History Main / ComputerGeneratedImages

* 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 {{Pixar}} alive in the years between leaving ILM and the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''.

* 1990s TV classic ''Series/BabylonFive'' was only made possible by using CGI. Having received heavily burned fingers due to the massive budget overruns of ''Series/{{V}}'', WarnerBrothers was not willing to stump up a mega budget for JMS's epic space opera, and using CGI was literally the only way the show could get made.

->''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJlmYh27MHg "How'd you do this?"]]''
-->-- '''Dr. Alan Grant''', ''Film/JurassicPark''

* 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/TheElectricCompany'' 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 {{Pixar}} alive in the years between leaving ILM and the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''.

* The stain-glass knight in ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' 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 Michael Bay'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]].
* 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 [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome very good effect]].

* The Genesis Sequence in ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}'' was Pixar's first animation outside of their shorts.
* ''{{Terminator}} 2'' 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]].

* 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 ''TheElectricCompany'' 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 {{Pixar}} alive in the years between leaving ILM and the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''.

Computer generated graphics have been a revolution in film making. 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 become 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 hands, its early days were full of ConspicuousCG, SpecialEffectFailure and {{Narm}}. In fact it still is.

For this reason some film makers have had a sort of HypeAversion to the use of computer generated effects, proudly sticking to PracticalEffects while others have leapt on it as a chance to realise what they were imagining all those years before.

* ''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 propietary 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.

** ''Star Wars: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' was pretty famous for not having a single on-location shot, with everything done with 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.

-->-- '''Dr. Alan Grant''', ''Franchise/JurassicPark''

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

* ''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 propietary 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.

** ''Star Wars: RevengeOfTheSith'' was pretty famous for not having a single on-location shot, with everything done with 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 ''ANewHope''.

* The stain-glass knight in ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' is the first computer-generated character in a feature film. It was done by {{Pixar}}, back when it was still part of ILM.
* Played straight and averted with Michael Bay's ''Film/{{Transformers}}''. 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]].

* ''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.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' experimented with it as soon as it became available - this means its first use was in ''1966'', in the printed letter effect motif used for the titles of "The Tenth Planet". Some more complex but still simple 2D CGI began to appear also relatively early in 1977, although these were 2D animations and mostly used as a mask for [[ChromaKey CSO]] of PracticalEffects (see the TARDIS forced transportation effect and the 'staircase descent' vortex effect in "The Deadly Assassin"). In the same season and year, 2D computer animation was [=CSOed=] onto a physical prop to create the effect on the eyes of the [[RobotWar robot revolutionaries]] in "The Robots of Death". The late 80s saw the opening sequence reimagined with CGI for the first time, as well as the first uses of 3D CGI in the show itself (notably the regeneration from the Sixth to Seventh Doctor). The new series uses it copiously.

* GeorgeLucas and Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic were big drivers behind the use of CGI. ''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.

* GeorgeLucas and IndustrialLightAndMagic were big drivers behind the use of CGI. ''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: RevengeOfTheSith'' was pretty famous for not having a single on-location shot, with everything done with green-screen studios. But one set was a complete set with nothing green in it except for Yoda: the ''Tantive IV'' that would become Leia's ship in the opening of ''ANewHope''.

* ''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.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' experimented with it as soon as it became available - this means its first use was in ''1966'', in the printed letter effect motif used for the titles of "The Tenth Planet". Some very simple CGI began to appear relatively early on in the mid-70s as well, although these were 2D animations and mostly used as a mask for [[ChromaKey CSO]] of PracticalEffects (see the TARDIS forced transportation effect and the 'staircase descent' vortex effect in the 1977 story "The Deadly Assassin", and the effect on the eyes of the [[RobotWar robot revolutionaries]] in "The Robots of Death" for a couple of these). The late 80s saw the opening sequence reimagined with CGI for the first time, as well as 3D CGI effects being used in the show itself for the first time (notably the regeneration from the Sixth to Seventh Doctor). The new series uses it copiously.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' experimented with it as soon as it became available - this means its first use was in ''1966'', in the printed letter effect motif used for the titles of "The Tenth Planet". Some very simple CGI began to appear relatively early on in the mid-70s as well, although these were 2D animations and mostly used as basis for [[ChromaKey CSO]] effects (see the TARDIS transportation effect and the 'staircase descent' effects in the 1977 story "The Deadly Assassin", and the effect on the eyes of the [[RobotWar robot revolutionaries]] in "The Robots of Death" for a couple of these). The late 80s saw the opening sequence reimagined with CGI for the first time, as well as 3D CGI effects being used in the show itself for the first time (notably the regeneration from the Sixth to Seventh Doctor). The new series uses it copiously.

* In ''{{Sanctuary}}'', most of the time the only non-CGI things on screen are the actors, the clothes on their backs, and the chairs they sit on. The show completely dispenses with building sets and simply uses blue screen backgrounds, even for relatively "normal" locations like Magnus's office. This also makes ''Sanctuary'' one of the cheapest sci-fi programs on TV.

** The "Solar Sailor" sequence in ''TRON'' is not only the first use of actual polygonal rendered geometry on film (as opposed to rendered primitives like the Recognizers and Light Cycles), it is also still considered a triumph in the art even today.

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, SpecialEffectsFailure and {{Narm}}. In fact it still is.

* ''{{Westworld}}'' from 1973 was the very first feature film to use CGI. They used digital image processing to create a RoboCam effect.

* 1990s TV classic ''Series/BabylonFive'' was only made possible by using CGI. Having received heavily burned fingers due to the massive budget overruns of ''{{V}}'', WarnerBrothers was not willing to stump up a mega budget for JMS's epic space opera, and using CGI was literally the only way the show could get made.

* In {{Sanctuary}}, most of the time the only non-CGI things on screen are the actors, the clothes on their backs, and the chairs they sit on. The show completely dispenses with building sets and simply uses blue screen backgrounds, even for relatively "normal" locations like Magnus's office. This also makes Sanctuary one of the cheapest sci-fi programs on TV.

* For ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'', Disney developed a tecnique known as Deep Canvas, which allowed artists to "paint" on top of CGI models so that they mesh seamlessly with hand-painted backgrounds.

* GeorgeLucas and IndustrialLightAndMagic were big drivers behind the use of CGI. ''StarWars'' was the first major mainstream use, but only for small details. Yet over the years, ILM has been behind many of the developements and successful uses.

*** ''SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' was famous for doing the same on a relatively minuscule budget.

* ''TheLastStarfighter'' was the first film to use CGI for spaceships (it shows).
* ''{{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).

* ''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 the first film done entirely with Disney's propietary Computer-Aided Post-produciton System (CAPS), which replaced hand-painted cels and optical camera work with digital coloring and compositing. Again, its used wasn't widely publicized until the next film - ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' and its celebrated ballroom sequence.

-->''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJlmYh27MHg "How'd you do this?"]]''\\
-- '''Dr. Alan Grant''', ''Franchise/JurassicPark''

ComputerGeneratedImages 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, SpecialEffectsFailure and {{Narm}}. In fact it still is.

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

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

* ''TheLastStarfighter'' was the first film to use CGI for spaceships. (It shows.)

* Played straight and averted with Michael Bay's ''Film/{{Transformers}}''. 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 [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome very good effect.]]

* 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 ''TheElectricCompany'' 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 [[DreamWorksAnimation Pacific Data Images]] became common, as did special-effects systems like the Chyron and the Paintbox. TV commercials are also what kept {{Pixar}} alive in the years between leaving ILM and the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''.

-- '''Dr. Alan Grant''', ''Film/JurassicPark''

* ''ToyStory'' was the first fully-computer-generated feature film.

* GeorgeLucas and IndustrialLightAndMagic were big drivers behind the use of CGI. ''StarWars'' was the first major mainstream use, but only for small details. Yet over the years, ILM has been behind many of the developements and successful uses.

* Played straight and averted with Michael Bay's ''{{Film/Transformers}}''. 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 [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome very good effect.]]

* The Genesis Sequence in ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}'' was Pixar's first animation outside of their shorts.

* 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 ''TheElectricCompany'' 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 [[DreamWorksAnimation Pacific Data Images]] became common, as did special-effects systems like the Chyron and the Paintbox. TV commercials are also what kept {{Pixar}} alive in the years between leaving ILM and the premiere of ''ToyStory''.
* 1990s TV classic ''{{Babylon 5}}'' was only made possible by using CGI. Having received heavily burned fingers due to the massive budget overruns of ''{{V}}'', WarnerBrothers was not willing to stump up a mega budget for JMS's epic space opera, and using CGI was literally the only way the show could get made.

-- '''Dr. Alan Grant''', ''JurassicPark''