nytimes.com — This is useful for anyone interested in emulating the look of A Scanner Darkly. Here is an inside look at the artists' notes. This video is narrated by the movie's writer and director, Richard Linklater. The Rotoshop software might not be available to the public, but I'm sure one of you Photoshop/video-editing geniuses will figure it out.
Jul 15, 2006 View in Crawl 4
camperbobJul 15, 2006
Agreed. Some of the characters who got the most screen time had no real roles to play in the plot. I'll be honest -- not having read the book, I spent half the movie not having a clue what the heck was going on.
misterjanglesJul 15, 2006
You can get a low-budget version of this look using Flix <a class="user" href="http://www.on2.com/video_samples/flix-vector-video/">http://www.on2.com/video_samples/flix-vector-video/</a> to convert video files into flash vector graphics. Of course it doesn't compare to having a full-time staff of animators, but if you really tweak the settings you can get some interesting looking effects.
ubergmrJul 16, 2006
wow, i was able to get content of new your times, without havering account
egeniusesJul 16, 2006Submitter
Here's another sample of a picture that was done using the technique described above. This time it's a picture of a closeup of a girls face. This was done only with photoshop and no illustrator. <a class="user" href="http://tinyurl.com/kolx4">http://tinyurl.com/kolx4</a>
whiskerlickinsJul 16, 2006
Where did you read this about Bruce Willis?
rhamejJul 19, 2006
I had done something similar about a year ago. I used the trace bitmap function in Flash. Not near as detailed as the actual movie, but a lot closer than the tutorial. <a class="user" href="http://2210media.com/test/me.html">http://2210media.com/test/me.html</a>
rhamejJul 19, 2006
Oops, I had two windows opened and replied to the wrong one. Digg that down please.
maxvirenJul 25, 2006
Hey guys i'm new to Diggs.. I took a crack at trying to recreate the scanner darkly trend with photoshop. Tell me what you think.. I will get this right sooner or later..<a class="user" href="http://www.adamcasner.com/scannerexp.jpg">http://www.adamcasner.com/scannerexp.jpg</a>
mrx8503Sep 24, 2006
To all the people who are trying to recreate this style doesnt know the power of Adobe Illustrator.This style is vector based and you are using a rasterized program, aka Photoshop. Illustrator is vector based and you will not achieve the clarity and precision in Photoshop as you would in Illustrator.
seeingeyeJan 28, 2007
I have to agree. Here's a tutorial I found with the best results I've seen on a still image.<a class="user" href="http://www.illustratortechniques.com/imitating-a-scanner-darkly.html">http://www.illustratortechniques.com/imitating-a-scanner-darkly.html</a>I've yet to attempt it since I'm not nearly as familiar with Illustrator as I am Photoshop and it looks intense. "I expect to spend four to five hours on an image this complex." wsheew
thejesseJan 29, 2007
From the above tutorial:"Aaron Sacco is a freelance illustrator who recently finished working as an animator on "A Scanner Darkly." He also works as a portrait artist and mural painter in Austin, Texas. Check out more of his work at www.aaronsacco.com."No wonder that one is one of the better ones. His website also links to www.ascannerdarklyartists.com, which is very interesting.
nakiannuMay 23, 2007
@egeniuses: Thanks for the procedure!! I was looking around for tips on how to recreate this look tonight, and I first ran into the tutorial above at <a class="user" href="http://www.illustratortechniques.com/imitating-a-scanner-darkly.html">http://www.illustratortechniques.com/imitating-a-scanner-darkly.html</a> That looks like the most thorough procedure, but I wanted to get the affect without spending 4-5 hours on it, so I tried your Photoshop tips and it looked pretty good, then I exported it as a bmp into Flash 8 (I'm not familiar with Illustrator yet) and used my tablet pc pen to just kind of clean it up a bit. Spent about an hour on touch-up, and I like the look.. it's not as cool as Aaron Sacco's method, but only clocked in at about an hour for a first time job :)Here's my before and after: <a class="user" href="http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c34/nakiannu/danae_rotoscoped_before_and.jpg">http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c34/nakiannu/danae_rotoscoped_before_and.jpg</a>
dragon2777Aug 5, 2007
yup there absolutly is. Its called recording actions. Goto www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/tt/actions-mov.html
horacejacobiMay 28, 2009
Great Scanner Review<a class="user" href="http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-11761-Milwaukee-Indie-Film-Examiner~y2009m5d28-A-Scanner-Darkly">http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-11761-Milwaukee ...</a>