Topic: A brave thought. Rotoscoping a sword fight
I want to create a sword fight that is as real as possible in terms of speed and timing. The sword fight will be a key part of my next project and I don't want it to be plagued by swings that take too long or badly executed ease-in/ease out. The best way of getting it right is through a technique called rotoscoping.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping
You essentially have live motion of the same action and then you copy/trace/duplicate frame by frame so your animation is as lifelike as possible. With my version of Stop Motion Pro, I can do rotoscoping directly inside the animation program and can even put the live motion in the background of the shot like an onion skin. All I need to do then is line up the body parts, take the frame, line up the next body parts, take the frame. Its an industry proven but advanced technique.
The hardest part is finding live actors to film the live footage and to do the footage with the elbow fixed, no neck or knees and with shoulders that only bend up and down!!!
In the never ending quest to expand the brick film envelope, I'm asking if anyone has tried to do this in a brick film? What worked? What didn't? The best part for me is with the power of the internet, it's not something I have to organise myself. I just need to find two dudes or dudettes that like swinging broom handles around and think they can invent some choreography that will translate to a brick film. Fancy stunts like backflips and what-not can't be rotoscoped (unless Jackie Chan joins the project!) but having basic moves on rotoscope creates a good reference point for speed and timing on other maneuvers.
Discuss.