History of 3D
1960′s
First Experimentation with 3D Graphics
Spacewars, 1st video game, developed by Steve Russell at MIT for the PDP-1
John McCarthy developed the LISP Programming Language which was used for Artificial intellignce Applications
Ivan Sutherland of MIT/Lincoln Labs developed the ’Sketchpad System’ for computer graphics.
Roberts hidden line algorithm (MIT)
Boeing in Seattle created a 3D animation of a aircraft carrier landing – plotted drawings by William Fetter and W. Bernhart
University of Utah asks Dave Evans to form a CG department in computer science
’Hummingbird’ the first example of computer generated representational animation was done by Charles Csuri.
Computer Space arcade game built by Nolan Bushnell
1970′s
RA&A opens.
Uah hand (Catmull) and face (Parke) animations produced
At the university of Utah, Ed Catmull developed an animation scripting language and then created an animation of a smooth shaded hand.
video game Pong developed for Atari
Atari formed
Fred I. Parke created first generated facial animation.
Disney produces The Black Hole using CGI for the opening
The short film ‘Hunger/La Faim’ was directed by Peter Foldes and made use of Burtnyk and Wein interactive keyframing techniques. this was released by The National Rsearch Council of Canada.
A computer group opens at George Lucas’ Industrial light and magic.
Atari 8-bit computers introduced
1980′s
Donkey Kong introduced by Nintendo (Mario named in US release)
Turner Whitted of Bell Labs publishes ray tracing paper
REYES renderer written at LucasFilm
Penguin Software (now Polarware) introduces the Complete Graphics System
Wavefront, Digital Productions, Polygon and RGA (R. Greenbug and Associates). All open with their focus on 3D Animation.
‘Tron’ was released and was the first movie to have over 20 minutes of computer animation.
‘Star Tekk II; The wrath of Khan’ has the ‘Genesus’ effec which is the first fully computer animated visualeffects shot
Utah Raster Toolkit introduced (Spencer Thomas)
Autodesk introduces first PC-based CAD software
Robert Able & Associates produces the 1st computer generated 30 second commercial used for Super Bowl
Wavefront Technologies is the first commercially available 3D software package
Abel Image Research takes Robert Abel & Associates to shaded graphics business
GIF format (CompuServe), JPEG format (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
Marching Cubes algorithm (Lorensen and Cline – GE) (Ref: Lorensen, William and Harvey E. Cline. Marching Cubes: A High Resolution 3D Surface Construction Algorithm. Computer Graphics
Who Framed Roger Rabbit mixes live action and animation
D-2 composite video format introduced by Ampex
Disney and Pixar develop CAPS (Computer Animation Paint System) (academy technical award in 1992)
mental ray renderer released (integrated with Wavefront (1992), Softimage (1993), Maya (2002)) – awarded AMPAS Technical Achievment Award in 2002
1990′s
Disney and PIXAR agree to create 3 films, including the first computer animated full-length film Toy Story
ILM produces Terminator 2
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects for Total Recall (Metrolight Studios)
Beauty and the Beast (Disney)
Disk array and compression codecs allow for nonlinear editing and full motion video
Jurassic Park – ILM and Steven Spielberg
Doom released
2000′s
Significant FX movies – Final Fantasy (Square), Monsters Inc.(Pixar), Harry Potter, A.I., Lord of the Rings, Shrek(PDI), The Mummy Returns (ILM), Tomb Raider (Cinesite), Jurassic Park III, Pearl Harbor (ILM), Planet of the Apes (Asylum)
xBox and Nintendo Gamecube released
