Rotoscopy
Rotoscopy (verb: rotoskopieren) is a method used in the production of animation films to draw sequences of images. Film scenes (mostly recorded individually ) are projected frame by frame from behind onto a frosted glass pane so that the animator can copy them (as when tracing through ). The rotoscopy process was first used (and patented) by Max Fleischer in 1914 for the animation series Out of the Inkwell , with the aim of achieving convincingly realistic movement in a shorter time. The process was later mainly used for realistically designed human characters, especially when very complex movements such as. B. dance scenes were required. For this, influential artists could be won, including Cab Calloway .
Since the early 1990s, tracing has mostly taken place on the computer , either by hand in pixel-based programs or semi-automatically by vectorization (like the two corresponding films by Richard Linklater ). In contrast to the motion detection (motion capturing) the Rotoskopie is a two-dimensional method. The results can range from halfway realistic to very stylized. One problem with animation technology is that the emotional acceptance of the movements produced with rotoscopy decreases above a certain level of detail, although the underlying data is clearly of natural origin. This effect is now referred to by the term Uncanny Valley .
Rotoscopy has its own permanent place in commercials, music videos and short films as its own stylistic device. Through new, computer-aided processes such as vectorization, it has stylistically approximated effects that were previously created by optical printers (“optical bank”), namely the graphic alienation of film material.
In addition to its stylistic function, rotoscopy is also used to correct errors. It was also used extensively in the compositing of visual effects during the chemical copying process . It is used even more extensively today as an alternative to blue screen technology - mostly to keep planning simple with complicated settings (e.g. with violent camera movements) and not to have to laboriously recreate the lighting conditions in the blue screen studio. Rotoscopy is therefore used in the majority of feature films with visual effects today.
Examples of movies and videos that used rotoscopy
- In Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), some dance scenes of Snow White were rotoscoped.
- In Gullivers Reisen (1939) by Max Fleischer, the title figure is rotoscoped.
- The dancers in the short film Two Silhouettes, part of Disney's Make Mine Music (1946) are rotoscoped.
- Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963)
- The sequence "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" in Yellow Submarine (1968) by George Dunning
- Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings
- In Episodes IV-VI of the Star Wars series were the lightsabers rotoscopied.
- In the 1981 cartoon Heavy Metal , rotoscopy was used for the Taarna sequence.
- Tron (1982)
- Fire and Ice (1983) by Ralph Bakshi
- The music videos Take On Me , The Sun Always Shines on TV and Train of Thought by the group a-ha (1985 and 1986)
- Waking Life (2001) by Richard Linklater
- The music video Brothers in Arms by the group Dire Straits (1985)
- The music video Rings by the group Turntablerocker (2003)
- The music video Breaking the Habit of the group Linkin Park (2004)
- A Scanner Darkly - The dark screen (2006) by Richard Linklater was completely manufactured using this process.
- Alois Nebel is a Czech fiction film directed by Tomáš Luňák from 2011. The film was produced using the rotoscopic method.
- The anime Aku no Hana (2013) (in English: The Flowers of Evil) is a Japanese television series that was created entirely through rotoscopy.
- The music video Freak of the Week by the group Freak Kitchen (2014)
- Tehran Taboo (2017)
- Undone (2019)
Examples of computer games in which rotoscopy has been used
- The technique was first used in Prince of Persia , released in 1989 for various computer systems.
- In Flashback , which appeared in 1992 for the AMIGA, a total of 1,500 animation levels were made. 800 of them were animations for the main character.
- For Another World , the technique was also used for the animations.
- The Nintendo DS video game Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (2007) uses characters created using the rotoscopic technique throughout the game.
Web links
- FX Guide - Art of Roto (English)
- Scott Squires explained rotoscoping (English)