rotoscope

verb

ro·​to·​scope ˈrō-tō-ˌskōp 

rotoscoped; rotoscoping; rotoscopes

transitive verb

: to draw or paint over (something, such as live-action footage or an element from such footage) frame by frame in order to create a matte (see matte entry 3 sense 2) or a realistic animation : to animate or composite (something) by means of rotoscoping

…"Ghost Cat Anzu" will yoke what it describes as the best of Japanese and French animation know-how, using mixed techniques, such as shooting the whole of the film in live action and then rotoscoping the results.

—John Hopewell

… the striking animation is likely to draw more attention than the story. The plentiful fight scenes are gorgeously executed; at times it's hard to tell if they weren't just rotoscoped.

—Rafael Motamayor

When we added the reflection of the can in the water to the scene, we had to go back in and rotoscope any icebergs that happened to be in the foreground …

—Justin Klarenbeck, quoted in American Cinematographer

rotoscope noun

plural rotoscopes

… the cool mix of rotoscope with 2D and 3D animation was icing on the cake.

—Keith Garlington

rotoscope animation

Examples of rotoscope in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To say more about the plot would spoil the film too much, but Ryder is really a chameleon, flickering between quiet melancholy, genuine affection, and darker, more selfish concerns, and the rotoscoping art style accentuates the expressiveness of her face. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024

The filmmakers’ technique involves shooting the entire film in live-action form, with real actors and sometimes real sets, and then painting tens of thousands of frames in rotoscoping fashion to produce the feeling of oil paintings come to dynamic life. —Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Sep. 2023

For techniques like rotoscoping (which involves animating by tracing over video frames), Procreate Dreams supports importing ProRes footage up to 8K in resolution. —Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 8 Sep. 2023

Highly crafted in its deep 2D palette, choice use of 3D and rotoscoping for an underwater scene, and evocative sound design, marking out Cruz as a talent to track. —Marta Balaga, Variety, 9 June 2023

Word History

Etymology

verbal derivative of rotoscope "device for projecting a single frame of film onto a glass drawing board from which an image on the film can be traced," probably from rot(ate) entry 2 or + rot(ary) entry 1 + -o- + -scope

Note: The device was developed by the American animator Max Fleischer (1883-1972). The patent awarded to Fleischer, for a "method of producing moving-picture cartoons" (applied for December 6, 1915, granted October 9, 1917), does not use the word rotoscope.

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above