Roto Brush in After Effects CS5 and later
(Update: For details of what’s new with Roto Brush and Refine Edge in After Effects CC (12.0), see this page.)
Everyone’s talking about the Roto Brush tool and Refine Matte effect. As well they should. These features are terrific. I had been working on the Roto Brush tool, doing my part to test it and give design feedback as I documented it… but it wasn’t until I had to actually use it to do a real compositing job that I thought “Whoa. That was really fast, really easy, and much better than I’ve ever done with conventional rotoscoping.”
I beg you to really pay attention to the tips in these tutorials and in the official documentation about how to use the Roto Brush tool. If you jump right in with your conventional rotoscoping habits, you’re actually going to make your life much harder.
- I show how to use the Roto Brush tool and cover tips and details in a video tutorial from After Effects CS5: Learn By Video.
- John Dickinson demonstrates Roto Brush on Motionworks.
- Mark Christiansen presents “Making a quick selection with Roto Brush” and “Refining a matte” on Lynda.com (where he also shows off the new color correction effects and blending modes).
- Chris and Trish Meyer share tips on using Roto Brush on the ProVideo Coalition website.
- Michael Coleman talks about Roto Brush and other features in After Effects CS5 on Motionworks.
- This sample chapter from the After Effects CS5 Classroom in a Book shows how to use the Roto Brush tool.
