Rotoscoping

Our oldest tradition in VFX.

Rotoscoping gets its name and workflow from an old machine called a rotoscope. It dates back 1915 when it was invented by Max Fleischer.

Live-action footage was filmed first, usually featuring an actor performing the movement.T

he film was then projected onto a glass panel one frame at a time.

Animators traced over each frame onto animation paper or cells, capturing realistic motion.

The traced drawings were then colored and photographed for the final animated film.

This process was remarkably time consuming. However, with the advent of desktop compositing like Nuke and After Effects, the process became digital and much faster…however, the part where the animators tracing around the image continues to this day. It is still time consuming, but a valuable skill.