Filter: Roto Toon.

This filter has the full spectrum of ToonIt! options. Roto Toon contains the internal rotoscoping and edge detection composited together to produce a fully-fledged cartoon effect. Three rotoscoping algorithms plus a half-tone effect, the entire Outlines set, individual blurring and detail parameters... The works!

Side-by-side comparison of Roto Toon with the original footage it transformed. [play] (9.0 mb)

This movie begins as ArtBeats stock footage, then shifts into a gorgeous toon. [play] (4.0 mb)

Choose your cartoon style.

One of the main parameters in Roto Toon is the 'Roto' setting: Roto 1, Roto 2 and Roto 3. These choices decide how smoothly the different color fields that create a cartoon will blend together.

Other primary options are Flatness, Simplicity, Strength and Level. Flatness makes highlights and shadows stand out a lot more, determining how 'flat' the footage appears. Simplicity controls the amount of definition that's kept between the colors, which affects the level of detail. Strength decides the separation between the dark, midtone and highlight areas. Level controls the shape of the shadows and highlight, making the shadows more or less pronounced.

To better mimic a cartoon, we slowed down the frame rate on this footage to 15 fps. [play] (12.0 mb)

Cartoons make everyday actions seem more interesting. [play] (4.0 mb)

Decide on line quality.

The parameters for the Outlines Only filter are all included in Roto Toon. These options allow you to experiment with different line weights and styles. You can also turn Outlines off completely to generate only flat shades of color.

Original Artbeats stock footage. [play] (3.0 mb)

Morph from live action to a cartoon. [play] (3.0 mb)

Experiment with different looks.

Want your cartoon to look different? It's just a matter of clicking a few options on or off.

Perhaps you like the pencilled and inked edges of a graphic novel; black lines with no direct shading. Use Comic settings to add harsh comic-book style edges with a little rough shading to your footage. You can experiment with turning on Roto Toon's Outline options, as in the footage below.

Want a stippled look? Activate and experiment with Stipple settings to use varying densities of noise to shade your image. There are Shadow settings to fill in the cartoon color fields with a dark value. Alternately, you can use 'Tint Foreground' to leave the footage colors but wipe out darks.