# data[].attributes.headline
Squirrel Communication: Sounds and Expressions

# data[].attributes.subject
Squirrel Communication: Sounds and Expressions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Squirrel Facts You Didn't Know Before

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Eastern Gray Squirrel (Video for dogs and cats to watch...)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An Eastern Gray Squirrel eating bird seed. Hardware: HTC One X

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Squirrels Savagely Stealing Acorns | Spy In The Wild | BBC Earth

# data[].attributes.body
Rotoscoping is a techniques I used in 'Pig Tales', using TVPaint for line rotoscoping from video, and then adding Creative Effects in After Effects.

See also:

Yoni Goodman Israeli documentary animation combining digital 2D, rotoscoping and video. Israel.

Jonathon Hodgson US animator using digital FbF drawn animation and rotoscoping, some without words.

Gianluigi Toccafondo

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rotoscoping Overview

History
Techniques

Contemporary Inspiration

1: Rotoscope as Reference: Mary's Story, Uganda: Cow Walk
2: Rotoscope as line animation and Effects: Pig Tales, West Bengal
3: Rotoscope as impression: Airplane, Pakistan

What is Rotoscoping?

'Rotoscoping' is the process of frame-by-frame tracing of recorded movements of actual humans or events. It involves drawing and painting on and manipulating video or photo sequences to produce animated frames.

This can be done using natural media on tracing paper or cinema film or digitally in any professional 2D animation software.

Rotoscoping is not an easy option to avoid drawing freehand. Producing dramatic animation requires in-depth understanding of keyframing and movement to select the frames, and good drawing/painting skills to select and reproduce elements on each frame. Drawing mechanically on top of photographs and video produces robotic and uninteresting animation - unless that is the effect required.

- rotoscoping limits possibilities for creating imagined worlds and narrative
- real actors and objects do not have line, so tracing often results in lines being too prominent and sharp, too flaccid or too stiff.

But it is possible to produce very beautiful work this way that also plays on distinctions between fantasy and reality. With good drawing skills and an understanding of 'boil', keyframes and dramatic abstraction, different degrees of replication and fidelity of line and/or shape can original produce a range of effects from mechanical to chaotic.

History of rotoscoping

Rotoscoping was developed in 1915 by animator Max Fleisher who used this technique as a way to create a seemingly more 'realistic' (or photorealistic) style of movement. Disney and other studios used this technique as one way of enhancing 'realism' in animation through the mimicry of live action.

The first software to do digital interpolated rotoscoping, 'Rotoshop Software', was developed by computer scientist Bob Sabiston in the 90's which he used to make his film " Snack and Drink ". Subsequently this software was used by director Richard Linklater for the production of his feature films Waking Life (2001) and Scanner Darkly (2006).

Rotoscoping techniques

Digital rotoscoping: Filmed or live media are used as a reference point for the creation of digital animated movement: motion capture, interpolated rotoscoping, mattes and frame by frame rotoscoping.

Motion capture: Uses live actors and the signals of their movement is interpreted by a computer.

Mattes/Masks/Stencils: Similar to motion capture but uses two dimensional sources to create a silhouette (called a matte) that can be used to extract that object's shape from a scene for use on a different background. This extraction is often aided by green screen technology, motion-tracking and/or digital onion-skinning. Then images are composited in layers these in much the same way as a stencil or cut out shape would work in analogue collage/layering. Digital rotoscoping plays a large role in the production of visual effects and animation.

Interpolated Rotoscoping: the digital equivalent to the pose-to-pose approach. The animator sets a particular style, line weight and colour. They then link key drawings to anchor points in the source footage. The computer then 'interpolates' all the in-between movements according to the action on screen.

Digital Frame By Frame Rotoscoping does the in-betweens by hand - either in physical or digital media. Each frame of the video footage is drawn or painted over, one by one. Done digitally the technique requires import of the source video, but can be done in most professional animation programmes. In physical media every source frame is printed out and manipulated before being rescanned and played in sequential order.

Zemni Examples

Mary's Cow: Rotoscoping as reference for line animation

Pig Lament, India: Rotoscoping as line and shape animation

!! To be done. The airplane, Pakistan: Rotoscoping as video effect.

Contemporary Inspiration

Jonathon Hodgson here uses video as references for very expressive line drawings.

Tommy Pallotta, Snack and Drink (1999)

Gianluigi Toccafondo mixes rotoscoped video footage with very expressive painted shapes and background.

Elizabeth Hobbes, Finding My Way (2014)

Zemni Rotoscope Experiments

Rotoscoping for reference: Experiment 1, The Cow, Uganda

7 Woman gets a cow

Woman Walking with Cow 3 with Stop Start animation. TVPaint

Woman Walking with Cow 4 Red Eyes
TVPaint. Refining the Stop Start animation with the cow running off the screen.

Cow Walk Cycle 3D animation video source from You Tube.

Cow Rotoscope 2 keyframes only TVpaint

Woman Walking with Cow 1 The different image planes were layered and used motion tween to move them at different rates across the screen TVPaint

Cow Walk Cycle 1 Rotoscope overlay with notes

Cow Walk Cycle 3 in-betweens

Woman Walking with Cow 2 Walk cycle overlaid on rotoscope with pose marks

Rotoscoping as animation: Experiment 2: Pig Fight, India

Rotoscope Pig Fight

Rotoscoping over an edited version of the Kadiri pig fight video in TVPaint. These are not so successful and not as dynamic as I would like them to be.

The line drawing would be better as a gesture drawing from live video. The coloured version would be more interesting painting into that digitally or on acetate using printouts from the line animation as underguide.

Pig fight 1: Line rotoscope of edited version of pig fight video. TVPaint. This would be more dynamic as a gesture drawing from live video.

Pig fight 2: Coloured version of line rotoscope. TVPaint. This would be more dramatic painting into the gesture line digitally or on acetate using printouts from the line animation as underguide.

Pig Fight Rotoscope 10 watercolour grunge 2 original colour

3: Rotoscoping as animation: Domestic Violence, Pakistan

Key Issues and Conclusions

https://viscom4dev.zemniimages.info/richard-linklater

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rotoscoping Overview HistoryTechniques Contemporary Inspiration 1: Rotoscope as Reference: Mary's Story, Uganda: Cow Walk2: Rotoscope as line animation and Effects: Pig Tales, West Bengal3: Rotoscope as impression: Airplane, Pakistan What is Rotoscoping? 'Rotoscoping' is the process of frame-by-frame tracing of recorded movements of actual humans or events.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Videos & Movies for Cats to Watch Squirrels - Squirrel World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Skateboarder: Watercolour Grunge effect

Red Squirrel: Textile Effect

This project only scratches a bit more of the surface, pending much more in-depth study of After Effects in Assignments 4 and 5. Here I take my own low resolution video and (building on E3.2 Sparrowhawk) looks at how to manipulate this as the basis for line animation and After Effects Creative Effects. As a preliminary to developing a longer and more complex rotoscoped animated narrative of different garden wildlife for SYP and also MI Assignment 5. And building on my sketchbook work to improve my initial drawing.

This project is in two parts:

Skateboarder: Rotoscoping directly onto my own action video footage of Skateboarding shot on an old compact camera and experimenting with Creative Effects templates in After Effects.

Squirrel: Digital frame by frame rotoscoping onto manipulated iPhone video footage in Rough animator on my iPad

Different effects were effective in the two cases, based on styles suggested by the subject matter and also differences in the form of the source footage.

The ultimate aim will be to produce much more dynamic and engaging animation than in 'Pig Tales' for Visual Research - with more in-depth consideration of Disney Principles - but in an RSI-friendly way that does not take months of digital drawing. I will further develop this work into a narrative with more garden wildlife as part of Moving Image Assignment 5. I also plan to experimenting with a wider range of hand drawn (drawing on top of printouts from the rough rotoscopes from Creation FX??) and digital rotoscope styles (in AE and TVPaint) and approaches from other artists viewed in Research 3.1.

About Creation Effects

Creation Effects are customisable After Effects Template files created by Noel Powell ( https://creationeffects.com/index.html). These can be used to stylise footage in much more natural ways, using complex combinations of AE filters and expressions to produce some very organic-looking effects.

Footage is imported into these files, normally at 10FPS, and each of the template effect layers can be animated and adjusted to produce a wide range of effects, including different papers. Other AE effects can also be added and stacked in different ways for full customisation. I am only just beginning to explore all the different options.

TASK
Find a short piece of found copyright free footage from video sites such as archive.org ( https://archive.org/ ) or use your own footage as the basis of a short rotoscoped animation. The duration of your sequence is up to you. Choose a rotoscoping technique you would like to try such as: using a projector, drawing by observing footage frame by frame, tracing paper over a screen, printing out frames and drawing on them or digitally drawing directly on each frame using computer software. Work fast and loose and be playful - see how far you can depart from the source footage and where the process can lead you.
Rotoscoping is a key part of my practice that I want to develop in depth. This project is part of a project 'Garden of (Eternal) Mindfulness for SYP. This develops preliminary ideas for a longer term cross-media body of work taking a tragi-comic view of the joys and challenges of wildlife gardening. This build build on MI Assignment 2 Summer Synaesthesia, and also a sketchbook that develops my wildlife sketching skills.

The rotoscoping project here builds on experiments with rotoscoping in TVPaint line and shape animation from found video for Visual Research Module. Since that project I need to change my pc animation system because my old laptop is now too slow to use TVPaint.

It also builds on my research in Moving Image Research Project 3.1 Evaluating Rotoscoping.

Skateboarder: Action Video Creation Effects

Squirrels: grey or red

The effects also work well on digital line and shape rotoscoping.. As well as the featured Red Squirrel textile animation above, the sketch and monochrome watercolour grunge effects also significantly enhance the original flat animation, adding markmaking and textural interest.

But again, to get the best effects the original templates need to be customised - animating the strength of the effects as well as altering the parameters - so that excessive 'boil' is more controlled. The animations can also be further manipulated in After Effects for colour controll, image stabilisation etc.

Pencil Rough Sketch Effect

Watercolour Grunge Monochrome effect.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This project only scratches a bit more of the surface, pending much more in-depth study of After Effects in Assignments 4 and 5. Here I take my own low resolution video and (building on E3.2 Sparrowhawk) looks at how to manipulate this as the basis for line animation and After Effects Creative Effects.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Choose a simple gesture that you or another subject can perform. For example, a hand movement, pose, or facial expression. Represent the same gesture through static and moving media: for example a photograph or drawing, and moving image or a short animation.

Compare the results. Are there different aspects of the gesture that you are able to capture in each of these media?

Write a short caption for each that tries to capture these differences.
For this project I wanted to use some footage that relates to my SYP body of work about wildlife in my garden, and to see what the different technical as well as visual challenges are in using low resolution clips from my old iPhone.

The original footage for this project was video of a Sparrowhawk ripping up and eating a pigeon on the roof of our bicycle shed. This was taken on an old iPhone 5s at quite some distance through a window - as my prime aim was to record the movement for animation I did not want the Sparrowhawk to notice me and fly away.

From the original unedited video I also captured some 'keyframes' and processed these in Photoshop using Topaz AI sharpening and other tonal and colour adjustments.

Both video and still images can have a variety of styles and purpose. But often:

Moving image has transitory focus on an individual moment in time, or sequence of moments, but can show more clearly before and after events. They can also show process and change: gesture, strength, weight, pulling etc. Even if each frame is blurred, the viewer can get the sense of the whole. Alternatively clips and clip sequences can be selected to purposely highlight ambiguity.

Still images can leave before and after ambiguous. They can capture and emphasise the 'decisive moment' of drama, leaving cause and/or effect open for the viewer to think about. But they can also blur movement or use framing, composition and juxtaposition to creat a narrative of a process over time.

Boundaries may be technologically blurred in contemporary digital processes. Digital composites, collage and sequences of still images can create narrative. Very short moving image sequences can loop to focus on one event and leave before and after open to interpretation.

Moving image has transitory focus on an individual moment or narrative sequence of moments in time, but (if this is intended) can show clearly before and after events, causes and consequences and the ways in which postures, expressions and moods change over time.

The original video is quite blurred. Processing in Premiere : sharpening, increasing colour and tone contrast, cropping and vignetting gives a much clearer view of what is happening as a basis for eg rotoscoping.

Visually the resulting video enables a study of the movement over time - gesture, strength, weight, pulling etc.- as the carcass is ripped up, the ways in which the talons are moved and force with which they push the body up to tear off bits of flesh, and the beak as it tosses the bits into the mouth. Even if each image is blurred, the viewer can get the sense of the whole.

But technically there is no way in which I could make the original iPhone video into an acceptable clip of wildlife video footage - except as a good basis for rotoscoping, or as a dark eerie layer for a composite video.

I captioned this 'the carcass' because this is the most blurred, blow out and unclear element in the footage, to highlight what the more obvious Sparrowhawk is doing.

Still images may attempt to capture a 'decisive moment' of drama which can either imply or leave ambiguous what happens before and/or after. Depending on the purpose the image may be informative and illustrative of a particular common or unusual feature. They may clearly indicate eg through juxtaposition and leading composition lines the cause and/or effect of an action, or leave this open for the viewer to think about.

The gallery on the left shows a series of frames captured from the edited video - none of them are sharp, but some of the movement blurring is quite interesting.

The best result (below) was edited from one of the sharpest images the original video adding Topaz AI sharpening and tonal and colour e]adjustments in Photoshop. This captures the fierce look in the Sparrowhawk's eye as it checks what is happening around it. It is still not completely sharp - and cannot be made so. But I could process it further as an interesting more impressionistic image to bring up the feathers scattered around and the leftovers of the carcass under its talons.

This one of many possible 'decisive moments' could be titled something like 'Guilty', 'Caught in the Act', or 'Suspicious'.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Choose a simple gesture that you or another subject can perform. For example, a hand movement, pose, or facial expression. Represent the same gesture through static and moving media: for example a photograph or drawing, and moving image or a short animation. Compare the results.

# data[].attributes.headline
Seasonal Synaesthesia: Original garden video

# data[].attributes.subject
Seasonal Synaesthesia: Original garden video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
TASK: Make a short animated film between 1 and 3 minutes long about a season of the year. Use some of the animation techniques covered thus far in the unit to evoke particular qualities such as temperature, light and atmosphere of winter, spring, autumn or summer. This can be a completely abstract film, or include elements of narrative. The structure, medium, technique and approach are up to you.
Do some preliminary research into the condition of synaesthesia and take notes on whether there are specific stimuli that you associate with other perceptions.
See Post on Synaesthesia
Build-up your animation process with short animated tests, photographs, diagrams and, if useful, a working storyboard. It is often helpful to piece some of these tests and diagrams together in your timeline along with your scratch audio track, or to devise a series of rules that will guide the production process.
Start by making an 'animatic'. Begin developing the sound-scape for your film and use a scratch audio track. Avoid using music and if you do use it, do not allow it to play throughout your film as this project is not a music video.
Upload your film to your learning log, along with your animatic, diagrams, drawings and a reflection about your process, detailing how you arrived at your idea, any experiments undertaken, and insights gained from your technical, theoretical or other research.

!! Note - unfortunately Premiere crashed as I was trying to export all the clips for the animatic. I still need to sort out the sequences of the animatic, but that will only now be relevant going forward if (as I anticipate) I develop this further for Assignment 5.

This film continues my work on abstract animation about Summer from:
SE2.5 Sound and Image animatic: Summertime
In that project I had started with one image of summer - greens, yellows and langorous water. Then introduced some random colour changes to give something much more lively and dance-like that had not initially occurred to me, but equally represents a different aspect of summer. I therefore find the idea of synaesthesia somewhat problematic. As I obviously do not have that condition I find it very limiting, reinforcing imagined stereotypes rather than the liberating experience that people with synaesthesia esperience.

I also had restrictions under COVID-19 because my daughter was using my art washing space as her kitchen and so any work with physical media like painting or printmaking was not possible.

For this assignment I therefore took a photographic approach, recording and exploring my experience of of summer: real images (rotting apples as well as flowers and butterflies) and sounds (traffic as well as bird song), to challenge my stereotypical ideas rather than repeating imagined cliche.

I wanted to create and build on accidental effects, exploring abstractions of time, colour and non-narrative editing drawing particularly on my study in this part of the course of:

I worked with photographs, sound and video taken over the course of two consecutive days in August when the weather was very hot, followed by thunderstorms. Then explored different effects and editing strategies in Adobe Lightroom and Premiere.

Inspiration

Abstraction of 'vision without words' where 'the untutored eye' sees abstract shapes and colours unfiltered by language to create a symbolic world of emotional response.

I also looked at:
Maya Deren
Her black and white work is likely to influence my documentary style in Assignment 3 and VisCom Advanced Practice. But on reflection I decided here to focus on colour.

dogstarman has lots of Inspiration indeas.

Khrjanovsky. Combines photographic and drawn animation. To get feeling of butterfly in urban environment.

I started with a rough plan following observation of my garden from dawn to dusk to observe the types of colours and sounds I wanted. With the original idea - before studying Brakhage in detail - of using time of day as the underlying narrative. I then took photographs, sound and video taken over the course of two consecutive days in August when the weather was very hot, followed by thunderstorms.

Then, based on my actual feelings and experiences - real images (rotting apples as well as flowers and butterflies) and sounds (traffic as well as bird song)

I started with a rough selection of photos and video that I cropped and sequenced as CRW images in Lightroom because it is easier to change things around. I also experimented with Black and White possibilities. But decided to go with colour.

Then I exported the selected images as jpg, and imported into Adobe Premiere and experimented with different effects and editing strategies involving nesting, repetition, different timing etc. (!! I still need to export these)

In parallel I edited the long sound files into shorter clips that I could superimpose to better fit the length of the video.

I had many different ideas for this video after 'experiencing summer' with a new eye. Not only the butterflies on the brassicas, the red hyssop flowers, the sun through the vine leaves on the archway, the shadows on the wall and path, the bees and flies, the wind and storm. But also the undercurrent of lockdown, crowded beaches threatening second waves and burning forests in Brazil and California. This could have been put together as a documentary 'stream of consciousness' but that would not have been 'abstract synaesthesia'. And I wanted to do something more experimental.

I started to explore different editing strategies inspired by Brakhage, going through his videos again. Following Brakhage I did not want to produce a structured animatic, but to work in a much more responsive way to what emerged from editorial experiments in combining sounds and images to complement or contrast each other.

I also considered other formats eg square to give a sense of claustrophobia I felt. But in the end I decided to go with more widescreen and immersive.

I had a lot of contrasting material from different times of day that could have provided some sort of narrative. Dawn I had found particularly interesting with its more pastel blue colours, shadows and birdsong. But again as this was a synaesthesia project, I decided to go more with my instinctive visions of summer after all. Then go back to the other material later.

What I was aiming for was something very abstract. of flashing lights and darks of mid morning/mid-day when our garden has tree shade shapes around pools of bright light. Using the clips of midday butterflies.

I decided to use Adobe Premiere and experiment there with some of the layering and blending experimentation from Project E2.11 Setting Rules.. I focused particularly on the Lumetri colour filters, layering the video clips, scaling and moving these against each other with multiply, screen and difference blend modes to get different shapes. Whilst editing it was difficult to get a clear idea of what the video would look like because the multiple layering and blending needed separate rendering and would not play back in real time.

I focused on highlighting the butterflies getting different colour combinations. But what I discovered as I watched the resulting experimental video once it had been properly rendered are the moving faces - one or two eyes sometimes a head silhouette - and animals like munching rabbits and frogs I see between the shapes. I could play more with this layering of meaning and interpretation - the hidden things in the shadows under the bright cheery butterflies.

I added sound in two tracks of birds, but also my own shuffling and rustling. Possibly it is better without sound.

I enjoyed working in this way, but need to think a lot more about what I might be trying to achieve - while still retaining the 'accidents'.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Assignment 2: Seasonal Synaesthesia: Summer 2020

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
TASK: Make a short animated film between 1 and 3 minutes long about a season of the year. Use some of the animation techniques covered thus far in the unit to evoke particular qualities such as temperature, light and atmosphere of winter, spring, autumn or summer.

# data[].attributes.body
iPhone video clip edited in Premiere to increase sharpness and contrast to improve shape visibility for rotoscoping.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
'Rotoscoping' is the process of frame-by-frame tracing of recorded movements of actual humans or events.

The technique was developed in 1915 by animator Max Fleisher who used this technique as a way to create a seemingly more 'realistic' (or photorealistic) style of movement. Disney and other studios used this technique as one way of enhancing 'realism' in animation through the mimicry of live action.

However rotoscoping is not necessarily a satisfactory alternative to drawing freehand:

it limits possibilities for creating imagined worlds and narrative

real actors and objects do not have line, so tracing often results in lines being too prominent and sharp, too flaccid or too stiff.

Rotoscoping techniques

Digital rotoscoping: Filmed or live media are used as a reference point for the creation of digital animated movement: motion capture, interpolated rotoscoping, mattes and frame by frame rotoscoping.

Motion capture: Uses live actors and the signals of their movement is
interpreted by a computer. (See Part 2 of this unit??).

Mattes/Masks/Stencils: Similar to motion capture but uses two dimensional sources to create a silhouette (called a matte) that can be used to extract that object's shape from a scene for use on a different background. This extraction is often aided by green screen technology, motion-tracking and/or digital onion-skinning. Then images are composited in layers these in much the same way as a stencil or cut out shape would work in analogue collage/layering. Digital rotoscoping plays a large role in the production of visual effects and animation.

Interpolated Rotoscoping: the digital equivalent to the pose-to-pose approach. The animator sets a particular style, line weight and colour. They then link key drawings to anchor points in the source footage. The computer then 'interpolates' all the in-between movements according to the action on screen. The first software to do this, 'Rotoshop Software', was developed by computer scientist Bob Sabiston in the 90's which he used to make his film " Snack and Drink ". Subsequently this software was used by director Richard Linklater for the production of his feature films Waking Life (2001) and Scanner Darkly (2006).

Digital Frame By Frame Rotoscoping does the in-betweens by hand - either in physical or digital media. Each frame of the video footage is drawn or painted over, one by one. Done digitally the technique requires import of the source video, but can be done in most professional animation programmes. In physical media every source frame is printed out and manipulated before being rescanned and played in sequential order.

Look at a range of animations that use rotoscoping as a technique and compare the results.
As a starting point, view the animation links below and use Vimeo or other online sources to find other examples of animations that appear to have used the rotoscoping technique.
Choose examples to analyse and express your opinion of their use of
rotoscoping. How has each animation used copying/rotoscoping and to what effect? Is it always effective as a technique and are there any pitfalls?

'Rotoshop Software', was
developed by computer scientist Bob Sabiston in the 90's which he used to make
his film " Snack and Drink ". Subsequently this software was used by director
Richard Linklater for the production of his feature films Waking Life (2001) and
Scanner Darkly (2006).

Babiston

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
'Rotoscoping' is the process of frame-by-frame tracing of recorded movements of actual humans or events. The technique was developed in 1915 by animator Max Fleisher who used this technique as a way to create a seemingly more 'realistic' (or photorealistic) style of movement.

# data[].attributes.headline
Inspiration: Jonathan Hodgson, Dogs (1981)

# data[].attributes.subject
Inspiration: Jonathan Hodgson, Dogs (1981)

# data[].attributes.body
In ‘Dogs’ Hodgson skilfully varies the type and extent of boil in his expressive drawing to create feelings of nervous anticipation, energy or chaotic movement and lack of control. The drawings seem to pulsate with the anticipatory and upbeat music.

There is a constant shimmering/flickering of expressive crayon lines based on variations of the thickness, tone and colour of the drawn lines and crosshatched shading. Then occasionally the figures are quite and the lines quiet.  Other times the figures are still but the lines vibrate energetically to show anticipation. Sometimes the figures move and there is less pulsation on the lines to throw attention on the narrative. Sometimes the colour shapes pulsate and shift more than the lines, sometimes figures, shapes and lines all move energetically and dissolve into chaos. For moving objects central to the narrative, boiling in outlines is reduced with more subtle variations in colour shading and crosshatching to create atmosphere without detracting from our understanding nuances of narrative and expression.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A man takes his dog for a walk in the park where they encounter other dogs and their owners. The film explores the relationship between a man and his dog highlighting their contrasting approaches to life.

Original Format: 16mm
Year of production: 1981
Duration: 6mins 39secs

KEY CREDITS:
Director: Jonathan Hodgson
Producer: Jonathan Hodgson
Sound: Jonathan Hodgson
Production Company: Liverpool Polytechnic

# data[].attributes.body
I really like this effect. Colours can be changed. Also the excessive flicker and grunge can be toned down.

# data[].attributes.body
This effect smooths out the line and makes it clearer but also interesting. Adding the watercolour paper background boil adds interest.
It could be improved if the original line was more dynamic and clear.

# data[].attributes.body
I find this less interesting with too much flicker and lack of line contrast. Watercolour Grunge is more interesting.

# data[].attributes.body
This is an interesting effect that I could experiment with more. The textiles and colours can be changed.
I think it would be more interesting if I can make the background still and leave the boil on the squirrel.

# data[].attributes.body
Again I find the double line distracting. Some fuzziness of line would be interesting - I need to see if I can alter the offset in the settings

# data[].attributes.body
I do not think this effect adds much. But could be interesting if I filled the outlines, squirrel shape and background in TVPaint to produce a coloured cartoon.

# data[].attributes.body
I like the sketch effect - though I am not sure why the solid tone line is there or if I can alter it. But the image as a whole jumps around too much. I need to experiment with how much flicker is most effective. I could even try AE Image Stabilisation settings to get a better balance of movement.

# data[].attributes.body
I think this charcoal effect has a lot of potential if I added colour and blending in TV Paint.

# data[].attributes.body
This double line is distracting.

# data[].attributes.body
I am not so sure about the ghosting round the line - this could be reduced by placing on a background layer and blending layers.

But the bold clear outline and background boil I find quite effective in highlighting dynamism - though I need to experiment with the boil settings.

# data[].attributes.headline
Rough animator 2 line and shape fill rotoscope

# data[].attributes.subject
Rough animator 2 line and shape fill rotoscope

# data[].attributes.body
Filling multiple frames was easy. But I had to oversimplify the line. This version was used and worked well for AE Creative FX.

# data[].attributes.body
This would be more interesting without the tray and table. And composited with blurs and colour changes in TVPaint. This did not work well in CreativeFX - probably I need to increase the contrast.

# data[].attributes.body
A straight line rotoscope. Brush options in Rough Animator are very limited, and also difficult to control. This would be better in TVPaint on my pc with better onionskin tools, more interesting line and more general control and flexibility on timing.

# data[].attributes.body
Breaking the shape boundary line and flood filling the whole frame gives a much more interesting line. This did not work well for AE Creative FX but could be manipulated in TVPaint.

# data[].attributes.headline
After Effects Creative Effects Rotoscope Filters

# data[].attributes.subject
After Effects Creative Effects Rotoscope Filters

# data[].attributes.body
These Effects are fully editable AE Template files that can be modified in many ways (see Skateboard and my work in Visual Research module). But I need to develop After Effects technical skills before experimenting fully - following work in Visual Research module (See link on right).

Here I wanted to compare the very simple line styles to see how far they improve/mask inconsistencies in my rotoscoping. And what the implications might be for the initial line and shape rotoscope work.

Unfortunately there seemed to be some sort of glitch that may have crept in with an AE update. I am not sure why the end of the video was clipped. It would have been better to edit out the beginning and have the ending where the squirrel goes off screen - particularly in the effects that have a lot of shake.  After a while some sort of bug, or technical issue on my part, affected the preview and I could only see the animations after export.

All these files could be further manipulated in TVPaint when I have a clearer concept of what I am trying to achieve as part of an overall Garden Wildlife narrative.

# data[].attributes.body
They have You Tube videos of squirrels and all sorts of other animals to entertain cats!!!!

# data[].attributes.headline
Rotoscope inspiration and iPad Rough Animator experiments

# data[].attributes.subject
Rotoscope inspiration and iPad Rough Animator experiments