Photoshop® CS3 Extended Video and 3D Bible

Chapter 11. Using Advanced Animation Techniques

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Learning Rotoscoping basics

• Frame-by-frame animation of 3D objects and still images

• Reviewing animation techniques

• Adding other files to an animation

• Special effects in an animation

In the preceding chapters, you learned how to employ the basics of animation in the Animation (Timeline) palette and in the Animation (Frames) palette. Using keyframes and the frame palette are very limiting, however. You can't animate filters or even paint over time. These animations can be created.

In this chapter, you learn how you can animate just about anything by employing the technique of Rotoscoping. I focus on the basics first, creating a blank video layer and adding frames to it, and then move on to advanced techniques that use some of the more powerful tools of Photoshop to have some fun with animating. You can create animations from scratch, but I also show you how you can animate using live video.

There is a trick to animating filters or transformations on a still image or 3D object as well. It can't be done as easily as creating a blank video layer, but it can still be done, and I'll show you how.

There are, of course, thousands of ways to use Photoshop tools to create fantastic animations. Out of necessity, you'll only see a few examples to familiarize you with the concepts behind animation.

Rotoscoping Basics

Rotoscoping has been around almost as long as movies themselves. It entails tracing animated characters or scenes over live-action ...