6. Rotoscoping animation

If you want realistic movement of a character within an animation, another technique called rotoscoping can be used.

With rotoscoping, a live actor is filmed doing the actions required - a sword fight maybe. Then the animator takes the video into an animation package and draws around the actor, frame by frame. The animator ends up with a complete set of realistic movements for a character.

The actual animated character is then drawn within the border of the movement. This method has been used extensively in films such as Lord of the Rings to bring a fictional character to life.