Rotoshop
Encyclopedia
Rotoshop is a proprietary
graphics editing
program created by Bob Sabiston
.
Rotoshop uses an animation technique called interpolated
rotoscoping
, which has been used in Richard Linklater's
films Waking Life
and A Scanner Darkly
, as well as the Talk to Chuck advertising campaign for Charles Schwab
. The name is a play on Photoshop
, a photo editing program from Adobe
. The software is not currently available for use outside Flat Black Films.
and Adobe Flash
, Rotoshop allows for interpolation
between keyframes. Once the artist has drawn key frames at the start and end of a time period, the program automatically generates intermediate frames. It is a simple form of "automatic tweening
." Interpolated lines and shapes have a very smooth, fluid motion that is extremely difficult to achieve by hand-drawing each line.
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
graphics editing
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
program created by Bob Sabiston
Bob Sabiston
Bob Sabiston is an American film art director, computer programmer, and creator of the Rotoshop software program for computer animation. Sabiston began developing software as a graduate researcher in the MIT Media Lab from 1986 to 1991...
.
Rotoshop uses an animation technique called interpolated
Interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method of constructing new data points within the range of a discrete set of known data points....
rotoscoping
Rotoscope
Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films. Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator...
, which has been used in Richard Linklater's
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
films Waking Life
Waking Life
Waking Life is an American animated film , directed by Richard Linklater and released in 2001. The entire film was shot using digital video and then a team of artists using computers drew stylized lines and colors over each frame.The film focuses on the nature of dreams, consciousness, and...
and A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly (film)
A Scanner Darkly is a 2006 science fiction thriller directed by Richard Linklater based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick. The film tells the story of identity and deception in a near-future dystopia constantly under intrusive high-technology police surveillance in the midst of a drug...
, as well as the Talk to Chuck advertising campaign for Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab Corp.
The Charles Schwab Corporation , is an American brokerage and banking company, based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1971 by Charles R. "Chuck" Schwab, as a traditional, brick and mortar brokerage firm and investment newsletter publisher. In 1973, the company name changed from First...
. The name is a play on Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
, a photo editing program from Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
. The software is not currently available for use outside Flat Black Films.
Aims
The software was developed in order to do extremely lifelike hand-drawn animation - specifically, to animate the types of expressions and gestures people make that ordinarily would not be scripted into someone's film. Every person has minute speech and movement characteristics that uniquely identifies him or her. This type of animation emphasizes these characteristics.Interpolation
Like FantavisionFantavision
Fantavision was an animation program written for the Apple II personal computer series in 1985. It was subsequently ported to other platforms such as the Commodore Amiga , Apple IIGS and the IBM PC ....
and Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
, Rotoshop allows for interpolation
Interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method of constructing new data points within the range of a discrete set of known data points....
between keyframes. Once the artist has drawn key frames at the start and end of a time period, the program automatically generates intermediate frames. It is a simple form of "automatic tweening
Tweening
Inbetweening or tweening is the process of generating intermediate frames between two images to give the appearance that the first image evolves smoothly into the second image. Inbetweens are the drawings between the key frames which help to create the illusion of motion...
." Interpolated lines and shapes have a very smooth, fluid motion that is extremely difficult to achieve by hand-drawing each line.