My First Roto, part 1 | Episode 0005

My First Roto Shot- 2005 from ProRotoPaint on Vimeo.

Done But Not Final

In order to illustrate the difference between Done and Final, here is my first ever roto shot.

This shot was for the 2005 HBO film, THE CATALYST. The director wanted the plate background to dissolve into a different background. So we needed to roto the girl. This is a pretty standard VFX task- foreground roto for background replacement.

This shot is 39 frames long. The roto took me about 15 days working part-time at about 3 hours each day. When I was done I was quite proud. I even used it for my first VFX demo reel. The director liked the work and I was "done".

Rating This First Shot on the Graph

I look at the work now as a Roto Paint Lead and would kick-back my own work. Although a pass of the roto is done, this would not be approved for Final for a Studio Feature Film. I would say it is a little over 40% done.

Can you see why? Feel free to play this shot as many times as you need. In the Vimeo player, try not to jump ahead to the video that says "QC of My First Roto Shot" until you've evaluated this shot.

In the next episode, I'll explain why this roto is not Final.