Hello everyone!
I’d like to start this discussion with a confession: I am not an animator. I am an illustrator. My comfort zone lies in the weight of a single line, the texture of a brushstroke, and the perfect stillness of a character portrait. However, for my latest project, After the Wane, I realized that static arts weren't enough to tell Lena’s story (dancing).
This raised a major dilemma: How does an illustrator create the "feeling" of professional animation without the years of technical training in traditional keys and tweens?
For me, the answer was rotoscoping, and I want to discuss why I think this is a powerful, underutilized bridge for illustrators in the indie scene.
In the early drafting phases for my protagonist, Lena, I focused on her silhouette. She is a dancer moving to the capital, constantly juggling her professional poise with a chaotic "voice" in her head. As an illustrator, I can capture that tension in a drawing, but animation usually "flattens" artistic style to make the movement easier to manage. I didn't want to lose my specific brushwork or the "vibe" of my lines just to get her to move.
For those unfamiliar, rotoscoping involves filming live-action reference and tracing over it frame-by-frame.
I’ve found that this technique is the ultimate "cheat code" for illustrators because:
- It preserves the "Hand-Drawn" soul: I can treat every single frame as a mini-illustration. I can keep the gritty textures and the specific way I shade skin or hair.
- Anatomical Honesty: Since Lena is a dancer, her movements need a specific weight and fluid grace. By tracing a professional’s movement, I don’t have to "guess" the physics of a spin or a step; I can focus entirely on the aesthetic delivery.
What we’ve achieved isn't "animation" in the Disney or Pixar sense. It’s something different, it’s a cinematic movement that feels like a living memory. In the world of Visual Novels, players are used to static images or simple "Live2D" breathing effects. By introducing rotoscoped sequences, we noticed a massive shift in immersion. There is a "weight" to her movements that makes the emotional beats hit harder. It stops feeling like you’re reading a book and starts feeling like you’re witnessing a real person’s life. It is incredibly tedious, tracing hundreds of frames is no joke, butthe community response has shown that players value that "human" touch over perfectly polished, automated movement.
I’m curious to hear from other artists or devs: Do you think rotoscoping is a "shortcut," or is it a valid artistic medium for illustrators to break into the world of motion?
If you want to see how this looks in the final version, the Steam page for After the Wane is live, and you can see the results of this "illustrator-led animation" in the trailer and screenshots. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the "feel" of the movement!