What is Rotoscoping?

 

Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over footage, frame by frame, for use in live-action and animated films. Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator.

 

When it was first used, live action film images were projected onto a glass panel that was frosted where an animator would redraw them. The associated projector is called a rotoscope. However, computers have replaced it in the past two decades. Today, the term refers to manually creating a matte for a visual element on a live action plate in order to composite it onto another background for use in film or a movie.

 

In 3D animation, rotoscoping is a technique that allows you to create animation that mimics live action video. For example, a live actor may be filmed doing a series of actions, and the animatorwould have the digital character mimic the actions of the human actor for a realistic animated scene.  The rotoscoping technique was invented by Max Fleischer, who used it in his series "Out of the Inkwell" in 1915.