Rotoscoping: Techniques and Tools for the Aspiring Artist

300 Pages·2011·19.81 MB·English

by  Benjamin Bratt

R o t o s c o p i n g
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R o t o s c o p i n g
Techniques and
Tools for the
Aspiring Artist
Benjamin Bratt
AmsterdAm • Boston • HeidelBerg • london • new York • oxford
PAris • sAn diego • sAn frAncisco • singAPore • sYdneY • tokYo
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Notices
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Contents v
Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Chapter 1 origins of Roto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 .1 Origins of Roto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 .2 Modern Roto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2 Defining the terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter 3 Rotoscoping software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3 .1 Roto Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
3 .2 Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 .2 .1 Creating Spline/Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 .2 .2 Editing Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 .2 .3 Timeline Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 .2 .4 Transformation (Object or Sub-Object) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 .2 .5 Viewer Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3 .3 Silhouette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3 .3 .1 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3 .4 After Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3 .5 Mocha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 4 Pre-shot Warm-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4 .1 Establish Specifics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4 .1 .1 Shot Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4 .1 .2 Define the Focus Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4 .1 .3 Matte Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4 .2 Edge and Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4 .2 .1 Multiple Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4 .2 .2 Repeating Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4 .3 Positive Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
vi Contents
4 .4 Motion Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4 .5 Keying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4 .6 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Chapter 5 Key Framing techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5 .1 Timeline Key Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5 .1 .1 Bifurcation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5 .1 .2 Incremental Key Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5 .2 Motion-Based Roto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5 .3 Approaching the Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5 .4 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5 .5 Relevant CD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Chapter 6 Creating splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6 .1 Organizing the Comp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6 .2 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Chapter 7 edge Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7 .1 Transitioning Between Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
7 .2 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Chapter 8 object Mode transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8 .1 Pivot Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8 .1 .1 Bounding Boxes in After Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8 .2 Individual Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8 .2 .1 Referencing Point Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8 .3 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Chapter 9 Interpolation and Linear Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
9 .1 Key Frame Placement and Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
9 .2 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Chapter 10 Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
10 .1 Motion Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
10 .2 Transitioning Between Shapes with Motion Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
10 .3 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
10 .4 Relevant CD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Contents vii
Chapter 11 Checking Your Mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
11 .1 Jitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
11 .2 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Chapter 12 tracking and Roto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
12 .1 Tracking and Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
12 .2 Tracking and Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
12 .3 Multiple Transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
12 .4 Corner Pinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
12 .5 Averaging Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
12 .6 Stabilizing Footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
12 .7 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
12 .8 Relevant CD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Chapter 13 Roto and the Human Figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
13 .1 Remember Your Anatomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
13 .1 .1 Isolating Extremities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
13 .1 .2 Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
13 .2 Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192
13 .2 .1 Overlap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
13 .2 .2 Fixer Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
13 .3 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
13 .4 Relevant CD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Chapter 14 Faces and Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
14 .1 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
14 .2 Relevant CD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Chapter 15 Hair (or: Bald People Are Great) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
15 .1 Base Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
15 .2 Standouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
15 .3 Minimum Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
15 .4 Motion Paths and Motion Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
15 .5 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
15 .6 Relevant CD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
viii Contents
Chapter 16 Human Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
16 .1 Big Human Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
16 .2 Subtle Human Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
16 .3 Tracking and the Human Figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
16 .4 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
16 .5 Relevant CD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Chapter 17 Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
17 .1 Shape Breakdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
17 .2 Consistent Point Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
17 .3 Secondary Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
17 .4 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
17 .5 Relevant CD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Chapter 18 Keeping Focus and Getting Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
18 .1 Bad Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .274
18 .2 Estimating a Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
18 .3 Pacing Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
18 .4 Getting (and Keeping) a Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Acknowledgments ix
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to a number of people. These are just a few of the
individuals who helped this book become a reality.
Steve Wright was absolutely essential in the creation of this
roto book. His wise insights and vast industry knowledge played
a crucial role in the development of this text, which couldn’t have
been completed without him. Well, it technically could have been
done without him; the point I’m trying to make is that it wouldn’t
have been done as well without him. I’m also grateful for his
wonderful advice on writing, without which none of the follow-
ing would have made as much sense. Thank you, sir.
Marco Paolini and the founders and creators of Silhouette
were a welcome source of information and helped me around
every turn. Their top-notch roto software was a key component
in the creation of this book.
Aaron Muszalski was my rotoscoping instructor at the Acad-
emy of Art in San Francisco. Through him I learned not only the
techniques and principles of speedy matte creation but that this
work is more than merely splines and key frames. His passion
and enthusiasm for education led me to a deeper understanding
of rotoscoping. I’m eternally in his debt.
Dennis McGonagle and Carlin Reagan, my contacts at Focal
Press, have been very understanding and exceptionally patient
with my rookie questions and constant bothering. They’ve made
my transition to the written word bearable, or at the very least a
bit more legible.
Katherine Tate and Tom Bertino are two world-class educators
at the Academy of Art. Their knowledge and teaching ability have
inspired hundreds of VFX professionals—me included—to thrive
in the industry.
Max Walters and Sharon Youngue put up with my youthful
vigor and somehow managed to educate me at the Art Institute of
Pittsburgh in my days as a wee lad. Also thanks to Mike Schwab
who introduced me to my first animation table.
Big thanks must go to Michele Yamazaki for introducing me to
the wonderful people at Focal Press.
Angie Mistretta, Danial Zen, Erin Lehmkühl, Nate Caauwe,
Tim Sazama, and Beverly Sage were all nice enough to let me
use their footage or their likenesses for the various exercises and
examples that follow. Their cooperation is very much appreciated.