Match-Moving and Roto
These two jobs sit underneath a lot of VFX. You rarely see them. Almost every shot with CG in it needs one or both.
Match-moving works out how the camera moved, using points in the scene that stay still. Once we know the camera, anything we add stays locked to the shot. CG, text, a new object. It moves like it was there.
Roto (rotoscopy) means tracing a subject frame by frame so it can be separated from the background. Once a person or object is cut out, we can change the colour, put something behind them, or place CG between layers.
Why they go together. A shot often needs both. The camera is tracked so the new element sits correctly. The subject is cut out so the new element can sit behind or in front of it.
It’s slow work. Software helps, but when the automatic result fails, an artist fixes it by hand. Time goes into the edges and the tracking, not into anything you notice.
Bose
We were involved with the match-moving and roto on all the shots for this spot.
Amazon Echo (Super Bowl 2016)
This was Amazon’s first Super Bowl ad, with Alec Baldwin and Dan Marino. We were asked to rotoscope the sequence where Dan Marino is in front of the buffet.
Jeep Grand Wagoneer
We did the cleanup and roto on this project. The video is in Cleanup and Rig Removal.
More match-moving and roto on our site
- Acura NSX: rotoscopy, plus match-moving with a car moving in the foreground.
- Tim Hortons: roto for crowd duplication, and crowd shots so close to the lens that most became hand tracks.
- Will & Grace promo: rotoscopy and match-moving for the Season 9 promo.
- Maroon 5 “Girls Like You”: rotoscopy that kept the transitions seamless.
- Appy Fizz: one shot needed 22 layers of mattes.
Have a shot to track or cut out? Get in touch. Tell us what’s in the shot and when you need it. See all our work too.