Timeline
History of Visual Effects VFX, Computer Graphics, CGI, Computer Animation
Compiled by Barbara Flueckiger, professor of film studies at the University of Zurich, based on her research funded by Swiss National Science Foundation and published as Visual Effects. Filmbilder aus dem Computer.
Please report errors or suggestions, download table as PDF (without links, version January 2011).
Results for category: all
| Year | Technology | Persons | Company or Institution | Film | Publication or Award or Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1642 | mechanical calculator | Blaise Pascal | |||
| 1670 | binary principle | Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz | |||
| 1760 | Lambert’s law of ideal diffuse reflection, the foundation of Lambert shading | Johann Heinrich Lambert | |||
| 1801 | loom with punching cards | Joseph-Marie Jacquard | |||
| 1834 | punching cards, calculator | Charles Babbage | Link | ||
| 1839 | Daguerrotype | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre | |||
| 1843 | fax machine | Alexander Bain | |||
| 1850 | photogrammetry | Aimé Laussedat | Link | ||
| 1854 | Boolean algebra | George Boole | An Investigation of the Laws of Thought On Which Are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities. | ||
| 1878 | magnetic recording | Oberlin Smith | |||
| 1884 | still image series | Eadweard Muybridge | Link | ||
| 1887 | chronophotography | Etienne Jules Marey | |||
| 1888 | Kinetograph | Thomas A. Edison | |||
| 1890 | punching strips | Herman Hollerith | |||
| 1895 | stop trick | Thomas A. Edison | The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots | ||
| 1895 | film | Max and Emil Skladanowsky | |||
| 1895 | film | Auguste and Louis Lumière | |||
| 1895 | time manipulation | Louis Lumière | Charcuterie mécanique | ||
| 1897 | double exposure | G. A. Smith | The Corsican Brothers | ||
| 1897 | time lapse | Georges Méliès | Carrefour de l’opera | ||
| 1897 | stop-motion animation | Albert E. Smith, J. Stuart Blackton | Humpty Dumpty Circus | ||
| 1898 | magnetic recording | Poulsen | |||
| 1899 | animation | Arthur Melbourne Cooper | Matches: An Appeal | Link | |
| 1901 | compositing | W. R. Booth | The Hunted Curiosity Shop | ||
| 1901 | split screen | Georges Méliès | L ‘Homme à la tête en caoutchouc | ||
| 1902 | stop trick | Georges Méliès | |||
| 1902 | slow motion | Georges Méliès | |||
| 1902 | stop-motion animation | Edwin S. Porter | Fun in a Bakery Shop | ||
| 1903 | in-camera compositing | Edwin S. Porter | The Great Train Robbery | ||
| 1906 | animation | J. Stuart Blackton | Humorous Phases of Funny Faces | ||
| 1906 | stop-motion animation | J. Stuart Blackton | A Midwinter Night’s Dream | ||
| 1907 | Glasvorsatz | Norman O. Dawn | California Missions | ||
| 1907 | Glasvorsatz | Georges Méliès | 20 000 lieues sous les mers | ||
| 1907 | puppeteering | Richard Murphy | The Eagle’s Nest | Link | |
| 1907 | stop-motion animation | J. Stuart Blackton | The Haunted Hotel | ||
| 1907 | stop-motion animation | Biograph | Dolls in Dreamland | ||
| 1907 | stop-motion animation | Edwin S. Porter | The Teddy Bears | ||
| 1908 | animation | Emile Cohl | Fantasmagorie | Link | |
| 1908 | stop-motion animation | Segundo de Chomón | El hotel eléctrico | Link | |
| 1908 | stop-motion animation | Arthur Melbourne Cooper | Dreams of Toyland | ||
| 1910 | physical effects | Mack Sennett | Keystone Kops | ||
| 1910 | stop-motion animation of insects | Ladislaw Alexandrowicz Starewicz | Lucanus Cervus | Link | |
| 1911 | animation | Winsor McCay | Little Nemo | ||
| 1911 | register pin movement | Bell & Howell | Link | ||
| 1912 | stunts | Enrico Guazzoni | Quo Vadis? | ||
| 1912 | puppeteering | Georges Méliès | A la conquête du pôle | ||
| 1913 | prospect | Norman O. Dawn | |||
| 1914 | live-action and animation | Winsor McCay | Gertie the Dinosaur | ||
| 1914 | Paul Wegener | Der Golem | Link | ||
| 1914 | motion control | James Brautigan | Edison | The Flying Duchess | |
| 1915 | rotoscope, patented in 1917 | Max Fleischer | |||
| 1916 | stunts | D. W. Griffith | Intolerance | ||
| 1916 | travelling mattes via Williams process (black and white) | Frank Williams | |||
| 1923 | schufftan process (mirror trick, Schüfftan-Verfahren), travelling matte | Eugen Schüfftan | |||
| 1924 | puppeteering | Fritz Lang | Nibelungen | ||
| 1924 | live-action animation | Ladislaw Alexandrowicz Starewicz | La petite chanteuse | ||
| 1925 | miniatures | Fred Niblo | Ben Hur | ||
| 1925 | puppeteering | Willis O’Brien | The Lost World | ||
| 1926 | rear projection, miniatures, schufftan process, physical effects, stop motion, multiple exposures | Eugen Schüfftan, Erich Kettelhut | Metropolis | ||
| 1928 | physical effects, miniatures | Fred Gabourie | Steamboat Willy Jr. | ||
| 1930 | magnetic recording | Bell Labs | |||
| 1931 | make-up, face | Jack Pierce | Universal | Frankenstein | |
| 1933 | stop-motion animation, puppeteering | Willis O’Brien | King Kong | ||
| 1933 | optical tricks, in-camera effects | John P. Fulton, Frank Williams | Universal | Invisible Man | |
| 1936 | James Basevi, Russell A. Cully, A. Arnold Gillespie, Loyal Griggs, Slavko Vorkapich | MGM | San Francisco | ||
| 1936 | light gun in a computer game | Seeburg | Ray-O-Lite | Link | |
| 1937 | binary switching | Claude E. Shannon | MIT | A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits | |
| 1937 | binary adding machine | George Stibitz | |||
| 1938 | binary calculator, “computer” | Konrad Zuse | |||
| 1939 | Academy Award for Special Effects added | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | |||
| 1941 | optical special effects, in-camera effects, camera movement | Gregg Toland, Linwood Dunn | Citizen Kane | ||
| 1942 | first electronic binary computer | John Vincent Atanasoff | Iowa State University | Link | |
| 1942 | miniatures | Eiji Tsuburaya | Kaigun Bakugeki-tai and Hawai-Marei Oki Kaisen | ||
| 1943 | transformation, morphing | John P. Fulton | Universal | Son of Dracula | |
| 1945 | computer | Moore School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania | Link | ||
| 1946 | radiosity | Parry Moon, Domina Eberle Spencer | MIT | Link | |
| 1947 | Association of computer Machinery ACM | ||||
| 1947 | founded | International Organzation for Standardization ISO | |||
| 1947 | transistor | John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley | Bell Laboratories | Link | |
| 1948 | motion control | Gordon Jennings | Paramount | The Big Clock, Samson and Delilah | Technical Achievement Award 1951 (according to Richard Rickitt) |
| 1949 | computer | MIT | |||
| 1949 | stop-motion animation | Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien | Mighty Joe Young | ||
| 1950 | oscillloscope art | Ben Laposky | Link | ||
| 1950 | oscilloscope | Norman McLaren | Around is Around | Link | |
| 1950 | motion control | O. L. Dupy | MGM | An American in Paris | Dupy, O. L. (1950): A Motion Repeating System for Special Effects Photography. In: Journal SMPTE, March 1950. |
| 1951 | light gun | MIT | Link | ||
| 1951 | vectorscope monitor | MIT | Link | ||
| 1953 | oscilloscope, computer film | Hy Hirsch | Eneri | Link | |
| 1954 | monster, miniatures | Eiji Tsuburaya | Gojira | Link | |
| 1954 | oscilloscope, computer film | Mary Ellen Bute | Abstronic | Link | |
| 1955 | light pen | Bert Sutherland | MIT | Link | |
| 1956 | compositing | John P. Fulton | Paramount | The Ten Commandments | |
| 1956 | computer graphics, film recording | Lawrence Livermore National Labs | Link | ||
| 1956 | coined the term Artificial Intelligence | John McCarthy | Link | ||
| 1956 | motion control | Gordon Jennings | Paramount | Forbidden Planet | |
| 1957 | photo manipulation, scan | Russell Kirsch | National Bureau of Standards | Link | |
| 1957 | founded by the Defense Department | ARPA Advanced Research Project Agency | |||
| 1957 | motion control | John Whitney Sr. | |||
| 1957 | graphics tablet, man-machine interface | Tom Diamond | |||
| 1958 | trombone shot, title animation | Alfred Hitchcock | Vertigo | ||
| 1958 | image processing | Steven Coons, Ivan Sutherland, Timothy Johnson | MIT | ||
| 1958 | traveling matte (sodium vapor) | Petro Vlahos | Vlahos, Petro: Composite Photography Utilizing Sodium Vapor Illumination, US Patent 3,095,304, May 15, 1958. A two-film technique that generates a matte strip with an element strip. | ||
| 1959 | stop-motion animation | Ray Harryhausen | The 7th Voyage of Sinbad | ||
| 1959 | film recording | General Dynamics | Link | ||
| 1959 | scanning, CAD | General Motors Research Laboratory, IBM | |||
| 1960 | Artificial Intelligence | John McCarthy | |||
| 1960 | title animation | John Whitney Sr. | Motion Graphics, Inc. | Link | |
| 1960 | coined the term computer graphics | Herb Freeman | |||
| 1960 | first digital film | Peter Kubelka | Arnulf Rainer | ||
| 1960 | man-machine interaction | JCR Licklider | MIT | Man-computer Symbiosis. IRE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, volume HFE-1, pages 4-11, March 1960 | |
| 1960 | coined the term computer graphics | William Fetter | Boeing | ||
| 1960 | term cyborg popularized | Manfred E. Clynes, Nathan S. Kline | |||
| 1961 | slitscan | John Whitney Sr. | Catalogue | Link | |
| 1961 | computer animation, motion capture | Lee Harrison III | computer Image Corporation | Notes for an Early animation Device. (29.12.1961) Link | |
| 1962 | computer game, joystick | Slug Russell, Shag Graetz, Alan Kotok | MIT | SpaceWar! (interactive computer game) | Link |
| 1962 | Scanimate, motion capture, digital character | Lee Harrison III | Mr. Computer Image ABC | Link | |
| 1962 | first memo proposing the Internet | JCR Licklider | MIT | Galactic Network | |
| 1963 | graphic input device, man-machine interface | Ivan Sutherland | MIT | Sutherland, Ivan (1963): A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System. Proceedings of the AFIPS Spring Joint Computer Conference Washington, D.C., 1963, pp. 329-346 Link | |
| 1963 | motion control | John Whitney Sr. | Link | ||
| 1963 | digital character | William Fetter | Boeing | ||
| 1963 | image processing | Charles (Chuck) Csuri | |||
| 1963 | stop-motion animation | Ray Harryhausen | Jason and the Argonauts | ||
| 1963 | computer film | Edward Zajac | Bell Laboratories | a simulated trip around the globe based on satellite still photographs | Link |
| 1963 | hidden line | Lawrence Roberts | MIT | Machine Perception of Three Dimensional Solids," MIT Lincoln Lab. Rep., TR 315, May 1963 | |
| 1964 | programming language | Thomas Kurtz, John Kemeny | |||
| 1964 | 3D, computer animation, Sketchpad | Ivan Sutherland | |||
| 1964 | color difference travelling mattes | Petro Vlahos | Vlahos, Petro, Composite Color Photography, US Patent 3,158,477, Nov 24, 1964. The classic color-difference blue screen compositing technique. Link | ||
| 1965 | stereo computer animation | Michael Noll and Bela Julesz | Bell Laboratories | ||
| 1965 | image processing | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | |||
| 1965 | CG program started | Charles (Chuck) Csuri | Ohio State University | ||
| 1965 | computer art: 1st computer art exhibition | Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart | |||
| 1965 | computer art | Howard Wise Gallery NYC | |||
| 1966 | computer film | James Whitney | Lapis | ||
| 1966 | computer game, first consumer game | Ralph Baer | Odyssey (computer game) | ||
| 1966 | virtual reality | Ivan Sutherland, Bob Sproull, Jim Clarke | Harvard University | ||
| 1966 | computer film | John Whitney Sr. | Permutations | ||
| 1966 | hidden line | Ruth A. Weiss | IBM | BE VISION, a Package of IBM 7090 FORTRAN Programs to Drive Views of Combinations of Plane and Quadric Surfaces. Journal of the ACM 13(4) April 1966, p. 194-204 | |
| 1967 | computer animation | Charles (Chuck) Csuri | Hummingbird | Link | |
| 1967 | morphing | Leslie Mezei | University of Toronto | ||
| 1967 | rendering, primitives, ray casting | Philip Mittelman | MAGI | ||
| 1967 | Torrance-Sparrow shading | Kenneth E. Torrance, E. M. Sparrow | Cornell University | Torrance, Kenneth E.; Sparrow, E. M. (1967): Theory for Off-Specular Reflection from Roughened Surfaces. In: Journal of the Optical Society of America 57(9), September 1967. | |
| 1968 | Slitscan, motion control | Douglas Trumbull | 2001 A Space Odyssey | ||
| 1968 | first computer graphics company | Ivan Sutherland, Dave Evans | Evans & Sutherland | ||
| 1968 | head mounted device HUD, virtual reality | Ivan Sutherland, Bob Sproull | Harvard | A Head-Mounted Three-Dimensional Display. Proceedings of the AFIPS Fall Joint Computer Conference Washington, D.C.: Thompson Books, 1968, p. 757-764. | |
| 1968 | mouse | Doug C. Engelbart | Stanford Research Institute | Link | |
| 1968 | Computer Graphics Department founded | David Evans | University of Utah | ||
| 1968 | computer animation | Tony Pritchett | Open University | Flexipede | |
| 1968 | body scans, medical image processing | Dicomed | |||
| 1968 | man-machine interaction | JCR Licklider | MIT | The Computer as a Communication Device Link | |
| 1968 | ray tracing | Arthur Appel | IBM | Some Techniques for Shading Machine Renderings of Solids. SJCC, pages 27-45, 1968. | |
| 1968 | computer art exhibition: Cybernetic Serendipity: The computer and the arts | London Institute of Contemporary Arts | Link | ||
| 1968 | L-systems | Aristid Lindenmayer | University of Utrecht | Lindenmayer, Aristid (1968): Mathematical models for cellular interaction in development, Parts I and II. In: Journal of Theoretical Biology, No. 18, p. 280–315, 1968. | |
| 1969 | 3-bit frame buffer | Bell Labs | |||
| 1969 | Internet | UCLA, Stanford, Utah, University of California in Santa Barbara | |||
| 1969 | GUI | Alan Kay | Xerox PARC | Link | |
| 1969 | 1st use of CGI for commercials - MAGI for IBM | MAGI | IBM (Commercial) | ||
| 1970 | scanline hidden surface removal | Gary Watkins | University of Utah | "A Real-Time Visible Surface Algorithm ", computer Science Dept., University of Utah, UTECH-CSC-70-101, June 1970. | |
| 1970 | premiere at Expo 1970 in Osaka | IMAX | |||
| 1970 | flight simulator | Evans & Sutherland | Link | ||
| 1970 | Bézier splines | Pierre Bézier | Renault | ||
| 1970 | computer art exhibition in Munich (computer art – On the Eye of Tomorrow) | Kunstverein Munich | |||
| 1970 | virtual reality | Myron Krueger | Videoplace | ||
| 1970 | CCD | Bell Laboratories | |||
| 1971 | face animation | Fred I. Parke | University of Utah | Animated Faces | |
| 1971 | CGRG computer Graphics Research Group founded | Charles (Chuck) Csuri | Ohio State University | ||
| 1971 | non-linear editing | CMX Systems | Link | ||
| 1971 | Gouraud shading | Henri Gouraud | Continuous Shading of Curved Surfaces. IEEE Transactions on Computers C-20(6), June 1971, p. 623-29 | ||
| 1971 | keyframe animation | Nestor Burtnyk, Marceli Wein | National Research Council of Canada | Metadata | N. Burtnyk and M. Wein (1971): Computer Generated Keyframe Animation. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, S 149--153, March 1971. Sci-tech Award 1996 |
| 1972 | computer game | Atari | Pong | ||
| 1972 | depth sort hidden surface removal | Martin Newell | University of Utah | ||
| 1972 | 8-bit frame buffer | Xerox PARC | |||
| 1973 | raster graphics | John Whitney Jr. | Triple-I | Westworld | Nomination Oscar Link |
| 1973 | analogue-digital conversion, telecine | Quantel | |||
| 1973 | raster images for TV commercials | Robert Abel & Associates | |||
| 1973 | Bob Metcalfe | ||||
| 1974 | first conference with 600 participants | SIGGRAPH | |||
| 1974 | hidden surface removal | Ed Catmull | University of Utah | A Subdivision Algorithm for Computer Display of Curved Surfaces. In: Technical Report UTEC-CSs-74-133 University of Utah, 1974 | |
| 1974 | Z-buffer | Ed Catmull | University of Utah | ||
| 1974 | texture mapping | Ed Catmull | University of Utah | ||
| 1974 | Phong shading | Phong Bui-Tuong | University of Utah | Illumination for computer generated images. Comm. ACM 18, 6 (June 1975), 311-317. | |
| 1974 | in-betweening, morphing | Peter Foldes | National Research Council of Canada | Hunger | Link |
| 1974 | computer game, MUD | Gary Whisenhunt and Ray Wood | Southern Illinois University | Dungeons and Dragons (computer game) | |
| 1974 | 3D scan | A. N. Garroway, P. K. Grannell and P. Mansfield | * A. N. Garroway, P. K. Grannell and P. Mansfield J. Phys. C: Solid State Phys. 7, (1974), L457-462 Link | ||
| 1974 | Computer Graphics Laboratory founded | Alex Schure | NYIT | ||
| 1975 | fractals | Benoît Mandelbrot | Benoît Mandelbrot: "Les objets fractals, forme, hasard et dimension." (English: "Fractals. Form, Chance, and Dimension.", 1975) and "The Fractal Geometry of Nature." (1977/1982) Link | ||
| 1975 | procedural modelling | Yoichiro Kawaguchi | University of Tokyo | Link | |
| 1975 | animatronic | Jaws | |||
| 1975 | paint program, Paint | Richard Shoup | Xerox Palo Alto Research Group | ||
| 1975 | Utah Teapot | Martin Newell | University of Utah | ||
| 1976 | digital human face | Gary Demos, John Whitney Jr. | Triple-I | Futureworld | |
| 1976 | computer Apple I | Steve Wozniak | Apple | ||
| 1976 | paint program | Alvy Ray Smith | New York Institute of Technology | ||
| 1976 | reflection mapping | James F. Blinn, Martin E. Newell | University of Utah | Texture and Reflection in Computer Generated Images. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 19, No. 10, 542-547 | |
| 1976 | real-time compositing | Petro Vlahos | Ultimatte Corp. | Link | |
| 1976 | computer | Seymour Cray | Cray | Link | |
| 1977 | computer simulation | James F. Blinn | NASA Jet Propulsion Lab | Voyager | |
| 1977 | laser printer | Xerox PARC | |||
| 1977 | computer displays, computer graphics in a feature film | Bo Gehring Associates | Demon Seed | ||
| 1977 | alpha channel | Ed Catmull, Alvy Ray Smith | NYIT | ||
| 1977 | motion control | John Dykstra | |||
| 1977 | Bidrectional Reflectance Distribution Function BRDF | Nicodemus et al. | Nicodemus, F. E., Richmond, J. C., Hsia, J. J., Ginsberg, I., and Limperis, T. (1977): Geometric Considerations and Nomenclature for Reflectance, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NBS Monograph 160, 1977. | ||
| 1977 | Torrance-Sparrow shading | James Blinn | James F. Blinn. Models of Light Reflection for computer Synthesized Pictures. In Computer Graphics Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, 1977, ACM SIGGRAPH, pp. 192-198. | ||
| 1978 | subdivision surfaces | Ed Catmull, Jim Clarke | University of Utah | Recursively generated B-spline surfaces on arbitrary topological surfaces. (Computer-Aided Design 10(6):350-355, November 1978) | |
| 1978 | bump mapping | James F. Blinn | University of Utah | Blinn, James F. "Simulation of Wrinkled Surfaces", Computer Graphics, Vol. 12 (3), pp. 286-292 SIGGRAPH-ACM (August 1978) | |
| 1979 | title animation, black hole simulation | John Hughes | Robert Abel & Associates | The Black Hole | |
| 1980 | fractals | Loren Carpenter | Boeing | Vol Libre, Genesis-Demo Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan | |
| 1980 | ray tracing | Turner Whitted | Bell Laboratories | An Improved Illumination Model for Shaded Display. Commun. ACM 23(6): 343-349 (1980) Link | |
| 1980 | computer game | Namco | Pac Man | ||
| 1980 | electronic compositing | Frank Van der Veer, Barry Nolan | Flash Gordon | ||
| 1980 | laser scanner and film recording | David DiFrancesco, Bala S. Manian, Thomas L. Noggle | Sci-Tech Award 1998 | ||
| 1980 | man-machine interface | Richard A. Bolt | MIT | Richard A. Bolt (1980): “Put-that-there”: Voice and gesture at the graphics interface. In: SIGGRAPH '80 Proceedings of the 7th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques. Link | |
| 1980 | blobbies | James F. Blinn | Cosmos (TV-Series) | Link | |
| 1981 | digital character, 3D scan | Richard Taylor | Triple-I | Looker | Link |
| 1981 | paint program | Quantel | |||
| 1981 | music video broadcasting | MTV | |||
| 1981 | go-motion | Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, Phil Tippett | ILM | Dragonslayer | |
| 1981 | hardware | Russell Noftsker | Symbolics Graphics Division | ||
| 1981 | digital character Adam Powers, the Juggler | Triple-I | Triple-I Demo Reel | Link | |
| 1981 | Cook-Torrance shading | Cook, Torrance | Cook, Robert L.; Torrance, Kenneth E. (1981): A Reflectance Model for computer Graphics. In Computer Graphics , 15(3), Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, 1981, ACM SIGGRAPH, pp. 307-316. | ||
| 1982 | first full CGI shot in a feature film | Ed Catmull, Alvy Ray Smith and others | Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Division | Star Trek II Genesis Effekt | |
| 1982 | clouds and smog, volumetric simulation | Geoffrey Gardner | Grumman Data Systems | ||
| 1982 | computer animation, full CGI | Japan Computer Graphics Lab JCGL | The Yearling (TV) | ||
| 1982 | morphing | Tom Brigham | NYIT | Link | |
| 1982 | first feature film with a higher percentage of CGI | MAGI, Triple-I, Robert Abel & Associates, Digital Effects | Tron | Link | |
| 1982 | Douglas Trumbull | Blade Runner | |||
| 1982 | computer animation | NYIT | The Works (1979–1986, never finished) | ||
| 1982 | CAD | John Walker, Dan Drake | Autodesk Inc. | ||
| 1982 | 3D scanning | Cyberware | |||
| 1982 | motion capture | Tom Calvert, Chapman, J. , Patla, A | Simon Fraser University | Calvert, Tom W. ; Chapman, J. ; Patla, A.: Aspects of the kinematic simulation of human movement. IEEE computer Graphics and Applications, Vol. 2, No. 9, November 1982, pp. 41-50. | |
| 1983 | particle animation | William T. Reeves | Lucasfilm | Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan | Particle Systems – A Technology for Modeling a Class of Fuzzy Objects. ACM Transactions on Graphics, April 1983 (SIGGRAPH 1982) |
| 1983 | computer C 64 | Commodore | |||
| 1983 | computer animation | Yoichiro Kawaguchi | Growth: Mysterious Galaxy | ||
| 1983 | videomatics (previs) | ILM | Return of the Jedi | ||
| 1983 | MIP mapping | Lance Williams | NYIT | Pyramidal Parametrics. In: Computer Graphics, Vol. 17, No. 3, July 1983, 1-11. Link | |
| 1983 | motion capture | Carol M. Ginsberg, Delle Maxwell | MIT | Carol M. Ginsberg and Delle Maxwell, "Graphical marionette," Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH/SIGART Workshop on Motion, ACM Press, New York, April 1983, pp. 172-179. | |
| 1983 | digital compositing | R. Greenberg Associates | Zelig | ||
| 1983 | data glove | Thomas G. Zimmerman | VPL Research Inc. | Link | |
| 1984 | radiosity | Cindy M. Goral, Kenneth E. Torrance, Donald P. Greenberg, Bennett Battaile | Cornell University | Modeling the Interaction of Light Between Diffuse Surfaces. | |
| 1984 | light, rain, heaven | Hiroshima University | Still Life Etude | ||
| 1984 | computer, GUI | Steven Jobs | Apple | ||
| 1984 | character animation | Abel & Associates | Brilliance (Commercial) | Link | |
| 1984 | Nick Castel | Digital Productions | The Last Starfighter | Link | |
| 1984 | compositing, virtual environment | MAGI | Where the Wild Things Are (TV) | ||
| 1984 | non-linear editing | Lucasfilm | |||
| 1984 | computer animation | Alvy Ray Smith | Lucasfilm | The Adventures of André & Wally B. | Link |
| 1984 | CGI | Gary Demos, John Whitney Jr. | Digital Productions Incorporated | Sci-Tech Award 1984 | |
| 1984 | displacement maps | Robert L. Cook | Cornell University | Cook, Robert L. 1984. Shade Trees. In: Computer Graphics (Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 84) 18(3), pp. 223–231 | |
| 1984 | fluid simulation, particle | Larry Yaeger and Craig Upson | Digital Productions | 2010: The Year We Made Contact | Yaeger, Larry; Craig, Upson; Myers, Robert (1986): Combining physical and visual simulation -- Creation of the planet Jupiter for the film “2010”. In: SIGGRAPH '86 Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques Link |
| 1985 | flocking | Susan Amkraut | Ohio State University | Eurhythmy | |
| 1985 | non-linear editing, compositing | Quantel | |||
| 1985 | character animation, film recording | Young Sherlock Holmes | |||
| 1985 | animation software | Alias Research | Link | ||
| 1985 | computer film | Larry Cuba | Calculated Movements | ||
| 1985 | virtual reality | Jaron Lanier, Jean-Jacques Grimaud | VPL | ||
| 1985 | CD-ROM | International Standard Organization ISO | |||
| 1985 | digital characters, soft body animation | Pierre Lachapelle, Philippe Bergeron, Pierre Robidoux and Daniel Langlois | Tony de Peltrie | Link | |
| 1986 | flocking, Artificial Life | Craig Reynolds | Symbolics, Inc. | Stanley and Stella in Breaking the Ice | Reynolds, C. W. (1987): Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A Distributed Behavioral Model. In: Computer Graphics, 21(4) (SIGGRAPH '87 Conference Proceedings), pp. 25-34. Link |
| 1986 | soft body dynamics | Al Barr | CalTech | Barr, Al (1986): Dynamic Constraints. A New Paradigm for Computer Graphics Modeling. State of the Art in Image Synthesis, ACM Siggraph 1986. | |
| 1986 | rendering equation | Jim Kajiya | CalTech | The Rendering Equation. computer Graphics 20 (4), August 1986. | |
| 1986 | L-systems | Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz | University of Calgary | Prusinkiewicz, Przemyslaw; Lindenmayer, Aristid (1990): The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants. New York: Springer-Verlag. Link | |
| 1986 | computer animation | John Lasseter | Pixar | Luxo Jr. | Prix Ars Electronica Link |
| 1986 | animation software | Daniel Langlois | Softimage | ||
| 1986 | consumer animation software | Vertigo Software | |||
| 1986 | animation | Walt Disney Animation Studios / Pixar | |||
| 1986 | cloth simulation | Jerry Weil | |||
| 1986 | rendering, patented in 1988 | Pat Hanrahan | Pixar | ||
| 1986 | cyberscan, transformation | ILM | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | ||
| 1986 | digital character | Brad deGraf, Bill Kroyer, Kevin Rafferty | Hard Woman (Musikvideo) | ||
| 1986 | morphing | Omnibus Computer Graphics | Flight of the Navigator | ||
| 1986 | wire removal | ILM | Howard the Duck | ||
| 1986 | computer game, MUD, avatar | Lucasfilm | Habitat | ||
| 1986 | transformation, camera shakes | Ken Ralston | ILM | The Golden Child | |
| 1986 | digital character | Rebecca Allen | NYIT | Musique Non Stop (Musikvideo) | Link |
| 1986 | medical visualization | The National Library of Medicine | The Visible Human Project (database) | Link | |
| 1986 | crowd animation | Stephen Regelous | Massive Software | Sci-Tech Award 2003 Link | |
| 1987 | soft body dynamics | David Haumann | Ohio State University | Flexible Dynamics | Modeling the Physical Behaviour of Flexible Objects, SIGGRAPH Tutorial 17 Notes, 1987 |
| 1987 | soft body dynamics | Demetri Terzopoulos, Andrew Witkin, Michael Kass | Constraints on Deformable Models. In: Artificial Intelligence archive, Volume 36 , Issue 1 (August 1988) table of contents, Pages: 91 - 123 2001 computer Graphics Achievement Award | ||
| 1987 | digital character | Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann, Daniel Thalmann | Rendez-vous à Montreal | ||
| 1987 | virtual reality | Stéphane Singier, Thierry Prieur, Maurice Benayoun | Z-A Production | ||
| 1987 | atmosphere, volumtric effects | Tomoyuki Nishita, Yasuhiro Miyawaki and Eihachiro Nakamae | Hiroshima University | A Shading Model for Atmospheric Scattering Considering Luminous Intensity Distribution of Light Sources. In: Computer Graphics, Vol. 21, Number 4, July 1987 | |
| 1987 | digital character | ABC | Max Headroom (TV series) | ||
| 1988 | first application of morphing in a feature film | Dennis Muren, Doug Smythe | ILM | Willow | |
| 1988 | particle system | Karl Sims | Whitney/Demos | Leonardo’s Deluge | |
| 1988 | particle system | Karl Sims | Whitney/Demos | Particle Dreams | |
| 1988 | rigid body dynamics | James Hahn | Ohio State University | Rigid Body Dynamics | Hahn, James (1988): Realistic Animation of Rigid Bodies. In: Computer Graphics, Proceedings SIGGRAPH '88, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Bd. 22, Nr. 4 (August 1988), pp. 299–308 |
| 1988 | human face animation | Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann, E. Primeau, and D. Thalmann | Abstract Muscle Action Procedures for Human Face Animation N. Magnenat-Thalmann, E. Primeau, and D. Thalmann Visual computer, 1988 | ||
| 1988 | computer animation | John Lasseter | Pixar | Red’s Dream | Prix Ars Electronica Link |
| 1988 | John Lasseter | Pixar | Tin Toy | ||
| 1988 | computer game Tetris | Nintendo | |||
| 1988 | character animation, digital character, motion capture | Brad deGraf, Michael Wahrman | Mike the Talking Head | ||
| 1988 | rendering | Loren Carpenter, Rob Cook, Ed Catmull, Tom Porter, Pat Hanrahan, Tony Apodaca, Darwyn Peachey | Pixar | Sci-Tech Award 1992 | |
| 1988 | motion capture | Jim Henson Productions | |||
| 1989 | computer game SimCity | Maxis | |||
| 1989 | motion capture, digital character, first synthespian Dozo | Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walczak | Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company | Don’t Touch Me | |
| 1989 | reflection, refraction, digital compositing, face scan | John Knoll | ILM | The Abyss | |
| 1989 | morphing, digital compositing | Doug Smythe | ILM | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | |
| 1989 | animation software | Alias Research | Abyss | ||
| 1989 | non-linear editing | Avid Technology Inc. | |||
| 1989 | computer animation | John Lasseter | Pixar | Knick Knack | |
| 1990 | human face | Demetri Terzopoulos, Keith Waters | University of Toronto | D. Terzopoulos and K. Waters. Physically-based Facial Modelling, Analysis, and Animation. Journal of Visualization and Computer animation, 1(2):73–80, Dec. 1990. | |
| 1990 | fluid dynamics | Michael Kass | Splash Dance | Imagina Grand Prix | |
| 1990 | Tim Berners-Lee | CERN | |||
| 1990 | image processing | John Knoll, Thomas Knoll | |||
| 1990 | animation | Walt Disney Animation Studios / Pixar | The Rescuers Down Under | ||
| 1990 | dry for wet, particle animation | ILM | The Hunt for Red October | ||
| 1990 | Matte Painting, CCD Scanner | Bruce Walters | ILM | Die Hard 2: Die Harder | |
| 1990 | first attempt to use motion capture for a feature film, finally replaced by rotoscoping | Eric Brevig | Dream Quest Images, ILM | Total Recall | |
| 1990 | animation software | Autodesk | |||
| 1991 | image-based modeling | Paul Debevec | |||
| 1991 | procedural modeling | Karl Sims | Panspermia | Prix Ars Electronica Link | |
| 1991 | HDTV | Peter Greenaway | Prospero’s Book | ||
| 1991 | Apple | ||||
| 1991 | compositing | R. Greenberg Associates | Diet Coke Commercial | ||
| 1991 | film recording CRT | Ray Feeney, Richard Keeney, Richard Lundell | Sci-Tech Award 1991 | ||
| 1991 | animation | Randy Cartwright, David B. Coons, Lem Davis, Thomas Hahn, James Houston, Mark Kimball, Dylan W. Kohler, Peter Nye, Michael Shantzis, David H. Wolf | Walt Disney | Sci-Tech Award 1991 | |
| 1992 | motion capture | Lawnmower Man | |||
| 1992 | flocking | Craig Reynolds | Batman Returns | ||
| 1992 | Michael Kass, Andrew Witkin | Schlumberger | Reaction Diffusion Texture Buttons | Prix Ars Electronica | |
| 1992 | Karl Sims | Liquid Selves / Primordial Dance | Prix Ars Electronica Link | ||
| 1992 | flexible body dynamics | David Baraff, Andrew Wilkin | Carnegie Mellon University | D. Baraff and A. Witkin. Dynamic simulation of non-penetrating flexible bodies. In: Computer Graphics 26(2): 303-308, 1992 | |
| 1992 | edge-detection for 2D animation | Kroyer Films | Ferngully | ||
| 1992 | character animation, digital character | Walt Disney Animation Studios | Aladdin | ||
| 1992 | data storage system | Ampex | |||
| 1992 | particle animation | Jim Hourihan | Santa Barbara Studios licensed to Wavefront | ||
| 1992 | morphing | Tom Brigham, Douglas Smythe | ILM | Sci-Tech Award 1992 | |
| 1993 | Pascal Roulin | Lakmé | Prix Ars Electronica Link | ||
| 1993 | computer game Myst | Cyan Worlds | |||
| 1993 | computer game | George Romero | Id Software | Doom | |
| 1993 | Artificial Life | Larry Yaeger | Artificial Life | Link | |
| 1993 | wire removal | Mark Leather, Les Dittert, Douglas Smythe, George Joblove | Sci-Tech Award 1993 | ||
| 1993 | image-based rendering | Eric Chen Shenchang, Lance Williams | NYIT | View interpolation for image synthesis. SIGGRAPH 1993: 279-288 Link | |
| 1994 | Artificial Life | Demetri Terzopoulos | University of Toronto | "Artificial fishes: Autonomous locomotion, perception, behavior, and learning in a simulated physical world," D. Terzopoulos, X. Tu, R. Grzeszczuk, Artificial Life, 1, 4, December, 1994, pp. 327-351. Link | |
| 1994 | Artificial Life | Karl Sims | Sims, Karl (1994): "Evolving Virtual Creatures". In: Computer Graphics (Siggraph '94 Proceedings), July 1994, pp.15-22. http://www.genarts.com/karl/ Link | ||
| 1994 | procedural modelling and animation | Midori Kitagawa | Ohio State University | Kitagawa-DeLeon, Midori (1994): Branching Object Generation and animation System with Cubic Hermite Interpolation. Journal Vis. and Computer Animation, 1994, Bd. 2, pp. 60-67. | |
| 1994 | Sony | ||||
| 1994 | image-based rmodeling, rendering, and lighting | Paul Debevec | UC Berkeley | Immersion | Link |
| 1994 | digital character, Virtual Actors, Artificial Intelligence | Ken Perlin and Athomas Goldberg | NYU | Perlin, Ken; Goldberg, Athomas (1996): Improv: a system for scripting interactive actors in virtual worlds. in: SIGGRAPH '96 Proceedings of the 23rd annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques. Link | |
| 1994 | scanning | Gary Demos, Dan Cameron | Triple-I | Sci-Tech Award 1994 Link | |
| 1994 | scanning | Gary Starkweather | Pixar | Sci-Tech Award 1994 | |
| 1994 | scanning | Scott Squires | ILM | Sci-Tech Award 1994 Link | |
| 1994 | scanning (linear array CCD) | Lincoln Hu, Michael Mackenzie, Glenn Kennel, Mike Davis | ILM, Kodak | Sci-Tech Award 1994 | |
| 1994 | scanning (area array CCD) | Ray Feeney, Will McCown, Bill Bishop, Les Dittert | RFX inc., PDI | Sci-Tech Award 1994 Link | |
| 1994 | scanning | Mike Boudry | Computer Film Company | Sci-Tech Award 1994 | |
| 1994 | 3D scanning | David Addleman, Lloyd A. Addleman | Sci-Tech Award 1994 Link | ||
| 1994 | compositing, keying | Petro Vlahos, Paul Vlahos | Ultimatte | Sci-Tech Award 1994 Link | |
| 1994 | compositing, keying | George Sauve, Bill Bishop, Arpag Dadourian, Ray Feeney, Richard Patterson | Sci-Tech Award 1994 | ||
| 1994 | Oren-Nayar shading | Michael Oren and Shree K. Nayar | Columbia University | Oren, M.; Nayar, S. K. (1994): Generalization of Lambert's reflectance model. In computer Graphics, Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, 1994, ACM SIGGRAPH, pp. 239-246. Link | |
| 1995 | first fully computer animated movie | John Lasseter | Pixar Animation Studios / Walt Disney | Toy Story | |
| 1995 | compositing, alpha | Alvy Ray Smith, Ed Catmull, Thomas Porter, Tom Duff | Sci-Tech Award 1995 | ||
| 1995 | compositing | Douglas Smythe, Lincoln Hu, Douglas S. Kay | ILM | Sci-Tech Award 1995 | |
| 1995 | compositing | Computer Film Company CFC | Sci-Tech Award 1995 Link | ||
| 1995 | compositing | Gary Demos, David Ruhoff, Dan Cameron, Michelle Feraud | Digital Productions | Sci-Tech Award 1995 | |
| 1996 | noise and turbulence procedural texturing | Ken Perlin | NYU | Academy Award for Technical Achievement 1996 Link | |
| 1996 | Image-based modeling and rendering | Paul Debevec | UC Berkeley | The Campanile Movie (1997) | Modeling and Rendering Architecture from Photographs. |
| 1996 | direct input device | Brian Knep, Craig Hayes, Rick Sayre, Thomas Williams | Sci-Tech Award 1996 Link | ||
| 1996 | morphing | Perry Kivolowitz, Garth A. Dickie | Sci-Tech Award 1996 | ||
| 1996 | texturing | John Schlag, Brian Knep, Zoran Kacic-Alesic, Thomas Williams | ILM | Sci-Tech Award 1996 | |
| 1996 | particle animation | William (Bill) Reeves | Sci-Tech Award 1996 | ||
| 1996 | particle animation | Jim Hourihan | Sci-Tech Award 1996 | ||
| 1996 | hair and fur | James Kajiya, Timothy Kay | Rendering fur with three dimensional textures. Proceedings of the 16th annual conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, Pages: 271 - 280 Year of Publication: 1989 Sci-Tech Award 1996 | ||
| 1996 | hair and fur | Jeffery Yost, Christian Rouet, David Benson, Florian Kainz | Sci-Tech Award 1996 | ||
| 1996 | water simulation | Areté | http://www.arete.com/ Link | ||
| 1997 | image-based modelling | George Borshukov | University of California at Berkeley | New Algorithms for Modeling and Rendering Architecture from Photographs. | |
| 1997 | subdivision surfaces | Jan Pinkawa | Geri’s Game | ||
| 1997 | animation software | Bill Kovacs, Roy Hall | Wavefront | Sci-Tech Award 1997 Link | |
| 1997 | procedural animation | Greg Hermanovic, Kim Davidson, Mark Elendt, Paul H. Breslin | Side Effects | Sci-Tech Award 1997 Link | |
| 1997 | animation | Craig Reynolds | Sci-Tech Award 1997 Link | ||
| 1997 | animation | Eben Ostby, William Reeves, Samuel J. Leffler, Tom Duff | Toy Story | Sci-Tech Award 1997 | |
| 1997 | animation | Dominique Boisvert, Rejean Gagne, Daniel Langlois, Richard Laperrière | Softimage | Sci-Tech Award 1997 | |
| 1997 | procedural animation | Richard Chuang, Glenn Entis, Carl Rosendahl | PDI | Sci-Tech Award 1997 | |
| 1997 | face animation | Cary Phillips | ILM | Sci-Tech Award 1997 | |
| 1997 | paint systems | Richard Shoup, Alvy Ray Smith, Thomas Porter | Sci-Tech Award 1997 Link | ||
| 1997 | animation | John Gibson, Rob Krieger, Milan Novacek, Glen Ozymok, Dave Springer | Alias | Sci-Tech Award 1997 | |
| 1997 | hair, fur | Scott Gordon and Phil Brock | Santa Barbara Studios, purchased by Alias/Wavefront, became Maya Fur | American Werewolf in Paris | |
| 1998 | cloth simulation | Andrew Witkin, David Baraff | Carnegie Mellon | Stuart Little, Monsters Inc. | Large Steps in Cloth Simulation. In: Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques. |
| 1998 | crowd animation, motion capture | Robert Legato | Digital Domain | Titanic | Prix Ars Electronica Link |
| 1998 | compositing software | Gary Tregaski, Dominique Boisvert, Philippe Panzini, André Leblanc | Discreet | Sci-Tech Award 1998 | |
| 1998 | tracking | Douglas R. Roble | Digital Domain | Sci-Tech Award 1998 Link | |
| 1998 | tracking | Thaddeus Beier | Hammerhead | Sci-Tech Award 1998 Link | |
| 1998 | fluid dynamics | Nick Foster | Nick Foster and Dimitri Metaxas, Visualization of Dynamic Fluid Simulations, Engineering Computations, Vol. 12, pp. 109-124 (1995) Sci-Tech Award 1998 Link | ||
| 1998 | tracking, compositing | Gary Tregaskis, Dominique Boisvert, Philippe Panzini and André Leblanc | Discreet Logic | Sci-Tech Award 1998 | |
| 1999 | Image-based lighting | Paul Debevec | Fiat Lux | ||
| 1999 | bluescreen, virtual environment | Christian Volckman | Maaz | Prix Ars Electronica 2000 Link | |
| 2000 | rendering | Rob Cook, Loren Carpenter, Ed Catmull | Pixar | Sci-Tech Award 2000 Link | |
| 2000 | modeling | Venkat Krishnamurthy | Venkat Krishnamurthy and Marc Levoy (1996): Fitting Smooth Surfaces to Dense Polygon Meshes. In: Proc. SIGGRAPH '96 , Sci-Tech Award 2000 Link | ||
| 2000 | image-based modeling | George Borshukov, Kim Liberi, Dan Pipponi | Manex | Sci-Tech Award 2000 | |
| 2001 | CGI | Lance Williams | Sci-Tech Award 2001 Link | ||
| 2001 | cel paint | Garland Stern | Garland Stern, SoftCel - an application of raster scan graphics to conventional cel animation, ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics, v.13 n.2, p.284-288, August 1979 Sci-Tech Award 2001 | ||
| 2001 | compositing | Bill Spitzak, Paul Van Camp, Jonathan Egstad, Price Pethel | D2 Software | Sci-Tech Award 2001 Link | |
| 2001 | tracking | Steve Sullivan, Eric L. Schafer | ILM | Sci-Tech Award 2001 Link | |
| 2001 | tracking | Uwe Sassenberg, Rolf Schneider | 3-D Effects | Sci-Tech Award 2001 | |
| 2001 | hair, cloth, skin, muscle simulation | John R. Anderson, Jim Hourihan, Cary Phillips, Sebastian Marino | ILM | Sci-Tech Award 2000 | |
| 2002 | animation software | Alias|Wavefront | Sci-Tech Award 2002 Link | ||
| 2002 | procedural animation | Greg Hermanovic, Kim Davidson, Mark Elendt, Paul H. Breslin | Side Effects | Sci-Tech Award 2002 Link | |
| 2002 | face animation | Dick Walsh | PDI/Dreamworks | Shrek | Sci-Tech Award 2001 Link |
| 2002 | rendering | Thomas Driemeyer | mental images | Sci-Tech Award 2002 Link | |
| 2002 | rendering | Eric Daniels, George Katanics, Tasso Lappas, Chris Springfield | Disney | Tarzan | Sci-Tech Award 2002 |
| 2004 | performance capture | Ken Ralston | Sony Pictures Imageworks | The Polar Express | |
| 2005 | fluid dynamics | Ron Fedkiw | ACM Siggraph Significant New Researcher Award 2005 Link | ||
| 2007 | performance capture | Keith W. Smith, Scott Holmes, Pericles Michielin, Kenn McDonald | Sony Pictures Imageworks | Beowulf | |
| 2008 | performance capture | Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron | Digital Domain | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Academy Award Best Visual Effects |
| 2009 | facial performance capture | Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones | Weta Digital | Avatar | Academy Award Best Visual Effects |