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Rotoscoping – This Way or That?
Hi,
I have a bunch of clips to rotoscope – mainly a person jumping around doing fight stuff with an imaginary opponent, who will eventually be a CGI character.
So, what’s the best way to do it?
From what I’ve learned (on Creative Cow) you can use masks to encompass the shape of the subject or you can use Vector Paint to paint out the area. With the mask method how would you graduate edges ie. if you have a smooth edge that becomes blurry in sections then smooth in others. How can you get an overall mask that changes its feathering in sections? Or do you have to break up the smooth, blurry bits into separate masks?
Also, I had an idea that, in theory, should work but I haven’t heard anyone mention anything about it. When you load footage into your Layer window (not the Comp. window) you can use the rubber tool to remove unwanted sections right? So, couldn’t you use this feature to get into those difficult areas that would be hard to achieve with a mask? (Which I think answers my own previous question)
Would love some guidance on a really good way to rotoscope.
Thanks in advance,
ALEX
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4 Replies
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I usually export my frames and work in photoshop for roto work. I find it sometimes quite hard to mange the vertex points in AE (too many vs too little).
Mark
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I roto using both methods, just depends on the subject, look I’m going after…
Just recently did 2 projects that required heavy roto work. One was of quite automation robots. Using masks worked perfectly for the average speed/hard edged machines. Set up independent masks and just keyframe them as needed.
Other project I had to roto out a basketball player & ball. In some spots with the motion blur, depth of field using masks just wouldn’t allow me to get the look I needed so I opted for the VERY VERY VERY time-consuming vector paint method. This way I can use harder or softer mattes as needed.
One tip I can offer is that if you have photoshop, you don’t need to paint out everything. I paint out only the edges of my subject. Then I change the setting to paint only and place it over a black bkg. Render the entire thing to a pict sequence.
Then I open up photoshop and create an automation to select a black pixel that I know stays black the entire sequence. Reverse the selection and fill with white. Then just use the batch automation process and it will fill in all the mattes.
Also if you are going to use this method, I can’t stress enough how much a wacom will save you in time and fatigue/stress on your wrist.
Good luck
Johnny Cuevas, Editor
http://www.ckandco.net -
God I miss Commotion. That was one of my favorite rotoscoping programs. I still do masking for roto in AE but the trick to making it easier is to create multiple masks of objects that arent as dynamic as say a hand. That way there is minimal vertex moving and more full matte moving. Of course it all depends on the material.
Remember though, make sure you have motion blur on unless the photographer had a high shutter speed. You may need to adjust the Shutter Angle setting to match.
-Rob
Motion Graphics Animation
Professional & Freelance
Respond2Opinions expressed above are not in any way connected to Respond2.
Personal website under construction 😉
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If you have a bit of cash to spend and you do a whole bunch of roto then you should take a look at:
Silhouette Roto, which has a whole bunch of great tools to help cut back on the number of keyframes you have to set, stabilising footage and the like.
or
Imagineer Systems Motor, which is truly incredible. It uses planar trackers, which do most of the heavy lifting for you. So you end up having to set a fraction of the keyframes than you would normally. It’s pricier than Silhouette, but niiiice. :o)
Both have trial downloads, so you can give them a spin.
Good luck,
BenCurious Turtle Professional Video
Training | Editing |Support
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