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History of Animation - 7: Computers and Three Dimensions

      Keyframes were a huge development in the realm of computer generated graphics. They would give artists more control, but computer animations were still lacking in the graphics department. The first film to produce 3D polygonal animation called A Computer Generated Hand (1971). This wasn't a film produced from an artistic standpoint, it was purely a research project.  The project focused on developing a program for animation that was able to render complex shapes, including the especially difficult task of rendering curved surfaces. This involved the process of digitizing the wireframe mesh that would make up the surface of the hand. Wireframes are the basic building blocks of any three dimensional object or surface in an animation and they are still used today. But in the sense of this first render, this was no easy task. Before they even began working with the computer, they made a clay hand and drew 350 interlocking triangles onto the surface in order to calculate the mathematical equations that would be used to construct the vector graphics in the computer.
      The 1970s were a big time for the early developments of computer generated graphics and rendering techniques. After A Computer Generated Hand filmmakers were very interested in the possibilities that computers could bring to the table. Star Wars (1977) would be the first move to utilize wireframe rendering techniques in a motion film. This render was used in a briefing scene shortly towards the end of the film, depicting the trench run scene. The 1970s came to a close with the development of particle systems and ray tracing lighting systems. Particle systems would allow artists to depict particles in a realistic manner, and ray tracing provides for more realistic lighting and the way light interacts and bounces off objects.
      All of these advancements involve trying to make computer generated graphics more realistic and believable. Advancements in the 80s would continue down this path with the advent of fractal graphics. Fractal graphics are images that are composed of fractals which is a highly complicated mathematical concept. Put simply, a fractal is a structure or pattern that repeats infinitely. These are very common in nature, for example a leaf is a fractal.
      If one was to generalize the developments made through the 1980s and 1990s, one would say that the 80s resulted in better computer graphics and the 90s in combining live action and computer graphics. The 80s saw advancements in facial animation, simulation, and character movement. With big improvements in the photo realism of computer graphics lead to photo realistic animals in works like Fascinating World of materials (1993).  By the turn of the century, computers were able to create everything from a realistic fire, to realistic scenes and characters. With staple films that are still used as a benchmark for the realism of computer systems today, this being Toy Story (1994) the first full length three dimensional computer generated film.




Sources: 
https://computeranimationhistory-cgi.jimdo.com/

https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/computer_hand2.pdf

http://pixartimes.com/2011/12/28/ed-catmulls-computer-animated-hand-added-to-national-film-registry/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal

https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/5-technical-breakthroughs-in-star-wars-that-changed-movies-forever/
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