Rotoscoping

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Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, live-action film images were projected onto a glass panel and traced onto paper. This projection equipment is referred to as a rotoscope, developed by Polish-American animator Max Fleischer.^[1] This device was eventually replaced by computers, but the process is still called rotoscoping.

In the visual effects industry, rotoscoping refers to the technique of manually creating a matte for an element on a live-action plate so it may be composited over another background.^[2][3] Chroma key is more often used to achieve the same background replacement effect, as it is faster and requires less work in post production. Rotoscoping generally provides a higher level of accuracy and may be used in conjunction with Chroma-keying. It may also be used if the subject is not in front of a green (or blue) screen, or for practical or economic reasons.