RESEARCH ROTOSCOPING P2

A true pioneer of animation, Max Fleischer produced the Popeye and Betty Boop animated series, as well as the animated features “Gulliver’s Travels” and "Mr. Bug Goes to Town."

With his brother Dave, he founded the Fleischer Studios in the early 1920’s, which offered a less sentimental animated vision of the world than the rival Disney studio. Perhaps most importantly, Fleischer invented the rotoscope, a device that changed the look of animation forever.

During the 1930s, the Fleischers found themselves in an on-going competition with another animator -- Walt Disney. The Fleischers and Disney constantly raced one another to each new milestone in animation -- first sound cartoon, first color cartoon, and first feature. But according to Max Fleischer’s son, Richard Fleischer, Max and Dave often came in second, largely because the studio behind them, Paramount, didn't offer the support they needed.

While the technique is useful for animation, rotoscoping eventually became an important tool for visual effects in general. From the 1940s through the 1960s, U.B. Iwerks, a well-known animator, turned to effects work, where he pioneered the use of the rotoscope on films such as Alfred Hitchcock's “The Birds” (1963).


Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over footage, frame by frame, for use in live-action and animated films. When trying to rotoscope an image you can use After Effects.


For this effect you will need three different shots, you will need the shot when the character first walks into the scene (1), then you will need when he is acting as if he is invisible (2) and also a background shot without the character in it.

1. Rotoscope the character out of the shot number 2 using the rotoscope brush. 
2. Turn the background layer into a composition layer. 
3. Then right-click the composition layer and select composition settings.
4. Select the preset – 1080p HD Film settings. 
5. Make sure that Lock Aspect Ratio is ticked. 
6. Change width to 1920*1.25. Then select okay. 
7. Go to the Effects & Presets search bar and type in Displacement, drag Displacement Map onto the background layer. 
8. Go to the Effect Controls and change Displacement Map to '2. Effect'. 
9. Then Ctl Shft C to pre comp the layer. Call it actor and untick the box. 
10. Go back to Effect Controls and see that the '2. Effect' has been changed to '2. Actor', change the colour to Luminance. 
11. Set the Max Horizontal box to 55. 
12. Set the next colour box underneath also to Luminance. Set the Max Vertical to 55. 
13. Shut off the Effect layer (2) and you can now see that the character is gone but has left behind its shape. 
14. In effects and presets search bar type contrast. Padlock composition layer, do this with padlock at the top & switch box below to actor. 
15. Click on the actor composition tab, drag the brightness and contrast the to effect layer. 
16. Put the contrast level to 55, close the actor composition tab.