Design Decisions: Video: Projects: Rotoscoping
- How accurately do I need to draw to animate a video to tell an effective story?
What am I making?
An animation created from video footage
example Rotoscoping page you would put on your Google Site
How do I make it?
Check out some of the history of rotoscoping: "The trick that made animation realistic"
Follow the Steps below...
Steps
Find Footage to Draw Over:
In YouTube, find a video with clear motion. Like "cat pouncing." Scenes with too many actors are harder to do.
Go full screen
Find the start point and pause it
Create at least 24 Still Image Screenshots from your Footage
Take a Screenshot of each frame you want using Command-Shift-3
use the . (period) key to move frame by frame (can skip frames here and there if you want, if some look too similar)
Repeat those steps 24 times
Gather Screenshots into a Folder
In the Finder, do File menu, New Folder and type a name to replace "Untitled Folder"
Move all Screenshots into the Folder
Open the Folder, View menu, as List.
Click on/select first screenshot, push Space Bar to preview it, and the up and down arrow keys to see the sequence
Create your Drawn images with Brush Ninja or Illustrator or similar tool
In Brush Ninja, use the Background button at the bottom to upload Screenshots, then use that button to Remove Background when you're done; click the Speed icon at the bottom to set your desired frame rate, then Save and Export at the top
In Adobe Illustrator
make an empty Rectangle as your frame
use File menu, Place... command to import your Screenshots
use the Blob Brush to draw inside your frame
then select everything and do File menu, Export Selection..., format PNG, specify a folder
import your next Screenshot before you delete the drawn objects and draw the new frame (use the Object menu, Arrange, Send to Back to help with placing the next Screenshot)
Use an online GIF maker such as EZGif Maker to upload your exports and create an animated GIF
On Google Sites, under Pages, create a new page called Rotoscoping.
Add the GIF image of your animation
Write about what you learned doing this assignment, mention skills and techniques.
When done, push the Publish button, review the settings, and publish.
Then click the chain-link button, Copy the link for your page, and paste it into Google Classroom to "turn in."
Grading
Animation has at least 24 frames drawn
Drawn objects are consistent from frame to frame
Enough is drawn to show the story clearly
What I Learned is specific and connected to your learning experience, something you can apply in the future that you haven't done in the past
Career Connections
Animation, Film/TV Industry
Resources
Rotoscoping history on Wikipedia