Case Study

VCD Produces 60 Minute Rotoscoping Video for Hollywood Animation Artist

About the Client – Hollywood Animation Artist

The client is a popular artist and colorist whose work has been featured in international publications as CNET, The A.V. Club, The Nerdist, Dangerous Minds, Devour, and Reddit, among others. The client recently worked as a color compositor and matte painter for Peter Jackson’s critically acclaimed documentary; They Shall Not Grow Old. The client’s focus on 1950’s-60’s sitcoms and pop culture positions them as a niche artist in entertainment and media. They use fine detail color grading, rotoscoping, and motion tracking for both video and still images.

Rotoscoping Animation Video Requirement

The client had numerous vintage black and white videos that required delicate and creative coloration that would capture the style and cultural tone of the movies and tv shows via rotoscoping animation. They wanted to partner with an experienced rotoscoping animation video editing service provider who is aware of the most current industry trends, and who could manage to create colored rotoscoping video animation regularly.

After an intensive online search, the client came across Video Caddy (VCD) and decided to partner with us due to the following:

Ability to provide professional support throughout the production and post-production process so that the client felt that they had a partner and not just a service provider.

Proven accomplishments in sophisticated animation projects revolving around rotoscoping, including the specialized application of stabilization and cloning.

Ability to work on the clients specific delivery timelines for different projects throughout the course of a long term contract.

Challenges Faced by Video Caddy’s Rotoscopy Team

VCD had to navigate through a few specific challenges while working on this rotoscoping project for the pop culture and entertainment industry:

Frequent delayed communication and feedback from the client, which halted animation progress.

The VCD team often had to adjust their typical work schedule to ensure that follow-ups and communication were done on the client’s working hours.

Our Rotoscoping Animators’ Approach to This Project

VCD adopted a customized approach to this rotoscoping project that would reflect the clients artistic and stylistic preferences while meeting quality demands and timeline deliverables:

The client delivered old black and white videos in .SFX format via Dropbox.

VCD assigned three video editors to work on the 8-minute video and assembled a 32 member animation team for the 60-minute video.

The rotoscoping animation process began with the VCD team, carefully clipping out the characters and background from the black and white videos.

The background was then colored in a way to enhance the main characters, and all the elements were stitched together to make the video complete again, by including the characters frame by frame.

The 8 min video was completed in 18 days and delivered following a quality control check.

The 60 min video was completed in 3 months following a quality control check.

Additional Value from the VCD Team

VCD took exceptional steps to better meet the client's requirements by putting the videos through multiple QC inspections to ensure a flawless outcome and did not receive any revision requests from the client.

Client Takeaways – 60% Cost Saving on High-quality Rotoscoping Animation

As a professional video animation service provider for years, VCD successfully concluded this long term rotoscoping animation in a niche artistic application with the following key takeaways:

The client enjoyed a 60% cost-benefit and a swift turnaround time while outsourcing with Video Caddy.

The client extended personal praise to VCD’s team for the expertise displayed on the use of mattes and effects painting.

VCD is accepting another rotoscoping animation project from the client for an upcoming high profile project that they are working on.

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