Generative Retiming can extend videos by up to 200%
Slapshot has launched its VFX app, with AI-powered tools to automate rotoscoping and frame generation.
The rotoscoping tool allows users to select and isolate elements, with the results exportable in formats such as EXR, JPG, and MOV in hard and soft mattes.
Meanwhile, Generative Retiming uses AI to predict and generate new frames, enabling video extensions of up to 200%. Users can upload a video, input the desired length for the retimed version and export the results.
Through its app, Slapshot hopes to allow creators to use VFX without technical expertise or hardware. Meanwhile, VFX companies can use it for fast temp comps. More tools will be added to the platform in the coming months.
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The rotoscoping has already been used for extract interview subjects for a museum video installation, and create finished effects for soap operas in India. It was originally launched by VFX outsourcing network Hotspring as a standalone tool last year.
Jon Mason, co-founder and CEO of Slapshot, said: “One of the things we’ve spent a lot of time on is building a platform that can scale out to support a whole host of AI technologies, not just rotoscoping. There’s so much great research happening in this space that we thought it was super important to build an application that would allow us to onboard these technologies as rapidly as possible, and that’s exactly what we’ve done with Slapshot. It’s going to drastically reduce the time it takes for the latest research to make it onto the screen.
“If you’re an individual creator, adding VFX to your work has traditionally been too expensive. You just don’t have the budget to create the work using the toolsets that exist today. We believe AI can bridge this gap, bringing down the cost of creating visual effects, and empowering millions of content creators to tell better stories.”
“Most of the recent innovation in the VFX market has been focused on pushing big, expensive, manual processes a little bit further,” Mason noted. “With the rise of the creator economy, it’s time to make these VFX tools and techniques accessible to everyone. Slapshot is the first step toward making high-end visual effects affordable and easy to use, helping creators produce more compelling content.”
Hotspring and Slapshot managing director Ben Stallard said: “It’s important to understand that AI-Powered Rotoscoping and VFX are not intended to replace traditional rotoscoping in film, TV, or commercial production. Instead, it serves as a complementary tool used alongside traditional techniques when appropriate. Whilst AI roto adds efficiency and provides options faster than before, it’s rarely intended to produce final results in high-end productions. Its primary role is for tasks like temp work, editing, or background elements in appropriate shots. This technology enhances workflows without replacing the precision of hand-done roto in professional pipelines.”
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