FXPHD – SIL101 – Introduction to Silhouette and Roto

In this course, you will learn everything from spline types to manual roto to fully automated workflows, showcasing Silhouette, the industry-standard software for rotoscoping, and its comprehensive roto module. In addition, the Mocha Pro plug-in will be incorporated to demonstrate its beneficial tools available to artists.

The course begins with an in-depth roto foundations class, then transitions to an extensive tour of the Silhouette interface and shot approach tips. Then the course jumps right into the remaining five shots with increasingly more complexities. This course has it covered whether you are just starting out, an experienced roto artist or an artist from another discipline. There is a focus on detail in relation to manual roto and automated roto processes.

One will learn Silhouette, the fundamentals of all the spline types, rotoscoping methodologies including shape creation and keyframing, multiple tracking methods, how to successfully roto a shot from beginning to end whether it be manual roto, roto with tracking assist, fully tracked roto, and/or using the Mocha Pro plug-in to give your skills an extra boost, including the Lens Undistort/Distort workflow. And one will also master using Open Shapes, create hair roto and how to personalize your workflow with custom Python scripts.

Thanks to our partnership with Boris FX, members have full access to the full Silhouette and Mocha Pro apps and plugins via the fxphd VPN so they can follow along with the course (the software may not be used for commercial or non-commercial projects ). Premium members will have download access to the shot footage as well as the completed Silhouette project files.

Katie Morris is a VFX Digital Paint and Roto Artist with extensive experience in the Visual Effects film industry. While at Industrial Light and Magic, she worked on over 82 Visual Effects feature films including Star Wars Episodes I, II and III, all five Transformers films, Thor: Ragnarok, Us, Avengers: Endgame and most recently, Black Widow. She recently completed work on the short adventure documentary, Sandboarding on Dragon Hill for FastFokus, shot in 8K HDR.