A Brief History of Animation(really brief)

Computer Animation SS2008

Persistence of Vision

• In 1824, Peter Roget presented his paper “The persistence of vision with regard to moving objects” to the British Royal Society

• Q: What is “persistence of vision”?

Try this!

• Stare at a fairly bright object for about one minute

• Quickly close your eyes

• What do you see?

• Why does this occur?

Early “Toys”

• Magic Lantern (17th Century)

• Thaumatrope (1826)

• Zoetrope (1834)

• Phenakistoscope (1838)

• Polyrama Panoptique (1860)

• Praxinoscope (1877)

• Flipbook

Magic Lantern

• 17th Century

Thaumatrope

• William Henry Fitton (1826)

• A two-sided disk (bird on one side, cage on the other) with a central string

• Images merge when disk was spun

Phenakistoscope

• Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (1832)(Also Simon Ritter von Stampfer – Stroboscope)

• The inner disk held the pictures in order on the rim

• The viewer looked through slits in an outer disk

Zoetrope(ZOH-uh-trohp)

• Invented by William George Horner (1834)

• Based on the persistence of vision property

• Appeared in the US in 1837

Polyrama Panoptique

• French (1860)

• When doors are opened and closed in the top and back the pictures change from day to night

• Based on Daguerre's Diorama

Praxinoscope

• Emile Reynaud (1877)

• Based on Zoetrope

• First to project a moving image onto a big screen

Flipbook

• Each page contains one of a sequence of images

• When flipped, an illusion of motion is produced

The Birth of Motion Pictures

• 1872– Eadweard Muybridge

started his photographic compilation of animals in motion

• 1887– Thomas Edison

started research work into motion pictures

The Birth of Motion Pictures

• 1889– George Eastman began the manufacture of photographic film

strips using a nitro-cellulose base

• 1895– Louis and Augustine Lumiere issued a patent for a device called

a cinematograph capable of projecting moving pictures

• 1896– Thomas Armat designed the vitascope which projected the films

of Thomas Edison; this machine had a major influence on all sub-sequent projectors

• 1906– J. Stuart Blackton made the first animated film called "Humorous

phases of funny faces."

Traditional Animation Pioneers

• Winsor McCay

• Walt Disney

• Mac Fleischer

• Walter Lantz

• Tex Avery

• Chuck Jones

Winsor McKay

• McKay, a cartoonist, produced three animations– Little Nemo (1911)– The Story of the Mosquito– Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

Winsor McKay

• Little Nemo, based on one of McKay’s comic strips, was a dreamlike experiment in motion

• The Story of the Mosquito tells a comic story of a mosquito's encounter with a drunken man

• Both films were huge successes in McKay’s vaudeville act

Winsor McKay

• In 1913, McKay began to animate Gertie the Dinosaur

• A neighbor, John A. Fitzsimmons, traced the backgrounds, while McKay animated all other elements by hand

Winsor McKay

• In Gertie, Mckay paid attention to such details as falling dirt particles and drops of water

• Gertie was also a huge success and is still considered a masterpiece of animation

Walt Disney

• 1919:– Forms Iwerks-Disney

Commercial Artists with Ub Iwerks

– Hired by Kansas City Film Ad Company

– In spare time, creates Laugh-O-Grams for Newman Theater Company

Walt Disney

• 1923-26:– Creates Alice’s

Wonderland, and other Alice films, which combined a live-action Alice with animation

Walt Disney

• 1927:– Introduced Oswald the Rabbit, a precursor to

Mickey Mouse– Introduced pencil test technique

Walt Disney

• 1928:– Plane Crazy – first

appearance of Mickey Mouse

– Steamboat Willie - first animation to synchronize sound with the action on the screen

– Barn Dance

• 1929-1936:– Silly Symphonies

Steamboat WillieWalt Disney (1928)

Max Fleischer

• 1917-1929:– Creates series, Out of the

Inkwell, with character KoKo the Clown

– Koko was drawn using Rotoscoping; single frames of live-action film are projected onto a drawing surface, where they are traced onto animation cels

Other Animators

• Walter Lantz– The King of Jazz (1930)

Includes first technicolor animation– Woody the Woodpecker

Other Animators

• Tex Avery– Created Porky

Pig, Daffy Duck, and the personality of Bugs Bunny

Computer Animation

• 1969– Lee Harrison's CAESAR animation system– 1st use of CGI for commercials - MAGI for

IBM– SIGGRAPH formed (began as special interest

committee in 1967 by Sam Matsa and Andy vanDam)

Computer Animation

• 1971– Robert Abel and Associates founded

• 1972– MAGI Synthevision started (Bo Gehring)

• 1973– 1st SIGGRAPH conference

• 1974– Futureworld (sequel to

Westworld) uses 3D CGI (III)

Computer Animation

• 1975– Anima animation system developed at CGRG

at Ohio State (Csuri)

• 1976– Ed Catmull develops "tweening" software

(NYIT)– Peter Fonda's head digitized and rendered by

III for Futureworld

Computer Animation

• 1977– Larry Cuba produces Death Star simulation

for Star Wars using Grass at UICC developed by Tom DeFanti at Ohio State

• 1978– Digital Effects founded (Judson Rosebush,

Jeff Kleiser, et al)– 1st CGI film title - Superman (R. Greenberg)

Computer Animation

• 1979– Disney produces The Black Hole using CGI for the

opening– George Lucas hires

Ed Catmull, Ralph Guggenheim and Alvy Ray Smith to form Lucasfilm

Computer Animation

• 1980– Disney contracts Abel, III, MAGI and DE for computer

graphics for the movie Tron– Hanna-Barbera, largest producer of animation in the

U.S.,begins implementation of computer automation of animation process

Computer Animation

• 1981– Digital Productions formed by

Whitney and Demos– Cranston/Csuri Productions

founded by Chuck Csuri, Robert Kanuth and Jim Kristoff

Computer Animation

• 1981– R/Greenberg opens CGI

division (Chris Woods)– Looker includes the virtual

human character Cindy (Susan Dey) - 1st film with shaded graphics(III)

– Adam Powers, the Juggler produced by III

Computer Animation

• 1982– The Last Starfighter (Digital

Productions) begins production

– Tron released– Skeleton Animation System

(SAS) developed at CGRG at Ohio State (Dave Zeltzer)

Computer Animation

• 1982– Where the Wild Things Are test (MAGI) - digital

compositing used to combine CG backgrounds and traditional animation

– ILM computer graphics division develops "Genesis effect" for Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan

Computer Animation

• 1983– The Last Starfighter released

• 1984– Robert Able & Associates produces the 1st computer

generated 30 second commercial used for Super Bowl (Brilliance)

– 14.5 minute computer generated IMAX film (The Magic Egg) shown at SIGGRAPH 84 - 18 teams; 20 segments

– John Lasseter joins Lucasfilm– Lucasfilms introduces motion blur effects– The Adventures of Andre and Wally B. (Lucasfilm)

Computer Animation

• 1985– Max Headroom - computer-

mediated live action figure– Judson Rosebush Co. started– Abel Image Research takes

Robert Abel & Associates to shaded graphics business

Computer Animation

• 1985– Tony de Peltrie airs– Young Sherlock Holmes

stained glass knight (Lucasfilm), 2010 (Boss Films)and Looker (DP)

Computer Animation

• 1986– The Great Mouse Detective was the first

animated film to be aided by CG– Pixar purchased from Lucasfilm by Steve

Jobs

Computer Animation

• 1986– Waldo project

introduces motion capture (Digital Productions)

– Whitney/Demos Productions founded

– Luxo Jr. nominated for Oscar (first CGI film to be nominated - Pixar)

Computer Animation

• 1987– Willow (Lucasfilm) popularizes morphing– Max Headroom debuts– LucasArts formed– Reynolds' flocking behavior algorithm

(Symbolics)– Stanley and Stella in:

Breaking the Ice– Cranston/Csuri

Productions closes

Computer Animation

• 1988– Who Framed Roger Rabbit mixes live action

and animation– Willow (Lucasfilm); morphing in a feature film– Disney and Pixar develop CAPS (Computer

Animation Paint System) (academy technical award in 1992)

– PIXAR wins Academy award for Tin Toy

Computer Animation

• 1989– ILM creates the Abyss

• 1991– ILM produces Terminator 2– Beauty and the Beast (Disney)

• 1992– Lawnmower Man (Effects by Angel Studios

and Xaos)– VIFX uses flock animation with Prism software

to create large groups of animals

Computer Animation

• 1993– Jurassic Park - ILM and Steven Spielberg– Babylon 5 uses Amiga and Macintosh generated CGI

• 1994– Reboot (CG cartoon) uses 3D characters (Mainframe

Entertainment)

• 1995– Toy Story (Pixar)– John Lasseter of Pixar gets Academy Award for development

and application of techniques used in Toy Story– DreamWorks SKG founded (Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey

Katzenberg and David Geffen)

Computer Animation

• 1998– CGI cartoon Voltron produced in US– Geri's Game (Pixar) - awarded the Academy Award

for Animated Short

• 1999– Bunny (Chris Wedge - Blue Sky) - awarded the

Academy Award for Animated Short– Star wars Episode One - The Phantom Menace uses

66 digital characters composited with live action– Toy Story 2 produced by Pixar– Stuart Little produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks– Fantasia 2000 produced by Disney

Computer Animation

• 2000– Dinosaur produced by Disney– Hollow Man produced by Sony

• 2001– 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)

Computer Animation

• And so on …