rotoscope

American  

[roh-toh-skohp] / ˈroʊ toʊˌskoʊp /

noun

1. Movies, Graphic Arts. a device that traces live-action footage and transforms it into animated sequences, used mostly in the 20th century before being replaced by digital technology.

2. Digital Technology. a software application that merges live-action footage with digital animation and other graphics to create composite images.

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verb (used with object)

rotoscoped, rotoscoping

1. Movies, Graphic Arts. to trace (live-action footage) and transform it into animated sequences.

2. Digital Technology. to merge (elements of live action and digital graphics) by utilizing a software application that creates composite images.

rotoscope British  

/ ˈrəʊtəˌskəʊp /

noun

1. a projection device that allows images from live-action films to be traced to create an animated sequence

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verb

1. (tr) to create (the outline of an object) for manipulation in an animated film sequence

Etymology

Origin of rotoscope

First recorded in 1935–40; roto ( def. ) + -scope ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rotoscope rotoscoped rotoscoping

“In many cases when a rotoscope is used, reality is re-created,” Yamashita says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2024

It was so rough that there were times when he was having to personally narrate, and it was all on a rotoscope, which is sort of like cutting and pasting.

From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2021

Maitland used rotoscope animation in “The Eyes of Me” about blind teens, and in “Tower.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2018

No one who sees this wobbly but amusing hybrid of live action and rotoscope animation — an appreciably out-there debut feature from Brazilian director Pedro Morelli — will accuse it of being business as usual.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2016

The movements are supremely naturalistic: almost like watching an enhanced version of the rotoscope technique favoured by Richard Linklater in A Scanner Darkly.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 25, 2011

After using performance capture to film the dances, the animation team rotoscoped the footage to turn it into the final product that was exactly what the dancers performed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2022

Painted with flat, high-contrast colors in a style that evokes a rotoscoped music video, the canvases present the Angeleno artist and his friends as fish out of water in New York and its art scene.

From New York Times ● Oct. 7, 2021

I finally caught up on the Amazon series Undone, which I’ve been wanting to watch since getting a glimpse of its wonderful rotoscoped style.

From The Verge ● May 2, 2020

An unusual but welcomed choice of opening animated sequence that cover the backstory of the death of Dolittle’s wife Lily leads the impressive way with a rotoscoped quality before diving into the live action.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 15, 2020

From the creator of BoJack Horseman, Undone is a rotoscoped comedy-drama about a cynical young woman whose entire reality begins to fragment after a car accident.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 28, 2020

Much of the labor-intensive visual effects work known as rotoscoping was outsourced to shops in India and other countries with much lower labor costs than in California.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026

Each section has a wildly different look, from computer animation to CGI to rotoscoping to live-action stick puppets and actors.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2023

This isn’t the first time he has used animation layered over live performances, and this digital rotoscoping technique is especially attuned to nuances of gesture and facial expression.

From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2022

What sets it apart is its animation style, which is reminiscent of rotoscoping.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2020

Using the technique called rotoscoping, animators traced the footage frame by frame to produce the film that immediately won critical and popular acclaim.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 22, 2020

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