Rotoscope

Rotoscope.

Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over footage, frame by frame, for use in live-action and animated films. Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator. This projection equipment is called a rotoscope, although this device was eventually replaced by computers.

In the visual effects industry, the term rotoscoping refers to the technique of manually creating a matte for an element on a live-action plate so it may be composited over another back ground.

The technique was invented by Max Fleischer, who used it in his series Out of the inkwell starting around 1915, with his brother Dave Fliischer dressed in a clown outfit as the live-film referenced for the       

character Koko the clown. Max patented the method in 1917.

Max Fleischer used rotoscoping in a number of his later cartoons, most notably the Cab Calloway dance routines in three Betty Boop from the early 1930's, and the animation of Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels (1939). The Fleischer's studio's most effective use of rotoscoping was in their series of action-oriented Superman cartoons, in which Superman and the other animated figures displayed very realistic movement.

The art if rotoscoping has been used in various famous films like:

Snow white and the seven dwarfs (1937)

Princess iron fan (1941) which was china's first animated film.

Yellow Submarine (which was the beatles animated film)

The night before christmas

And more resent films:

Wizards (1977)

The lord of the rings (1978)

American pop (1981)

Fire and ice (1983)

Heavy metal (1981)

What have we learnt, charlie brown(1983)

Take on me (1985)

The sun always shines on tv (1985)

Train of thought (1986)

Sita sings the blues (2008)

And many more.