Bob Sabiston (born 1967) is an American film
art director,
computer programmer, and creator of the
Rotoshop
Rotoshop is a proprietary graphics editing program created by Bob Sabiston.
Rotoshop uses an animation technique called interpolated rotoscoping, which has been used in Richard Linklater's films ''Waking Life'' and ''A Scanner Darkly'', as wel ...
software program for
computer animation. Sabiston began developing software as an undergraduate and then graduate researcher in the
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...
from 1986 to 1991. While at
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
, and also after moving to
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, in 1993, Sabiston used his 2D/3D software to create several
short films, including ''God's Little Monkey'' (1994), "Beat Dedication" (1988), and "Grinning Evil Death" (1990). "Grinning Evil Death" was widely seen on the first episode of MTV's "Liquid Television" show. "God's Little Monkey" won the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica award for 1994.
In 1997, he developed his interpolating
rotoscope
Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced o ...
program,
Rotoshop
Rotoshop is a proprietary graphics editing program created by Bob Sabiston.
Rotoshop uses an animation technique called interpolated rotoscoping, which has been used in Richard Linklater's films ''Waking Life'' and ''A Scanner Darkly'', as wel ...
, for an animation contest sponsored by
MTV. The software was used to produce a series of 25 30-second interstitials in New York, collectively entitled "Project Incognito." He moved back to Austin in 1998 and with the help of local artists made the short film "RoadHead." This was followed in 1999 by short "Snack and Drink" in collaboration with
Tommy Pallotta. "Snack and Drink" won several film festival awards and resides in the MOMA video collection. The shorts collection "Figures of Speech" followed in late 1999, for PBS. In 2000, Sabiston hired thirty
graphic art
A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface. ists in the Austin area to help make
Richard Linklater's film ''
Waking Life
''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American experimental adult animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the ...
''.
After Waking Life Sabiston spent several years making more rotoscoped short films, including "Yard", "Earthlink Sucks", "Grasshopper". He directed a series of shorts for the PBS show "Life360". In 2003 he directed a short segment for the
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier ('' né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nomina ...
film ''
The Five Obstructions
''The Five Obstructions'' is a 2003 Danish documentary film directed by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth. The film is conceived as a documentary, but incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films produced by the filmmakers. The premise is th ...
''. Both "Grasshopper" and "The Five Obstructions" were shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004.
In 2004 Sabiston was hired as Head of Animation for Richard Linklater's ''
A Scanner Darkly
''A Scanner Darkly'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, published in 1977. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994, and includes an extensive p ...
''. He modified the software substantially for the film. Since 2005 he has also directed the "Talk to Chuck" campaign of animated advertisements for
Charles Schwab.
Sabiston developed Rotoshop as a means to make rotoscoping easier for artists by automating the
interpolation of hand-drawn shapes and lines over video. The software is