Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over the footage, frame by frame, to be used in live-action and animated films. In the visual effects industry, 'rotoscoping' refers to the technique of manually creating a matte painting for an element on a live-action plate so it may be composited over another background.

Photo from Wikipedia

History of Rotoscoping:

• The technique was invented by Max Fleischer, who used it in his series called Out of the Inkwell, starting around 1915, with his brother Dave Fleischer dressed in a clown outfit as the live-film reference for Koko the Clown. Max then went on an patented the method in 1917.
• Fleischer used rotoscoping in a number of his later cartoons, including his most notable cartoons - the Cab Calloway dance routines in three Betty Boop cartoons from the early 1930s, and the animation of Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels (1939).
• Leon Schlesinger Productions, which produced the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Bros., produced cartoons that were geared more towards exaggerated comedy, and used rotoscoping only occasionally.
• Rotoscoping was used extensively in China's first animated feature film, Princess Iron Fan (1941).
• More recently, in 2013, the anime The Flowers of Evil was criticised by viewers for using rotoscoping to achieve a look that different greatly from its manga source material. The main problem existed in cutting corners in animating facial features, reusing several backgrounds, and taking liberties in realism (being free and experimental with it).

A use of rotoscoping being used is in Boromir's death in Lord Of The Rings (1978). The use of rotoscoping is effective because it makes the animation more convincing, as the background is still so you can't notice the effect taking place - meaning it's done its job well.

We could use the rotoscoping technique in After Effects by using the 'rotobrush'.

• Locate the rotobrush in the top tool bar (it is similar to the quick-selection brush)
• Begin to paint around the image and a pink outline will appear
• To show the rotobrush what you don't want selected, hold down the Alt (or option) key and paint over what you don't want to be selected - you are training the rotobrush to show what you don't want to be in the shot
• When you press play it tracks the movement of the pink outline
• Go back to the composition view to see what has been cut out
• Turn the rotobrush into 'refine matte' to smooth out the harsh edges.