Timeline of computer animation in film and television

This is a chronological list of films and television programs that have been recognised as being pioneering in their use of computer animation.

Contents

1960s

Film Year Notes
Kitty 1968 A group of Russian mathematicians and physicists headed by N.Konstantinov created a mathematic model of a moving cat. A program was made for the computer BESM-4. The computer then printed hundreds of frames to be later converted to film.[1][2][3]

1970s

Film Year Notes
Metadata 1971 An experimental 2D animated short by Peter Foldes drawn on a data tablet, who used the world's first key frame animation software, invented by Nestor Burtnyk and Marceli Wein.[4][5][6][7]
Westworld 1973 First use of 2D computer animation in a significant entertainment feature film. The point of view of Yul Brynner's gunslinger was achieved with raster graphics.[8][9]
Futureworld 1976 First use of 3D computer graphics for animated hand and face. Used 2D digital compositing to materialize characters over a background.[9]
Star Wars 1977 First use of an animated 3D wire-frame graphic for the trench run briefing sequence.[10]
Superman: The Movie 1978 First film with a computer-generated title sequence.[11]
The Black Hole 1979 Used raster wire-frame model rendering for the open credits depicting a 3D wireframe of a black hole.[12]
Alien 1979 Used raster wire-frame model rendering for navigation monitors in the landing sequence.[9]

1980s

Film Year Notes
Looker 1981 First CGI human character, Cindy. Also, first use of 3D shaded CGI.[12][13]
The Works 1982 The New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab premiered a trailer at SIGGRAPH for their CGI project. This would have been the first feature-length CGI film, but it was never completed.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 1982 ILM computer graphics division develops "Genesis Effect", first use of fractal-generated landscape in a film.[14] Bill Reeves leads the Genesis Effect programming team, and creates a new graphics technique called Particle Systems.
Tron 1982 Extensive use (15 min. fully computer generated) of 3D CGI including the famous Light Cycle sequence.[15] Also includes very early facial animation (for the Master Control Program).
Rock & Rule 1983 First animated film to use computer graphics.[16]
The Last Starfighter 1984 Uses CGI for all spaceship shots, replacing traditional models. First use of 'integrated CGI' where the effects are supposed to represent real world objects.[16]
The Adventures of André and Wally B. 1984 Lucasfilm's computer animation division creates an all-CGI-animated short. The first CGI animation with motion blur effects and squash and stretch motion.
2010: The Year We Make Contact 1984 Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere is CGI-rendered, mostly during the black spot shots.
Tony de Peltrie 1985 First CGI-animated human character to express emotion through his face and body language.[17]
Young Sherlock Holmes 1985 Lucasfilm creates the first photorealistic CGI character, 'stained glass knight' with 10 seconds of screentime.[18][19]
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing 1985 The first computer-generated music video.[19] The animators would go on to found Mainframe Entertainment.
Flight of the Navigator 1986 The first use of reflection mapping in a feature film, used for the flying alien spacecraft.[19]
Labyrinth 1986 First realistic CGI animal.[19]
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 1986 First use of the Cyberware (company) 3D scanner, first 3D morphing.[19]
Luxo Jr. 1986 First use of shadows in CGI, made with special developed software Renderman. First CGI film to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future 1987 First TV series to include characters modeled entirely with computers.
Knightmare 1987 First game show with interaction between humans and computer-generated surroundings.
Willow 1988 First photorealistic use of morphing effect in a feature film.[20]
Tin Toy 1988 First computer-animated short film to win an Oscar.
The Abyss 1989 First digital 3D water effect.[21]
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989 First all-digital composite.[21]

1990s

Film Year Notes
Die Hard 2 1990 First digitally-manipulated matte painting.[21]
RoboCop 2 1990 First use of real-time computer graphics or "digital puppetry" to create a character in a motion picture.[22]
Backdraft 1991 First use of photorealistic CGI fire in a motion picture.[22]
Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991 First realistic human movements on a CGI character.[21] First use of a personal computer to create major movie 3D effects.
Death Becomes Her 1992 First human skin CGI software.[21]
Quarxs 1993 First broadcast series of animated CGI shorts.
Jurassic Park 1993 First photorealistic CG creatures.[21]
VeggieTales 1993 First completely computer animated direct-to-video release.
Babylon 5 1993 First television series to use CGI as the primary method for its visual effects. First TV use of virtual sets.
Insektors[23] 1993 First fully computer animated TV series. First use of character animation in a computer animated television series.
Radioland Murders 1994 First use of virtual CGI sets with live actors.[24]
ReBoot 1994 First half-hour computer animated TV series.[25]
The Flintstones 1994 First CGI-rendered fur.[21]
Waterworld 1995 First realistic CG water.[21]
Casper 1995 First CGI lead character in feature-length film (preceded Toy Story by six months). First CGI characters to interact realistically with live actors.
Toy Story 1995 First CGI feature-length animation.
Dragonheart 1996 First 2D all-CGI backgrounds with live actors.
Marvin the Martian in 3D 1997 First computer animated movie viewed with 3D glasses.
Titanic 1997 First wide-release feature film with major elements rendered under the open-source Linux operating system.[26] Also included a number of advances, specifically in the rendering of flowing water.
A Bugs Life 1998 First ever computer animated widescreen film.
Invasion: Earth 1998 First major use of digital effects in a British TV series (BBC/Sci-Fi Channel co-production)
A Little Curious (Bubble Love) 1999 First use of a CGI character on live action video.
Fight Club 1999 First realistic close-up of detailed facial deformation on a synthetic human.
The Matrix 1999 First use of CG interpolation in Bullet Time effects.
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 1999 First film to use CG extensively for thousands of shots, including backgrounds, environmental effects, vehicles, and crowds. Several CG characters stood alongside real actors in dozens of shots, making them the first CG "supporting" cast members.

2000s

Film Year Notes
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 2001 First feature-length digital film to be made based on photorealism and live action principles. The first theatrically released feature film to utilize performance capture (motion capture) for all of its characters actions.[27]
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius 2001 First CGI feature length movie made using off-the-shelf hardware and software.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 First use of AI for digital actors (using the Massive software developed by Weta Digital).
The Matrix Reloaded 2003 The Burly Brawl - the first use of "Universal Capture", the combination of dense (rather than point-based) motion capture and per-frame texture capture.
Gollum from the Lord of the Rings trilogy 2003 First photorealistic motion captured character for a film, Gollum was also the first digital actor to win an award (BFCA), category created for Best Digital Acting Performance
Able Edwards 2004 First movie shot completely on a green screen using digitally scanned images as backgrounds.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 2004 First movie with all-CGI backgrounds and live actors.[28]
The Polar Express 2004 The second CGI movie that used motion capture for all actors. The first was "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" [29]
Elephants Dream 2006 First CGI short movie released as completely open source. Made with Open Source software, theatrical and DVD release under Creative Commons License.[30] Unique that all 3D models, animatics and software are included on the DVD free for any use.
Flatland 2007 First CGI feature film to be animated by one person. Made with Lightwave 3D and Adobe After Effects.[31]
Beowulf 2007 Entirely made in CGI, features motion capture for all actors and has realism as its foremost goal. The largest team ever assembled for an Imageworks-produced movie (as of 2007) generated new animation tools for facial, body, and cloth design especially for the movie, and elements of keyframe animation were incorporated into the movie to capture the facial expressions of the actors and actresses.
Plumíferos 2009 First CGI feature length movie made using Open Source software for all 3D models, animation, lighting and render process, under Linux operating system.
Avatar 2009 First full length movie made using performance-capture to create photo-realistic 3D characters and to feature a fully CG 3D photo-realistic world. The first Virtual Art Department (VAD) and complete Virtual Production pipeline was developed by director James Cameron and team to create the film in real-time.
Coronation Street Live (2010) 2010 First use of CGI in a live broadcast

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ [4]
  5. ^ [5]
  6. ^ [6]
  7. ^ [7]
  8. ^ Bowles, Scott (2004-09-15). "'Sky Captain' takes CGI to limit". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2004-09-14-sky-captain-cgi_x.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
  9. ^ a b c Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones - Part 9
  10. ^ Making of the Computer Graphics for Star Wars (Episode IV)
  11. ^ [8]
  12. ^ a b Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones - Part 10
  13. ^ Netzley, pg. 49.
  14. ^ Pegoraro, Rob (June 29, 2008). "Incredibles, Inc; The story of how computer programmers transformed the art of movie animation". The Washington Post: p. W8. 
  15. ^ Tron - The 1982 movie
  16. ^ a b Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones - Part 11
  17. ^ Along the Banks of the St. Lawrence
  18. ^ Netzley, 246.
  19. ^ a b c d e Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones - Part 12
  20. ^ Netzley, 239.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h Netzley, 50.
  22. ^ a b Part 14
  23. ^ Created in 1993. 2nd Prize for the category 3D Animation Imagina in 1993 for the episode "Some Flowers for Bakrakra" [9]
  24. ^ Marcus Hearn (2005). The Cinema of George Lucas. New York City: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.. pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-8109-4968-7. 
  25. ^ Bernstein, Sharon (1994-11-10). "'Reboot' Is First Series to Be Fully Computerized". LA Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1994-11-10/entertainment/ca-61086_1_computer-animation. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
  26. ^ Rowe, Robin (2003-01-01). "Linux and Star Trek". Linux Journal. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6339. 
  27. ^ "Cinema: A Painstaking Fantasy". Time. 2000-07-31. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997597,00.html. 
  28. ^ http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.05/conran.html
  29. ^ "Cinema: A Painstaking Fantasy". Time. 2000-07-31. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997597,00.html. 
  30. ^ http://www.elephantsdream.org/
  31. ^ "Flatland director Ladd Ehlinger Jr. starts column Filmmaker's Perspective for GreenCine.com". Flatland. http://www.flatlandthefilm.com/news.php?CurrentPage=15. 

External links