Computer-generated imagery

Lore & Background

The first feature film to use CGI as well as the composition of live-action film with CGI was Vertigo, which used abstract computer graphics by John Whitney in the opening credits.

Reader's Guide

Prior to CGI being prevalent in film, virtual reality, personal computing, and gaming, one of the early practical applications of CGI was for aviation and military training, namely the flight simulator. Visual systems developed in flight simulators were an important precursor to three-dimensional computer graphics and CGI systems today. The Link Digital Image Generator (DIG) by the Singer Company was considered one of the world's first generation CGI systems, used by NASA Space Shuttles, F-111s, Black Hawk, and the B-52. Early CGI systems could depict only objects consisting of planar polygons. Advances in algorithms and electronics in flight simulator visual systems and CGI in the 1970s and 1980s influenced many technologies still used in modern CGI, adding the ability to superimpose texture over surfaces and transition imagery from one level of detail to the next smoothly. The evolution of CGI led to the emergence of virtual cinematography in the 1990s, where the vision of the simulated camera is not constrained by the laws of physics. Availability of CGI software and increased computer speeds have allowed individual artists and small companies to produce professional-grade films, games, and fine art from their home computers.

Did You Know?

• The first feature film to use CGI was Vertigo, with abstract computer graphics by John Whitney in the opening credits.
• One of the world's first generation CGI systems was the Link Digital Image Generator (DIG) by the Singer Company, used by NASA Space Shuttles and military aircraft.

Early Cinematic Milestones

CGI's journey through cinema began with modest but groundbreaking steps. A wave of subsequent productions—including Demon Seed, Star Wars, Tron, The Abyss, Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park—progressively wove digital imagery into mainstream storytelling.

Flight Simulators and Military Roots

Long before CGI dazzled moviegoers, its most demanding applications lived in aviation and military training. The primary goal of flight simulation was to replicate, on the ground, the visual experience of a pilot in flight, requiring convincing visual synthesis that mimicked real-world conditions. The Link Digital Image Generator, developed by the Singer Company, stood as one of the earliest generation CGI systems. It operated in real time, handled three-dimensional rendering, and supported day, dusk, and night scenarios. Its architecture flowed from a scene manager through geometric and video processors to the display, aiming for realistic texture, shading, translucency, and freedom from aliasing. Because military training demanded performance far beyond what commercial computing or even high-budget film could offer, these systems often ran years ahead of civilian technology. Early CGI could only render flat polygonal objects, but algorithmic and electronic advances during the 1970s and 1980s introduced surface texturing and smooth transitions between levels of detail—capabilities that still underpin modern CGI pipelines.

Procedural Landscapes and Surface Detail

Beyond moving images, CGI encompasses the generation of static, natural-looking environments through mathematical algorithms. A common approach to creating fractal terrain extends the triangular mesh method using a special case of de Rham curves, such as midpoint displacement. The process might begin with a single large triangle, then recursively subdivide it into four smaller Sierpinski triangles, interpolating the height of each vertex from its nearest neighbors. To produce a Brownian surface, noise is not merely added at new nodes but layered across multiple levels of the mesh, yielding a topographical map with varied elevation. Among the simplest fractals to program for CGI are the plasma fractal and the more dramatic fault fractal. Beyond terrain, researchers have developed targeted techniques for specific visual effects—for example, mathematical models that simulate the chemical weathering of stone, producing a convincing aged appearance on rock-based surfaces without any manual sculpting.

Architecture and Spatial Design

In the built environment, CGI has become an essential tool for architects and their clients. Computer graphic firms now produce three-dimensional models that can surpass the accuracy of traditional hand-drawn plans. Architectural animation goes a step further, generating animated sequences of buildings rather than static or interactive images, allowing stakeholders to observe how a structure relates to its surroundings and neighboring buildings. Interactive walk-through tools let designers navigate a virtual space in real time, exploring both urban-scale and building-scale environments. These systems also simulate the behavior of light, showing how sunlight will interact with a specific design at various times of day. While many of these tools have migrated to internet-based platforms, their quality still trails behind the more sophisticated in-house modeling systems used by large firms. The shift away from paper and pencil toward computer-assisted design has become so widespread that it is now a standard practice across the architectural profession.