Rotoscoping and Painting Elements Mastered in Avatar: The Last Airbender by Image Engine
In Vancouver, the Image Engine studio has been making waves with their exceptional work on Netflix's revival of the beloved animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Over a span of 10 months, the team tackled an impressive 309 shots across the eight-episode season, leveraging the power of Boris FX Silhouette to bring Aang's world to life.
The role of Silhouette was pivotal, assisting artists in managing and executing complex visual effects tasks, particularly in 2D and roto-animation workflows. The tool proved instrumental in handling tasks such as rotoscoping and paint, which are crucial for integrating visual effects elements seamlessly into the final shots.
Bringing Avatar: The Last Airbender's vibrant and immersive environments to the screen required large amounts of roto. This helped integrate digital set extensions, add effects to the environment, and create interactive lighting on the characters. Retime shots were used in action sequences, and Silhouette played a significant role in handling these tasks efficiently.
The team, led by VFX Supervisor Thomas Schelesny, faced challenges due to the diversity of cameras and shutter angles used on set, which required matching a variety of motion blurs on a per-shot basis. However, Silhouette provided the efficiency needed for raster painting complex tasks, ensuring the final shots maintained the original footage's look and feel.
The team, which included Head of BG Prep Carlos Conceição, BG Prep Leads Jared Hasslebach and Jerrod Tan, and 14 members of the BG Prep team, worked tirelessly on the project. Many of them grew up as fans of the original Nickelodeon series, making their contributions even more significant.
Their efforts paid off, with Avatar: The Last Airbender receiving an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Season Or A Movie. Thomas Schelesny expressed his excitement over the nomination, praising the team's talent and dedication.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, featuring a rig, camera crew, body doubles/stunt actors, practical LED palm lights, stand-in creatures, and various other on-set props, is now streaming on Netflix. For more insights into Image Engine's work on the series, readers are encouraged to read the Avatar: The Last Airbender case study.
[1] Image Engine's Avatar: The Last Airbender case study can be found at
The use of technology, specifically Boris FX Silhouette, played a significant role in managing and executing complex visual effects tasks, particularly in 2D and roto-animation workflows, contributing to the immersive lifestyle experience of watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. The integration of sports-like action sequences and digital set extensions required large amounts of roto, which was handled efficiently by Silhouette, ensuring a seamless blend of entertainment and technology in the final shots.
