Role · VFX
Frame by frame, separating what stays from what changes.
The roto artist draws accurate shapes around people and objects in a shot so compositors can work with them.
The job
Roto means drawing and animating shapes round anything that needs separating from the background: an actor, a car, a strand of hair. Those mattes let a compositor put something behind the actor, change the sky or grade part of the frame.
Roto artists often do prep too: painting out wires, rigs and tracking markers. It's precise, demanding work, and where most compositors start.
A typical day
- Check the shots assigned to you in the facility's tracking system.
- Read the brief and notes from the lead or supervisor.
- Roto a moving actor against a bluescreen that didn't key cleanly.
- Paint out a safety wire from a stunt shot.
- Render your work and submit it for review.
- Take notes in dailies and fix the edges that were flagged.
Skills
- Patience and an eye for detail, edges and motion blur.
- Silhouette and Nuke, which are standard in UK facilities.
- An understanding of how cameras, lenses and motion blur work.
- Speed and consistency. Shots are bid in hours.
- Taking notes well and working to a deadline.
Reporting lines
You report to the roto or prep lead, and through them to the compositing supervisor. On a show, the facility's VFX supervisor reviews your work in dailies.
How people get in
Most roto artists have a degree or diploma in VFX, animation or digital art, but a strong roto and prep reel matters most. Facilities often run junior or academy intakes. England has a junior VFX artist apprenticeship standard. Some people start as runners and train in-house.
Next step up
Senior roto or prep artist, then compositor. Some move into matchmove or lighting.
Find out more
Skills checklist · VFX
Junior artist (roto, prep, matchmove)
Roto, paint, clean-up and camera tracking.
Tick what you can do now. It saves on this device only. Print it or save it as a PDF and bring it to your competency check.
A guide, not a qualification. Built from our vfx ladder and the junior artist guide. Checked 13 November 2026.
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Last reviewed 9 November 2026