In the animation industry, rotoscoping plays a crucial role. To comprehend the word ‘rotoscoping’, we need to have basic knowledge of how an animated movie is created. Rotoscoping is the technique of capturing frame by frame actions in order to create realistic character movement. Further, it is used to add or remove a frame to the live stream as per the requirement.
In the traditional way, live action was shown on the frozen glass panel with the help of a projector and then the necessary actions were redrawn, but today the film industry is using rotoscoping technology. Thus, it replaces the computer system by the projection equipment called “Rotoscope”.
It uses several tools in the animation industry to make rotoscoping easy and effective. Dedicated standalone software help to perform rotoscoping with additional after-effects features.
Besides, certain high-end tools help in creating rotoscoping effects with greater speed and better accuracy with advanced characteristics such as image stabilization, roto, flash output, and much more.
However, it’s difficult to find software that perfectly fits your requirements. Hence, in this article, we’ll discuss the top 3 best rotoscoping software that creates precise mattes without any hitches.
1. Fusion 16
Fusion Studio 16 is compositing software that is used by visual effects artists, broadcast and motion graphic designers, and 3D animators. It is a significant upgrade to the standalone version of Fusion that brings all the improvements made to Fusion within DaVinci Resolve. You will get an updated and more advanced user interface, along with dramatically higher performance. Furthermore, with GPU it accelerates all 3D activities and makes it much more interactive & responsive.
Additionally, it has dozens of GPU sped up tools including time effects, dissolves, stereo tools, vector motion, corner pinning, color tools and much more. Moreover, it includes an infinite distributed network that allows you to monitor, manage, and approve shots for big projects using a Studio player along with a bin server for multiple user collaboration. 
Features
- It analyzes the camera's movement of live-action shots and rebuilds 3D camera movement as well as a focal length of the lens, and creates the scene's cloud of 3D points.
- Fusion 16 is built on an extensible and customizable framework that enables game developers, 3D feature film animators and media artists to utilize open architecture in order to expand their own internal systems.
- Using delta keyer’s advanced matte controls, you can get unbelievably clean keys from any background color which are specially designed to preserve fine details like hair.
- Use Fusion's infinite 3D workspace to seamlessly blender vector graphics, live action, and 3D items to develop advanced motion graphics with incredible depth.
- Create incredible animated 2D or 3D text and title sequences in any language with the help of its robust character generators.
- It includes the world’s most advanced stereo alignment, camera matching, convergence and spatialization tools for producing realistic and eye-catching stereo 3D.
Pricing
You can download Fusion 16 for free and if you want more advanced features, you can purchase Fusion Studio 16 in just $299.
2. Studio Artist 5.0
Studio Artist rotoscoping software algorithms can automatically paint a source video frame-by-frame from scratch. With this, you can design a series of paint and picture processing activities on a single frame. It also allows you to produce a hand-painted or image processed video sequence automatically. Besides, it is fully resolution independent. You can use a low-resolution SD source video and get a rotoscoped version to 4K.
Furthermore, it provides a complete function set for people who want to produce animations from scratch or add components to an automated animation. This rotoscoping software has various tools that assist animators to generate the look they want from layers to keyframes and composites. 
Features
- It can re-colorize the sub-image tiles on the fly to match the colors of the source picture to make it more realistic. There are many recolor options to produce a more stylized appearance including the use of color palettes.
- Studio Artist uses artificial intelligence to paint, draw and rotoscope automatically. It checks a source image or video and then automatically or interactively recreates the style of your choice with just a few simple steps.
- With the help of Vectorizer mode, you can transform the source images into a variety of shape and line-based artistic interpretations and store into resolution-independent formats (EPS or SVG).
- You can switch to selection mode at any time to generate a mask that limits the application of brushstrokes and effects. Besides, in order to maximize control and creativity, you can produce layered compositions, handle opacity and blend mode.
- It analyzes the bitmap automatically, divides it into colors, areas, contours, etc. and then can use this data for repainting the picture. You can view the source picture with presently chosen style by just pressing the Action command.
Pricing
Studio Artist 5.0 provides various pricing options for new users, academics and upgrades. Also, it has two different pricing plans for mac and windows users. The minimum pricing starts at $125.00. A fully functional free trial is also available.
3. Mocha Pro
Mocha Pro is the Academy Award-winning visual effects and post-production planner tracking tool. It features GPU accelerated planar monitoring and removal of objects, sophisticated roto with edge-clip, 3D camera solver, 360 VR stereo and much more.
Moreover, it offers unlimited tracking layers and the advanced AdjustTrack interface to handle reflections, occlusions, noise, and even areas with motion blur or low details.
Features
- This easy to use interface enables users to calibrate the camera lens distortion. Unwanted distortion of the lens can be removed or compounded for realistic compositing.
- This rotoscoping software is easily available on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Further, it is accessible as a plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro & After Effects, Avid Media Composer & OFX hosts such as Flame, Nuke, Fusion, HitFilm, and VEGAS Pro.
- Mocha’s well-known removal modules now operate on 360 videos by analyzing temporal images and removing undesirable components to save a huge amount of time.
- Tracking & masking now is faster, because the Mocha interface is less complex and focussed on the most important icons and tools. Turn to classic and adapt to advanced modules and save flexible workspaces.
- The masking workflow of Mocha features planar tracked spline tools to speed up the development of shapes and decrease manual keyframes. Magnetic splines with edge-snapping support help to produce the most comprehensive mask forms, without any drawing skills.
Pricing
The pricing plans of Mocha Pro:
- New license plus Adobe, Avid or OFX plugins for $695.
- New license plus all plugins for $1,495.
