ANONYMOUS: ROTOSCOPING TEST

I wanted to do a basic rotoscoping test to make sure i could get the technique working. As I mentioned in an earlier post I found an excellent tutorial on Youtube to follow and guide me to create the effect. I will not bother to describe the process too much as it is all contained in this clip which I followed. The footage I used was some basic footage of my hand that I quickly shot using the green screen at the college I work at of my hand moving in frame.



The final clip is of my trial is demonstrated underneath. The technique is pretty simple although there were some After Effects issues as I am not 100% familiar with the software and still learning. I also borrowed a tablet from college as from research the process would be 100% more awkward and rough and ready without one and attempting to draw with a mouse.

ROTO TEST from Jon Saward on Vimeo.

I feel that the technique works pretty well it is simple and basic but gives a good overview of how the technique works. I have included in the clip the line drawing and also the final coloured in hand. I did a 2 second clip for the trial which as the frames were doubled making 12.5 a second or 25 in total for the 2 seconds as video works at 25fps. The drawings were the most time consuming element and were a good couple of hours to get them right even with the tablet so the technique must be used sparingly. However if I am using talking heads this may be less time consuming as less movement the better as you may be able to re-use some frames just changing mouth shapes and a few wrinkles and lines etc. The line drawing is basic and if I use the technique for real I may add more detail or even different thicknesses of line but all this will add time hence this was not done for the test.

Following the line drawing I decided to colour the hand in. This certainly brought it more to life and pop a little more. Again as this was only a test it is pretty basic and would greatly benefit from more shading to make it look a little more 3D but this would be time consuming but something I would almost certainly do for the real film when I make it. Overall the tests went well and a lot was learnt moving forward and i grew a little more comfortable with After effects too.