After Effects Portal: Tips

<div style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #4a7aa8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Trebuchet,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="margin: 60px 0px 0px; position: relative;">Rotoscoping tips</h3><div class="post-body entry-content" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 510px;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5120674328349562898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8OEQVr3ziimhJlOQiA0w_UYlp7DFl1EdG0LFF0kkTJVX0gGOop6eiBgzKsZI0CR9-6etzM27Y6nD-POsbM3v2jWMDzIux13PaqXYZ1dlBB-S9jue2DvYvsIsAnJ4EXauOFaCDxk0C6-k/s200/mochaae.jpg" style="border-style: none; float: left; height: 28px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; position: relative; width: 38px;" />Via<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.animotion.nl/en/tutorials/rotoscoping-tips/" style="text-decoration: none;">Joost van der Hoeven</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.theblackbox.org/2009/12/back-to-basics-6-great-rotoscoping-tips/" style="text-decoration: none;">6 great rotoscoping tips from Imagineer Systems</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>by TheBlackbox.org:<br /><ol><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px;">There is no such thing as a perfect matte. Rotoscoping is an art form that takes into account the background image, the movement of the object, and the new elements to be composited in the background.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px;">Try to start your shape at its most complex point in time, where it will need the most control points.<span id="more-1136"></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px;">Break a complex shape into multiple simple shapes. If you are rotoscoping a humanoid form and an arm becomes visible, consider rotoscoping the arm as its own element, rather than adding extra points on the body that will serve no purpose when the arm is obscured.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px;">Imagine you are the animator who created the shot. What would your dope sheet look like? No matter the medium, whether CG, live action or otherwise, most movements are rarely linear. They normally move in arcs; they normally accelerate in and out of stopped positions. Try and understand the mechanics behind how things are moving in your shot. This will help you to minimize keyframes.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px;">Watch and study the shot before you start working. Where are the changes in directions? These will normally have keyframes. Where are the starts and stops? Are there camera moves that can be stabilized to make your work easier?</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px;">Don’t be afraid to trash your work and start over. Beginning roto artists often make the mistake of trying to fix a flawed approach by adding more and more keyframes. Experienced roto artists learn to quickly identify an inferior approach and are unashamed to trash their work and start over, often many, many times. It is very difficult to get a good matte without a conscious effort to keep the keyframes to a minimum.</li></ol><a href="http://prolost.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436617753035781746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicyMrG4TzGX2dTpcNR5wJaH3kcgdkop8Xsq_SyAFlgrNypuLP-Pmk0q3Xz0aJCJiNKEEuCdwiGoCvFI5rDxoIIn1GIyJod0FW3UzeAuFd9Tr86uXGv6qzVZDNQakpPR3UcpcEx2ZOSsQU/s200/mspline.jpg" style="border-style: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 101px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; position: relative; width: 130px;" /></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping" style="text-decoration: none;">Rotoscoping</a>, roto for short, has been more fully explained by Matt Silverman of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/review_commotion_complete.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Commotion Complete</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>fame in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.fxguide.com/modules.php?name=fxtips&rop=showcontent&id=243" style="text-decoration: none;">The Art of Roto</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>at Fxguide and by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://effectscorner.blogspot.com/2010/02/commotion.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Commotion's creator</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and ILM alumni Scott Squires in blog posts and movies at his<a href="http://effectscorner.blogspot.com/search/label/roto" style="text-decoration: none;">Effects Corner</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>blog. More recently, Fxguide's<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.fxguide.com/article453.html" style="text-decoration: none;">The Art of Wire Removal</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>covered some of the same ground.<br /><br />And from the same talent pool is a handy summary of tips in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://anm499-06-f04.tribe.net/thread/2bb22946-9a1a-446d-a093-bc0596c0be57" style="text-decoration: none;">Confessions of a Roto Artist: Three Rules For Better Mattes</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(<a href="http://www.pinnaclesys.com/SupportFiles/Rotoscoping.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;">PDF</a>) by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0829820/" style="text-decoration: none;">Scott Stewart</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(now a movie director), who did the roto tape for the out-of-print<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=7&ved=0CCUQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinnaclesys.com%2Fdocuments%2FConsumerProducts%2FAdvancedVideo%2FTraining%2Fus%2FMastersOfVE_ProdOverview.pdf&ei=vCVUS7HXDNKWtgfvjfynCQ&usg=AFQjCNG1HlaS_-mUzxM65U2PuAYbJro77Q&sig2=YyoLYCE7fTMny3rDImPPJw" style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: none;">Masters of Visual Effects</a>:<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/" style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidX6Kk7m0WQ7pruUJJs-HVqKrp4U-TYezNXZTfIamuxcXlLnR02_uCGA0s6WnEpLNMpMZ_5fQr1obcewntsfK2xwyQlWK6qMl4ZB9yWwK5Ezq7KQINaUEBmDA2QLOwyghrRZHTuTC3TE8/s200/aecs4_thumb.jpg" style="border-style: none; float: left; height: 44px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; position: relative; width: 44px;" /></a>While<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.fxguide.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-7001.html" style="text-decoration: none;">still missing</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>key features, there's plenty of rotoscoping done in AE, and many good After Effects tutorials. Sean Kennedy takes you through<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.mackdadd.com/html/visualfx.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Rotoscoping Tools in After Effects</a>, and Pete O'Connell (now found under<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://library.creativecow.net/articles/oconnell_pete/from_ae_to_nuke.php" style="text-decoration: none;">Nuke</a>) has a tutorial movie<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://library.creativecow.net/articles/oconnell_pete/roto.php" style="text-decoration: none;">Rotoscoping in AE</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and a DVD,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.peteoconnell.com/a/html/vfxPages.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Advanced Rotoscoping Techniques for Adobe After Effects</a>, at Creative Cow. Also, there are several tutorials involving rotoscoping with<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://aeportal.blogspot.com/2009/03/mocha-shape-mocha-ae-v2.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Imagineer Mocha & Mocha Shape</a>, some noted in AEP's<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://aeportal.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-mocha.html" style="text-decoration: none;">More mocha tracking & roto</a>, as well as several by<a href="http://aeportal.blogspot.com/search?q=Mathias+M%C3%B6hl" style="text-decoration: none;">Mathias Möhl</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>using his AE script MochaImport. Digital Tutors has a course for CS4 too,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.digitaltutors.com/09/training.php?cid=26&pid=287" style="text-decoration: none;">Rotoscoping Techniques in After Effects</a>.<br /><br />Todd Kopriva has a few more tips (from Pete O'Connell) in his<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2009/03/rotoscoping-in-after-effects-a.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Rotoscoping in After Effects</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://help.adobe.com/en_US/AfterEffects/9.0/WS39e706a46ad531be1172e0812179ce5d44-8000.html" style="text-decoration: none;">After Effects Help</a>. And of course there were previous posts here at AEP, tagged<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://aeportal.blogspot.com/search/label/roto" rel="tag" style="text-decoration: none;">roto</a>.</div></span></div>

After Effects Portal: Tips

Rotoscoping tips Via   Joost van der Hoeven   is   6 great rotoscoping tips from Imagineer Systems   by TheBlackbox.org: There is no such th...

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