Foundry is offering SmartRoto, a plug-in to Nuke, that takes the pain out of rotoscoping. SmartRoto integrates into the spline-based workflow, intelligently moving and deforming splines across shots to follow the subject of the rotoscope. Foundry says using SmartRoto in combination with Nuke is 4× faster than using just Nuke.
SmartRoto’s splines UI. (Source: Foundry)
Not many would disagree that rotoscoping is necessary but monotonous work. Not only is the process repetitive, requiring animators to trace over footage frame by frame, but it is also time-consuming, and the need for precision can make the work feel laborious. Foundry is offering a faster, more precise alternative to the traditional process with its newly available SmartRoto.
SmartRoto is an upgrade for Foundry’s Nuke, NukeX, Nuke Studio, and Nuke Indie compositing toolsets. It is an AI-powered plug-in that helps automate roto work across frames and sequences, freeing artists to work on more creative tasks.
Foundry contends that artists doing roto in Nuke with the SmartRoto plug-in can now work up to four times faster than with manual Nuke rotoscoping alone.
The plug-in enables artists to retain creative control over the process to the finest pixel, according to Foundry. Unlike with automated matting solutions, artists using SmartRoto can fine-tune detail by adjusting splines, as SmartRoto integrates into the spline-based workflow, leveraging the artist’s core understanding of shape and motion, while enabling refinement of the results. Acting as a specialized roto assistant, SmartRoto intelligently moves and deforms splines across shots to follow the subject, based on initial input frames. This enables creative precision, reduces manual work, and directly addresses one of the biggest bottlenecks in the VFX pipeline.
Because SmartRoto operates as part of Nuke’s existing Roto node, the spline-based interface fits seamlessly into existing artist workflows, with minimal pipeline change or training required.
The tool applies the initial shapes to a sequence after receiving just a few frames of manual roto, and artists can maintain control with options for refining generated shapes and locking in splines to prevent them from being overwritten, without having to start over.
Foundry says it has been working on the SmartRoto technology for a long time, having spent four years building and training a proprietary machine learning model. The model underpinning SmartRoto is exclusively trained on licensed data for full commercial use, according to the company. All the work runs locally, and no data is transmitted during the process.
Those with an active Nuke license can buy SmartRoto for $499 per license during a limited time, after which the price increases by $100. SmartRoto is being offered on a limited free-trial basis.
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