why the rest of the fill layer generated doesnt see your reference frames though. Weird. Sorry about that! Best of luck
@@CodyPyper No it's ok! I ended up using Ca to remove the cars, rendered out an mov, then brought it back and used CA on the bridge. That seemed to work the best.
@@CodyPyper Hey i posted a response, but not sure if it loaded up, so if i post this twice...chalk it up to my dead brain. I used CA to take care of all the cars that were going under the bridge i was trying to get rid of. Then i rendered out an mov, brought it back into AE, and used CA to remove the bridge. It's not super, but it's enough. I tried using silhouette (and got a crash course in that software) but i just couldn't get it the way i wanted. Anyway, I really appreciate you responding with the info!!
How much time it takes sir plz tell me
This shot took about 15-20 hours!
@@CodyPyper Is it worth it to spend 15-20 hrs for a 6-8 seconds clip?
ehaitem depends on what your time is worth! For this shot, no it was probably not worth it. But if I had to redo this shoot it would probably take me half the time because of what I’ve learned. So sometimes it may take longer on the front end when you’re learning, so that can be a good use of your time as well. This is also the reason I make videos like this - so I can help you out and save you the extra time!
@@CodyPyper ❤️
@@ehaitem This is my clip for The Fire Cats and it depends how valuable the clip is. It obviously took Cody more time to correct it than either of us anticipated, but he learned a ton of new techniques that he shared with everyone (Cody be like that :) ) and he gets professional credit and my undying appreciation.
Impressive.
Thanks!
will you do this as a paid work?
Yes, feel free to email me at codypypervideo@gmail.com!
On second thought I don't wanna do this lol
It definitely can be an undertaking
What is the minimum requirements to use this tool
I believe you just have to able to run the latest version of After Effects
Please help me when i do generate it gives me “CAF: out of memory”
Make sure your disk has enough space! CAF takes a lot of disk space
@@CodyPyper ok thank you so much
You’re welcome!
I'm working with a clip at the moment where I need to remove a logo from clothing. Whenever I attempt to use the Content Aware fill with multiple reference layers, it generates a good fill, but it leaves a flicker where the reference photos are. Would you be able to give me some pointers to help fix this flicker effect? Thanks!
Hey! My first guess would be that maybe those reference layers got turned off or taken out of the comp? What kind of flicker? Is it a completely black frame as if the ref frame is missing? Or like it’s going back to the original footage?
@@CodyPyper From what I can tell, it looks like the reference frames are causing a flicker in exposure, as if the reference frames are a hair brighter than the frames around them. I figured with more Reference frames it would help the software blend those small changes together, but it still seems to be happening, regardless of how many reference frames I use.
Hmm. Check to see there are no effects on any layers that would cause that. And then I would find your ref frame in finder and bring it back in to see if the psd is acting weird for some reason
Also make sure your mask opacity is set correctly (I believe to 100%?)
@@CodyPyper I'll give these a shot. Thanks for the help! It's much appreciated!
Impressive
Can the video downloaded from RUclips be deleted?
Hey, what do you mean?
@@CodyPyper Download video from youtube Can you do it
Not sure if you’re asking me to do it or asking if it can be done, but yes there are sites that will allow you to download videos from RUclips. Try a quick google search
Or if you are asking my permission to download this video, that is fine as long as it’s for personal use. If you are using it anywhere else please check with me first
Legit!⚡
Thanks ☁️
I think the painting of the reference could have been done much easier and better just using content aware fill and just clone stamp
The clone stamp will not work as well because it is not what is originally there. Clone stamp would work fine if the area that is being cloned is staying on screen the whole time. But because the area being cloned goes “on and and off” you need to be more accurate than the cloning can give you. For example, let’s say you use clone stamp method, and the guy walks in front of a pile of leaves. Before he walks in front of the leaves, and after he walks in front of the leaves, the viewer will see the “real” leaves”. But when he is crossing over and in front of the leaves, and you use clone stamp and content aware, it will not be the “real” pile of leaves, and then AE will try to merge between real leaves and fake leaves (clone leaves) and it will create weird streaks and call attention to that area. Hope that makes sense
Great tutorial but please turn of music, it is just distracting.
I would if I could man
What's the point of the music?
wow
Mocha's Remove module do all this automatically.. well, almost automatically. You just need to draw a mask
Yes, but Mocha was not working for me. I could not get the tracking data back into after effects. Even tried working with Adobe tech support and we couldn’t get it to work. I need to update AE and try again since it’s been a while
Wait, I’ve never heard of the Remove Module. Do you mean that it removes an object like content aware fill does?
@@CodyPyper exactly. but it automatically align all "reference frames" (after tracking), and removes object without opening photoshop
@@CodyPyper ruclips.net/video/Xw04eHrhBRo/видео.html
@@CodyPyper emm. Mocha works perfectly inside AE, and exporting tracking data is as easy as ctrl+c ctrl+v
Can you help me out?
I'm kinda new to PC editing softwares, I usually edit in smartphone using alight motion,VN apps. Now i wanna edit for a book, First I want the title of the Book on the front cover to appear from no where which is already there in the original video,The letters should appear one by one with a shining effect around the letters or something like that kinda effect for the title. And I tried to use content aware fill , so that the front page of the book will look plain at the starting of the video.And then I want the letters to appear.But while using it , I don't know how to fill a layer with the same background colour. The colour of the front colour of the book nd the fill layer looks completely different even if i tried to match them up. So please tell me a solution for the video i mentioned before,like is there anything else like duplicating layers nd masking the letters. Paste me some video links relatable if you have it, or type a solution if you can, will help me a lot.
Thank you.
great tutorial, but for windows user is not so helpfull
Sorry about that, thought about that after the fact. Do you have a specific question that I can help with?
Naice
i will do in nuke in 10 minutes
you're a legend
No doubt this is a great video editing but I just cannot deal with the music interrupting my concentration.
Yea I understand, sorry about that! Would you mind watching this video before I post to see if the music is better? I made sure it wasn't as loud as this one, but it feels so dry without any music at all. Thanks! ruclips.net/video/efQg0RABrL8/видео.html
@@CodyPyper Hello Cody. Thanks for the feedback. It is clear that you care about what your visitors experience watching your material. That is positive :)
I watched the new video and the level of the music is much better than this one. I am gonna tell you from my point of view why this background music is annoying when one tries to get into the video.
Since the video has a lot of steps and I am not an expert in AE, I have to be more aware about every single thing you tell and show. The song has a hard beat with a loud bass and bass drum. I am a musician and rhythms like these just make me follow the music. It takes my mind out of the focus for the video.
I would suggest to use instrumental songs without rhythmic beats. For example songs with only keyboard strings which are rich in harmonies and melodies but not in rhythm.
I hope you understand my point. Thanks for your video tutorials :D
ОГОНЬ
This is a great tutorial, but man, please kill the background music!! It's unnecessary and distracting as all hell!!
Ya know, after uploading I did notice it was a little loud, sorry about that!
@@CodyPyper don't be sorry, you're giving out free learning resources. Thanks for that!
You are welcome Mike!
@@CodyPyper stillu missed 1 mistake of u ,down yah
Cu
Fr
so much labour :( , i hope one day magic happens
dude, so much work for not that ideal result? ehhhh, sad
yep, that's my life
Informative but the music is fukking annoying....
Way to fast and not clear what you're doing with the reference frames, to bad..
Lmk if you have any questions, I'll see if I can help
Sorry to say but it is completely visible that the picture was altered. This way you can clean up some home videos, this is just not for pro users. Sorry to see so much of your time wasted.