Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame.
Cheating..? Maybe. Effective..? Very! It's a huge time-saver & helps create a more realistic sense of movement in the sequences.
Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected
onto a frosted glass panel and painstakingly re-drawn by
an animator. This projection device is called a rotoscope.
The device has been replaced by computers in recent years.
In the FX industry, the term 'rotoscoping' refers to the technique
of manually creating a matte for an element on a live-action
plate, so it can be composited over another background.
roto - An abbreviation for rotoscope, or for the animated
masks produced by the rotoscoping process.
Cheating..? Maybe. Effective..? Very! It's a huge time-saver & helps create a more realistic sense of movement in the sequences.
Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected
onto a frosted glass panel and painstakingly re-drawn by
an animator. This projection device is called a rotoscope.
The device has been replaced by computers in recent years.
In the FX industry, the term 'rotoscoping' refers to the technique
of manually creating a matte for an element on a live-action
plate, so it can be composited over another background.
roto - An abbreviation for rotoscope, or for the animated
masks produced by the rotoscoping process.
The basic concept of tracing pre-existing imagery as a time saver
is really nothing new, since fine artists have been using hand-drawn
'cartoons' to trace their designs onto walls as a template for painted
fresco murals since antiquity. A perfect example is the Italian artist,
Michelango Buonarroti, who did this for the Sistine Chapel in 1508-12.
Likewise, the Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer, is thought to have
used a device called a Camera Obscura (the forerunner of the modern
camera) to achieve his incredibly life-like compositions in the mid 1600's.
is really nothing new, since fine artists have been using hand-drawn
'cartoons' to trace their designs onto walls as a template for painted
fresco murals since antiquity. A perfect example is the Italian artist,
Michelango Buonarroti, who did this for the Sistine Chapel in 1508-12.
Likewise, the Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer, is thought to have
used a device called a Camera Obscura (the forerunner of the modern
camera) to achieve his incredibly life-like compositions in the mid 1600's.
in a Handful of Classic 2-D Films
The Rotoscope
was invented by
Max Fleischer
he patented
it in 1917
was invented by
Max Fleischer
he patented
it in 1917
Examples & a Half-Baked History of ROTOSCOPING
Blurring the line between live-action & animation...