SMMAdv - Using the Rotoscope Function

So what is Rotoscoping?   Rotoscoping is a digital image process were a pre-recorded live video of say a person walking, dancing, or jumping etc, is overlay onto a live video image and used to help in planning/learning life like movements for use in stop motion or  animation.  The animaged character is then posed  and capturing performing similar movements. Stop MotionMaker Advance  has this capability, as well as the ability to adjust the position and crop areas of the rotoscope image to help better align the images and to improve visual clarity when the images have ‘busy’ backgrounds.

This function can teach the dynamics of movement and timing, which is so very important in any animation.

The following tutorial demonstrates using a video of a man jumping to help plan and then carry out  a similar animated jump:  (You could also use the record (select ‘REC’) function within Stop MotionMaker Advance to make your own AVI rotoscope video).

Note.  It is often better to use the video just as a guide and not copy it exactly, as your animated character may not have similar ranges of movement.

Equipment Required:

1. Video Camera - USB Webcam or Camcorder

2. Suitable computer and Stop Motion Maker Advance V1.97.

3. An AVI video of anyone jumping.

Step One.

Open Stop MotionMaker Advance V1.97.

Step 2.

In the example there were no images in the working directory therefore the ‘Video Source Setup’ panel  has appeared to allow the video capture settings to be defined.  If there are images already in the working directory and therefore displayed, select the ‘New’ button to start a clean/new project.

Setup the live video from the camera as required and close the ‘Video Source Setup’ panel if opened.

Capture Card. If you have multiple cameras ports connected then select the one being used.

Video Size. As we are using a Logitec 4000 USB Webcam in this tutorial then we have slected the maximum size which is 640 x 480.

Video Card Dialog. This will open up the selected Capture Card video port settings dialog, so that the image can be adjusted for proper exposure.

FPS.   This should be set to be the same as the rotoscope AVI video so that the ‘Loop’ will play back at the correct speed. In this example we will set it to 25. 

Enable Frame Averaging Select this button to enable frame averaging which will reduce the video ‘noise’ from the captured image.  The down side of using this function is that it takes a few seconds for the frame average process to complete.   In this case we will set the frame averaging to ‘7’ frames.

Frame Per Shot. This selects how many frames will be captured for each shot.  As we are trying to synchronise to a live video this will be set to ‘1’.

Close the Video Source Setup Window.

Step 3. Take a reference frame for the application to rotoscope to.  This can be done by either selecting the camera icon button or the enter button.

Step 4. Select the ‘B/Chromakey’ Function menu slection to open up the Background Chromakey window.

Step 5. Select the ’File and Synchronising Controls’ tab and then select the ‘Open Video’ button. 

Step 6. Select the required AVI and then select ‘Open’. 

Step 7. The selected first frame to the video will be displayed chromakey onto the main Screen. Note. As we are not chromakeying in this tutorial, do not worry about having a blue/green screen or the quality of the chromakey.

Using the slider on the ‘File and Synchronising Controls’ page display the first required planning video frame. 

Select ‘Rotoscope Enabled’.

Step 8. The rotoscope image will now be overlay onto the live video image and its opacity will be 50%. To adjust the opacity use the ‘RotoscopeChroma Key’ Slider in the Main Window. 

Step 9. Adjust the rotoscope image to match were the jump is required by selecting the ‘Adjust Rotoscope’ tab and in this case the ‘Move Left/Right’ slider to move the image to the required position (Ie. In this instance we have matched up our stationary character with the stationary person in the Rotoscope AVI).  

Step 10. Now we will map the arch of the jump to help in later animating the scene.  First select the ‘Markers’ button and 21 markers will be displayed. Move one of these markers by left clicking on it and sliding with the mouse.  Place the marker in a suitable position - in this case on the left foot.   

Step 11. Now increment the AVI frame by selecting the forward arrow button in the Chromakey (Background) Viewer. Note.  As the camera in the tutorial Rotoscope Video is panning, we had to adjust the Left/Right slider to keep the rotoscope image aligned with the stationary figure (or just a marker if nothing is available).   Keep on incrementing frames and map the movement of the figure through the jump arch.   The advantage of this procedure is that the required amount of frames is known and when the animation is later done the opacity of the Rotoscope image can be reduced (so that the animated character can be better seen) without possiblely losing the jumping arch track.

Step 12. Shown below is the full jump marked out which will give guidence on the position of the animated character and the number of frames required to complete the jump.  In this example it was noted that the left planted foot before takeoff (the first marker) was basically in the same position for five frames.     It is recommended that details like that are noted to aid in this and any future animation.  Obviously as the animators experience increases, tracking tasks like this would be less common.

Step 13. The other ‘Adjust Rotoscope’ sliders can also be used to crop the rotoscope image to improve the image clarity, especially if the background is ‘busy’or the video poor quality.

Step 14. We are now ready to take our first frame. Winding back the video to were the character is required to enter in (running) from the right ensuring the stationary point in the rotoscope video image (stationary person) is aligned to our stationary character (yellow robot). Once our running character in place in the position entering from the right and (hint- use the full image shown in the Chromakey (Background) Viewer to help pose the main character before it enters the viewable screen). 

Select the camera icon button or the ‘enter’ key to take a frame.

‘Onion Skin’ or ‘Loop Last’ can be selected to show the last frame for alignment purposes (just don’t leave ’Loop Last’ selected when ‘Loop’ is used, as you will see odd results as the last and live screen is still toggled while the images are being looped).

Continue Taking more Frames. We are now ready to take our first frame. Winding back the video to were the character is required to enter in (running) from the right ensuring the stationary point in the rotoscope video image (stationary person) is aligned to our stationary character (yellow robot).