History Main / ComputerGeneratedImages

* 1994's ''Film/TheCrow'' is the first movie to digitally recreate a dead actor, due to the accidental on-set death of Creator/BrandonLee.

* James Cameron's ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' in 2009 used extensive CGI (in 3D) for most creatures of the alien moon Pandora, as well as the motion-captured Na'vi aliens, human technology, etc. to very good effect. It was the first notable film to use motion capture to record the performance of multiple actors in a single space, with the final result being almost entirely [=CGI=].

* While 2001's ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' wasn't the first movie to feature [=CGI=] fur (that'd be ''Film/TheFlintstones''), it was the first to showcase it with Sully's fur, most notably in the Himalayas scenes where it's affected by wind and gets covered in snow.

** ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' was famous for doing the same on a relatively minuscule budget, and was released a year before ''Revenge of the Sith'' and ''Sin City''.

* On 2012's ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', the work that was needed on Merida's hair to avert NoFlowInCGI with a passion was the hardest by far (Pixar even had to develop a new software in partnership with L'Oréal to animate the damn thing), and the result was one of the most gorgeous and lifelike manes of curled hair ever seen in animation, even to this day.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' in 2004 featured many breakthroughs for CG-animated films, such as an all-human cast, explosions, hair physics and cloth physics, by necessity: it was originally written as a live-action movie.

Computer-generated images have given us SerkisFolk, extreme slow motion, and the only chances at effective screen adaptations of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. On the other hand, its early days were full of very obvious clashing, SpecialEffectFailure, and {{Narm}}. In fact, it still can be, depending on how powerful the machines are and how skillful the animation, lighting and compositing is.

Computer-generated graphics have been a revolution in filmmaking. From a slow start in the late seventies, through the eighties where they were seen as a less-than-fully-practical utility, to the nineties where they started becoming big-budget showpieces (sometimes plagued by UnintentionalUncannyValley for the depiction of people), and beyond when they started to become nearly ubiquitous in all blockbusters and even many less SpecialEffects-heavy films and became cheap enough to appear on TV.

Computer-generated graphics have been a revolution in filmmaking. From a slow start in the late seventies, through the eighties where they were seen as a less-than-fully-practical utility, to the nineties where they started becoming big-budget showpieces, and beyond when they started to become nearly ubiquitous in all blockbusters and even many less SpecialEffects-heavy films and became cheap enough to appear on TV.

[[AC:Note: Due to the extensive use of CGI, try to keep examples to the really interesting ones.]]

* The first genuine attempt at photo-realistic humans done entirely by computer was ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' in 2001, as well as the first full-length [=CGI=] film with a photo-realistic art style. Previous films such as ''Terminator'' and ''Toy Story'' downplayed the screentime of humans because they are [[UncannyValley so difficult to accomplish]].

* While 2001's ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' wasn't the first movie to feature [=CGI=] fur (that'd be ''Film/TheFlintstones''), it was the first to showcase them with Sully's fur, most notably in the Himalayas scenes where it's affected by wind and gets covered in snow.

* The stained-glass knight in 1995's ''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'' is the first computer-generated character in a feature film. It was done by Creator/{{Pixar}}, back when it was still part of ILM.

* 1995's ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' was the first fully-computer-generated feature film.

* CGI caught on much sooner in broadcasting than it did in film, largely due to the smaller budgets involved, and most of its appearances on TV were in advertising, StationIdentification and educational shows like ''Series/TheElectricCompany1971'' due to its strange but eye-catching appearance. The first computers used in video work were analog machines like Scanimate, which were in turn based on the switcher consoles used in TV studios (some of which later incorporated Scanimate-like effects such as picture-in-picture). Later on, as digital computers became more capable, animation from companies like Cranston/Csuri, Digital Productions and [[Creator/DreamWorksAnimation Pacific Data Images]] became common, as did special-effects systems like the Chyron and the Paintbox. TV commercials are also what kept Creator/{{Pixar}} alive in the years between leaving ILM and the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''.

See also AllCGICartoon.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Film/{{Gravity}} Tour outer-space]], [[Film/JurassicPark flee from dinosaurs]], and have [[Film/{{Avatar}} hair-sex with a blue alien babe]] all in the comfort of your own living room!]]

Computer-generated graphics have been a revolution in filmmaking. From a slow start in the late seventies, through the eighties where they were seen as a less-than-fully-practical utility, to the nineties and beyond when they started to become nearly ubiquitous in all blockbusters and even many less SpecialEffects-heavy films and became cheap enough to appear on TV.

Computer-generated images have given us SerkisFolk, extreme slow motion, and the only chances at effective screen adaptations of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. On the other hand, its early days were full of very obvious clashing, SpecialEffectFailure, and {{Narm}}. In fact, it still can be, depending on how powerful the machines are and how skillful the renderers are.

* ''Kitty'', a 1:24 minute long Soviet cartoon. Made in 1968.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' was the first fully-computer-generated feature film.
* The first genuine attempt at photo-realistic humans done entirely by computer was ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' is the first traditionally animated film to use CGI. This consisted of {{Rotoscoping}} wire-frame graphics onto animation cels, creating an effect similar to CelShading. Objects created this way include the cauldron itself and the boat used to escape the Horned King's castle. Disney had previously done this sort of shortcut for animating solid objects by rotoscoping models with lines painted on the edges.
** While ''Cauldron'' was first to use CGI, ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' was the first to ''publicize'' it. It was used for the gears inside Big Ben during the climactic fight.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' was the first traditionally animated film to use fully-rendered CG background elements (the aerial shots of New York and the Sydney Opera House, the globe in the TravelMontage). Not coincidentally, it was also the first film done entirely with Disney's proprietary Computer-Aided Post-production System (CAPS), which replaced hand-painted cels and optical camera work with digital coloring and compositing. Again, its use wasn't widely publicized until the next film--''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' and its celebrated ballroom sequence.
* For ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', Disney developed a technique known as Deep Canvas, which allowed artists to "paint" on top of CGI models so that they mesh seamlessly with hand-painted backgrounds.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderverse'' is considered a landmark in non-realistic CG rendering in a major studio production. The filmmakers sought to emulate the look and feel of a comic book come to life through the use of CelShading, simulation of Ben Day dots and offset printing, line art mapped over the CG models, lower frame rates, hand drawn effects and {{Written Sound Effect}}s.

* ''Film/{{Westworld}}'' from 1973 was the very first feature film to use CGI. They used digital image processing to create a RoboCam effect.
** Its sequel ''Film/{{Futureworld}}'' featured a 3D CGI hand and face.
*** You could argue that the movie ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'' was the very first film to feature digital art in its iconic opening sequence. The spirals featured in the sequence were made by suspending a pen from a military computer called the M5 gun director. (The M5 was used during World War II to aim anti-aircraft cannons at moving targets.) You can read more info [[http://rhizome.org/editorial/2013/may/9/did-vertigo-introduce-computer-graphics-cinema/ here.]]
* Creator/GeorgeLucas and Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic were big drivers behind the use of CGI. ''Franchise/StarWars'' was the first major mainstream use, but only for small details. Yet over the years, ILM has been behind many of the developments and successful uses.
** ''Star Wars: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' was pretty famous for not having a single on-location shot, with everything done with [[ChromaKey green-screen studios]]. Though some sets were complete sets with no green screen, including the interior of the Separatist bunker on Mustafar, and the ''Tantive IV'' that would become Leia's ship in the opening of ''Film/ANewHope''.
*** While no first-unit shooting took place on location; second-unit work was carried out in Sicily, Thailand, and Switzerland.
*** ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' was famous for doing the same on a relatively minuscule budget.
* While the original trilogy kept mostly to PracticalEffects, CGI was used in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''.
* ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'' was the first film to use CGI for spaceships (it shows).
* ''Film/{{Tron}}'' is usually cited as the first film to use CGI extensively, although due to the enormous complexity and expense of this, it only has twenty minutes of actual full CGI. The rest was specially designed sets, matte paintings, and hand-drawn effects (for the glowing TronLines).

* The stain-glass knight in ''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'' is the first computer-generated character in a feature film. It was done by Creator/{{Pixar}}, back when it was still part of ILM.
* Played straight and averted with Creator/MichaelBay's ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries''. The robots themselves are the most detailed to date, but nearly all the explosions and similar effects in these movies are [[PracticalEffects actually there on-set]].
* James Cameron's ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' used extensive CGI (in 3D) for most creatures of the alien moon Pandora, as well as the motion-captured Na'vi aliens, human technology, etc. to very good effect.
* ''Film/SinCity'' had sets that were almost 100% computer generated and CGI was used to spot-color many shots or even splice two actors into the same scene.
* The Genesis Sequence in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' was Pixar's first animation outside of their shorts.
* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' introduced the T-1000 liquid metal android, complete with transforming its arms into blades and turning into different characters. One of the most iconic shots from the film is the completely silver humanoid figure [[UnflinchingWalk marching out of a fireball and slowly reforming into a cop]].

* ''Series/SovietStormWorldWarIIInTheEast'' is notable in that, during all reenacted scenes, real WarReenactors are supplanted by CGI tanks, vehicles, and aircraft.

Computer-generated images have given us SerkisFolk, extreme slow motion, and the only chances at effective screen adaptations of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. On the other hand, its early days were full of ConspicuousCG, SpecialEffectFailure, and {{Narm}}. In fact, it still is.

** While ''Cauldron'' was first to use CGI, ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'' was the first to ''publicize'' it. It was used for the gears inside Big Ben during the climactic fight.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' was the first traditionally animated film to use fully-rendered CG background elements (the aerial shots of New York and the Sydney Opera House, the globe in the TravelMontage). Not coincidentally, it was also the first film done entirely with Disney's proprietary Computer-Aided Post-produciton System (CAPS), which replaced hand-painted cels and optical camera work with digital coloring and compositing. Again, its use wasn't widely publicized until the next film--''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' and its celebrated ballroom sequence.

* ''Disney/TheBlackCauldron'' is the first traditionally animated film to use CGI. This consisted of {{Rotoscoping}} wire-frame graphics onto animation cels, creating an effect similar to CelShading. Objects created this way include the cauldron itself and the boat used to escape the Horned King's castle. Disney had previously done this sort of shortcut for animating solid objects by rotoscoping models with lines painted on the edges.

* ''Disney/TheRescuersDownUnder'' was the first traditionally animated film to use fully-rendered CG background elements (the aerial shots of New York and the Sydney Opera House, the globe in the TravelMontage). Not coincidentally, it was also the first film done entirely with Disney's proprietary Computer-Aided Post-produciton System (CAPS), which replaced hand-painted cels and optical camera work with digital coloring and compositing. Again, its use wasn't widely publicized until the next film--''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' and its celebrated ballroom sequence.
* For ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'', Disney developed a technique known as Deep Canvas, which allowed artists to "paint" on top of CGI models so that they mesh seamlessly with hand-painted backgrounds.

** Its sequel ''{{Futureworld}}'' featured a 3D CGI hand and face.

Computer-generated images have given us SerkisFolk, extreme slow motion, and the only chances at effective screen adaptations of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. On the other hands, its early days were full of ConspicuousCG, SpecialEffectFailure, and {{Narm}}. In fact, it still is.

* Played straight and averted with Creator/MichaelBay's ''Franchise/TransformersFilmSeries''. The robots themselves are the most detailed to date, but nearly all the explosions and similar effects in these movies are [[PracticalEffects actually there on-set]].