Waking Life - Howd they do it?

[Larry_Mudd]

GuanoLad: Well can you give me an example? And maybe a cite?

Fair enough:

Well, the drawing was an awful lot of fun. But to get the spacing and the timing and the picture, for instance, how long - how many frames - would that be held so the audience would get it…the timing of it (was more challenging). The rotoscope, of course, gave you a great deal of help. But it didn’t give you the psychology of the thing. And we had to put in the accents. —Disney animator Grim Natwick (Re: Snow White)

Which is exactly the point. Poor use of rotoscopy is hell on the eyes, but it can be used to great effect.

Don’t be so quick to judge Waking Life if you’ve only seen a few clips-- the “rotoshopping” was done by a number of extremely talented artists, and they do a great job of exaggerating and augmenting the scene. It is most definitely not just tracing – especially with some of the more manic characters. Facial expressions and physical gestures are sometimes hugely exaggerated, and extra elements are added in.

Don’t misinterpret me, I’m not making a case for “Rotoscoping is great!” Anybody who’s seen Heavy Metal knows that most of the time it sucks like Saucy Nancy. Waking Life, contrariwise, is great. Check it out sometime.