How I Animated This Video
Joel HaverCited 5× on HN, 2022–2025
tutorial · intro · 2022–2025 on HN
Animator Joel Haver explains how he makes his short films using rotoscoping and the EbSynth tool, along with the software he uses. The method is a labor-intensive, frame-by-frame process.
Cited in AI-art and video-stylization threads as an example of a manual, artist-driven alternative to AI tools, and as a demo of EbSynth.
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5 comments from Hacker News
Looks like rotoscoping: link . The closest you would get is maybe an edge detection filter. Or AI rotoscoping: link . Or maybe EbSynth, as demoed by this guy: ▶ this video But it never looks as nice as the hand-drawn way.
>There's a popular youtuber named Joel Haver who films videos, then uses an AI tool to convert them into animations, so they can be magically put into a space or fantasy setting. Hang on, AI tool? Joel Haver converts every frame manually. His method is the literal opposite of using an AI tool. It's incredibly painstaking. ▶ this video
As someone who is in touch with a lot of people acting as VTubers in order to keep privacy while being able to express themselves, I'm very happy to see this! EbSynth gave Joel Haver a trademark style[1], and I feel this might be the next step. 1. ▶ this video
We've got AI assisted rotoscoping already and while it looks a bit janky at times its still a whole lot faster than doing it all by hand. ▶ this video
A good example are Joel Haver's videos on youtube. He explains his process here: ▶ this video . He produces animations by rotoscoping live footage, with only a few keyframes being done by hand and the rest by AI, using something similar to style transfer.