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Rotoshape lets you draw and animate multiple curves and shapes. You can draw shapes freehand, select from a list of presets, or copy an existing shape. Each shape has its own color, feathering, closure (open, closed, hollow) and transform.
A rotoshape node can draw an unlimited number of shapes. By default, the node composites the shapes using Over, but you can choose a different operation. For example, you can use Subtract or XOR to cut holes in other shapes. The node composites shapes on black starting with shape 1.
This COP node is a generator.
The RotoShape state has two modes - Create mode and Edit mode. Initially RotoShape is in Create mode.
Create Mode
Create mode is where new shapes are added - either freehand drawn curves or preset shapes. Once the shape is created, press 'Done' in the toolbox or Click in the viewport to finish the shape. To quit this state without creating a curve or shape, hit ⎋ Esc or press 'Cancel' in the toolbox.
From left to right, the UI controls for Create mode are:
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Curve Type - Polygon or Bezier
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Shape Type - Curve, Regular Polygon, Star or Circle
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Parameters specific to the shape type:
-
Closure Type - Open, Closed or Hollow
-
Copy - Copies an existing shape.
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Cancel - Exit create mode without creating the shape. ⎋ Esc
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Done - Complete create mode and create the shape. N
To... | Do this |
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Create a freehand curve |
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Create a preset shape |
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Copy an existing shape |
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Edit Mode
Edit mode allows you to edit the shapes by using handles. In this mode, you can animate the shape. The parameters for the current shape are found in the toolbox. To add another shape, press 'New' in the toolbox or Click in the viewport.
From left to right, the UI controls for Edit mode are:
-
New - Create a new curve or shape. N
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Show Current/All Curves - Show the handles for only the current shape, or all the shapes.
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Current Shape - Selects the current shape, if there is more than one. Only the current shape’s parameters are shown in the toolbox. If Show Current Shape is on, this also changes the handles visible in the viewport. B
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Curve Type - Polygon or Bezier
-
Composite Operation - Selects the compositing operation used to draw the shape into the image. Normally only needed for the second and subsequent shapes.
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Closure Type - Open, Closed or Hollow.
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Thickness - Determines the global thickness of open and hollow shapes. Each point on the shape can thickened individually by using the slider on the point.
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Feather - Turns on feathering for the shape, and sets the minimum feather amount. Each point can be feathered individually by enabling the feather handle (W while over the point, or use the menu on the Point and select 'Display Feather Handle').
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Color - Pops up a color editor for the color and alpha of the shape.
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Fill Inside/Outside - Inverts the filling of the shape.
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Delete Current Curve - Deletes the current curve.
Edit Mode allows you to modify the shape of the curve as well as its parameters. To show the parameters of a given shape, change the 'Current Shape' menu to the shape of interest. If 'Show Current Shape' is enabled, this will also change which shape’s handles are displayed in the viewport.
To... | Do this |
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Select a different shape to edit |
You can show the handles of another shape two ways:
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Use polygon handles |
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Use Bezier handles |
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Select shape points |
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Insert a point |
⌃ Ctrl-click near the segment you want to insert the point on (it doesn’t have to be on the curve). If you have more than shape, and have displayed all the shapes' handles, the shape with the curve edge closest to the point clicked will be the one to receive the new point. To ensure the point gets added to the correct shape, display only the current shape’s handles, and make the current shape the one you want to insert a point on. |
Delete a point |
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Animate a shape’s points |
Pressing K in the viewport to set a keyframe, just like animating other handles. However, the scope of the keyframe varies depending on the handles visible and selection: Mouse pointer located over a handle Only the handle under the point is keyframed. All Shapes' Handles shown, no selection Every shapes' points and transforms will be keyframed. Current Shape’s Handles shown, no selection The current shape will be keyframed, but none of the other shapes will be. Selected Handles Only the selected handles will be keyframed. This includes transform handles, if they are selected. To avoid keyframing the transform, temporarily turn the transform handle off by using the transform’s menu turn off 'Display Handle'. To get the handle back, you’ll need to open the bar to the left of the viewport and toggle the transform icon for the shape. Or Keyframe the transform anyway and use the menu on the transform to 'Remove Keyframe' (make sure the handle isn’t selected). |
Feather the edges of a shape |
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Hotkeys
Create mode |
⌦ Del - Delete the last curve stroke. ⇧ Shift + ⌦ Del - Delete the last curve point. N - Complete the curve or shape. ⎋ Esc - Cancel Create mode |
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Edit mode |
N - Create a new curve or shape. B - Toggle between display of the current shape’s handles and all shapes' handles. ⌦ Del - If over a point, delete that point. W - If over a point, show the feather handle. K - Set a keyframe for selected or visible handles. ⇧ Shift + K - Remove a keyframe for selected or visible handles. |
Parameters
RotoShape
Level of Detail
The level of detail when rendering smooth curve shapes. Higher values create smoother shapes. A LOD of 2 is normally adequate. Lower this value will speed up rendering slightly.
Antialias
The level of antialiasing, both horizontally and vertically. This can vary from 1 to 8. Higher levels of antialiasing will produce more levels of gray on edges, but increase rendering time. The product of the horizontal and vertical antialias setting cannot exceed 64 (8×8).
Number of shapes
Use this to add or remove controls for additional shapes.
Shape controls
Curve
Spline Type
The primitive type of the created curve.
Shape Composite
The composite operation used to add the shape to the image. The shapes are composited starting with shape #1, up to the last shape.
Fill
The closure type of the shape.
Open
Useful for curves, this creates an open shape with a given thickness.
Closed
Creates a solidly filled, closed shape.
Hollow
Creates a hollow shape with a closed curve of a given thickness.
Thickness
For open and hollow shapes, this determines the global thickness of the curve. Each point can also further modify the thickness.
Feather
If on, feathering is enabled, providing a very soft edge for the shape.
Feather Dropoff
How the feathering is interpolate across the edge of the shape.
Feather Ramp
Defines the dropoff when Feather Dropoff
is set to Ramp
.
Feather Width
The global feathering width. The shape will always have at least this much feathering.
Color
The color and alpha of the shape. The shape is not pre-multiplied.
Fill Outside
If on, the filling of the shape is inverted. For example, closed shapes will leave their interior unfilled and fill everywhere else.
Translate
The translate component of the shape’s transform,
which is applied first. It is expressed in UV units
(1 = X/Y res pixels)
.
Scale
The scale component of the shape’s transform, applied second.
Rotation
The rotation of the shape.
Pivot
The pivot of the shape’s transform, about which the scale and rotation occur. It is an offset from the translated position expressed in UV units.
Points
This tab contains all the points in the current shape. Usually you will edit the points interactively rather than using these controls.
Number of points
You can use this to add or remove additional points.
Point n
The UV position of the point.
Tie Slopes
The slope position of the point, for bezier shapes. If the toggle is on, the slopes are tied.
Thickness
The point thickness, which is multiplied by the global thickness. Only applicable for open or hollow shapes.
Feather
The point feather, which is added to the global feather. Only applicable when feathering a curve.
Mask
The mask parameters control the mask applied when a node is connected to the mask input. The Effect Amount parameter is always available, whether a mask is connected or not.
Effect Amount
If no mask is present, this multiplies the output by a constant amount (0 = black, 1 = all output).
If a mask is present, this amount multiplies the mask.
Mask Plane
A mask can be a component of a plane or an entire plane. If a vector plane is supplied as a mask, its components are multiplied by the images' components.
Scalar Mask ('A', 'C.r')
C.r = I.r * M C.g = I.g * M C.b = I.b * M
Vector Mask ('C')
C.r = I.r * M.r C.g = I.g * M.g C.b = I.b * M.b
Invert Mask
Inverts the mask so that all fully 'masked' portions become unmasked. This saves you from inserting an Invert COP after the node with the mask.
Image
Parameters relating to the structure of the image generated, including Resolution, Pixel Aspect Ratio and Raster Depth.
Override Size
If off, the resolution of the image is defined by the resolution in the Composite Project settings. If on, any resolution can be specified.
Pixel Aspect Ratio
If off, the pixel aspect ratio of the image is defined by the pixel aspect ratio in the Composite Project settings. If on, any pixel aspect ratio can be specified.
The pixel aspect ratio determines the shape of the pixel; it represents the width of the pixel compared to the height. A pixel with an aspect ratio of '2' is twice as wide as it is high (2:1). Pixel aspect ratios less than 1 are taller than they are wide.
The image viewer attempts to show the image as it would appear by horizontally scaling the image by the pixel aspect ratio. This can result in slight artifacts for non-integer ratios (ie, 0.9:1, 1.442:1). Turn off 'Fast Pixel Aspect' in the Display Options to suppress these artifacts.
Many effect filters that have parameters that represent width and height will have the width scaled appropriately (such as Blur, Defocus, Expand).
Image Planes
Specifies the plane(s) to generate. Color and Alpha will always be present, but the generator does not always have to write to them.
The list of planes is all the ones Houdini recognizes as special. Other planes can be added with the 'Custom Planes' parameter.
C, A (C:rgb A)
Color and Alpha
C, A (C:rgb A:rgb)
Color and 3-channel Alpha
C (rgb)
Color only
A
Alpha only
A (rgb)
3-channel Alpha only
M
Mask plane
M (rgb)
3-channel Mask plane
Z
Z Depth plane
L
Luminance plane
B (uv)
Bump plane
P (xyz)
Point plane
N (xyz)
Normal plane
V (xyz)
Velocity plane
None
No planes generated.
Add Plane
When a generator is connected to an input, it generates a Mask plane by default. This parameter determines which planes are generated in this case. The list of planes to generate are the same as 'Image Planes'.
In addition, if the plane already exists in the input sequence, one of the following operations will be performed to combine the new plane.
Replace
Input plane replaced by the generated plane.
(G)
Rename
Generated plane renamed.
Add
Input plane added to the generated plane.
(I+G)
Screen
Input plane photographically added to the generated plane.
(I+G-I*G)
Subtract
Generated plane subtracted from the input plane.
(I-G)
.
Multiply
Input plane multiplied by the generated plane.
(IxG)
Min
Minimum pixel value of input and generated planes.
(min{I,G})
Max
Maximum pixel value of input and generated planes.
(max{I,G})
Average
Average pixel value of the input and generated planes.
(I+G)/2
Custom Planes
This string parameter allows you to create your own plane formats. The syntax is:
planename(arraysize){comp1,comp2,comp3,comp4}:format(black,white)
All parts are optional except for planename
. arraysize
must
be 1 or greater (default 1). comp1
to comp4
are arbitrary strings
representing the component names. format
is either i8
,
i16
, i32
, f16
or f32
. black
and white
are integers
representing the black & white points for integer formats.
Raster Depth
The byte format of the image. Higher bit depths provide better color resolution and range at the expense of memory.
8 Bit Integer
Lowest bit depth. Banding can occasionally be seen. Suitable for video.
16 Bit Integer
Intermediate bit depth. No banding can be seen, though clipping can still occur below and above the black and white points.
32 Bit Integer
Generally not used for color, 32bit integer values are used to store object IDs, counts, and other integer values with a large range.
16 Bit Floating Point
High bit depth. No banding can be seen, and no clipping occurs at white and black. Uses less memory than 32 bit float, however processing time for this format is slightly higher as it is not a native CPU data format. This format supports values in the range -65504 to +65504.
32 Bit Floating Point
High bit depth. No banding can be seen, and no clipping occurs at white and black. Uses 4× as much memory as 8bit, which is this format’s main drawback.
Default Depth
Use the raster depth specified in the Composite Project options.
Black/White Points
The integer formats (8, 16 and 32 bit) can specify the raw values that the black and white points occur at. The white point must always be higher than the black point. The minimum and maximum values for the black and white points for each format are:
8 bit | : | 0 - 255 |
16 bit | : | 0 - 65535 |
32 bit | : | 0 - 2,147,483,647 |
Floating point formats always have their black point at 0 and their white point at 1.
Interlacing
Controls the ability to generate images that are compatible with interlaced images.
If you are manipulating the generated output with a filter that uses neighboring pixels (like Blur or Expand), it is recommended that you do not use Black Interlaced, as the filter will use the black scanlines as well.
The second menu determines which scanlines are in which fields (odd,even)
None
No interlacing.
Half Res Interlaced
The image is half the height of a normal frame, with the scanlines on every line.
Black Interlaced
The image is the same height as a normal frame, with the inactive scanlines filled with black.
Line Doubled
The image is the same height as a normal frame, with the inactive scanlines filled with their active neighbor.
Odd Dominant
Odd-numbered scanline fields come before even-numbered scanline fields.
Even Dominant
Even-numbered scanline fields come before odd-numbered scanline fields.
Odd Frames Only
Only odd-numbered scanline fields are produced.
Even Frames Only
Only even-numbered scanline fields are produced.
Sequence
This tab contains parameters which deal with the timing and frame range of the generated sequence.
Override Global Range
If off, the global animation range is used as the frame range. If on, the frame range of the sequence can be specified in the following parameters.
Still Image
A still image is time-invariant. It exists at every frame. If off, the Start Frame and Length are used to determine the frame range.
Start Frame
The starting frame of the sequence.
Length
The length of the sequence (number of frames in the sequence).
Frame Rate
If on, the frame rate of the sequence can be overridden.
Pre Extend
For sequences with a frame range, this determines how to show frames before the start frame.
Black Frames
Display black.
Cycle
Cycle the sequence, always playing it forward.
Mirror
Cycle the sequence, reversing the direction every cycle.
Hold
Hold the first frame indefinitely.
Hold N Frames
Hold the first frame for a certain number of frames; before that, show black frames.
Pre Hold
The number of frames to hold the first frame for, if 'Hold N Frames' is selected.
Post Extend
For sequences with a frame range, this determines how to show frames after the last frame.
Black Frames
Display black.
Cycle
Cycle the sequence, always playing it forward.
Mirror
Cycle the sequence, reversing the direction every cycle.
Hold
Hold the last frame indefinitely.
Hold N Frames
Hold the last frame for a certain number of frames; after that, show black frames.
Post Hold
The number of frames to hold the last frame for, if 'Hold N Frames' is selected.
Inputs
Image to Add To
Merges the generated plane with the planes from this input.
Mask Input
Masks the operation, which restricts the generated output to the masked area (or to outside the masked area).
Locals
L
Sequence length
S
Start of sequence
E
End of sequence
IL
Input sequence length
SR
Sequence frame rate
NP
Number of planes in sequence
W,H
Width and height of image
I
Image index (0 at start frame)
IT
Image time (0 at start frame)
AI
Current plane array index
PI
Current plane index
PC
Num of channels in current plane
CXRES
Composite Project X resolution
CYRES
Composite Project Y resolution
CPIXA
Composite Project pixel aspect ratio
CDEPTH
Composite Project raster depth
CBP
Composite Project black point
CWP
Composite Project white point
Examples
BasicMatting Example for Rotoshape compositing node
Using the Rotoshape COP interactively to create mattes.
RotoshapeMasking Example for Rotoshape compositing node
How to create a matte with the Rotoshape COP to restrict the area of effect of another COP.
The following examples include this node.
MaskButterfly Example for Mask compositing node
BasicMatting Example for Rotoshape compositing node
RotoshapeMasking Example for Rotoshape compositing node
SharpeningFeatures Example for Sharpen compositing node
StreakFlame Example for Streak Blur compositing node
See also |