Rotoscopy

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US patent for the original rotoscope
Rotoscopic film The Tantalizing Fly by Max Fleischer, 1919

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

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.

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