A Brief History of Animation really brief

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A Brief History of Animation(really brief)?

• Computer Animation SS2008

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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?

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Try this!

• Stare at a fairly bright object for about one
  minute
• Quickly close your eyes
• What do you see?
• Why does this occur?

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Early Toys

• Magic Lantern (17th Century)?
• Thaumatrope (1826)?
• Zoetrope (1834)?
• Phenakistoscope (1838)?
• Polyrama Panoptique (1860)?
• Praxinoscope (1877)
• Flipbook

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Magic Lantern

• 17th Century

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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

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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

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Zoetrope(ZOH-uh-trohp)?

• Invented by William George Horner (1834)?
• Based on the persistence of vision property
• Appeared in the US in 1837

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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

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Praxinoscope

• Emile Reynaud (1877)?
• Based on Zoetrope
• First to project a moving image onto a big screen

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Flipbook

• Each page contains one of a sequence of images
• When flipped, an illusion of motion is produced

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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

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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."

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Traditional Animation Pioneers

• Winsor McCay
• Walt Disney
• Mac Fleischer
• Walter Lantz
• Tex Avery
• Chuck Jones

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Winsor McKay

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

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Winsor McKay

• Little Nemo, based on one of McKays 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 McKays
  vaudeville act

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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

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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

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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

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Walt Disney

• 1923-26
• Creates Alices Wonderland, and other Alice
  films, which combined a live-action Alice with
  animation

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Walt Disney

• 1927
• Introduced Oswald the Rabbit, a precursor to
  Mickey Mouse
• Introduced pencil test technique

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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

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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

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Other Animators

• Walter Lantz
• The King of Jazz (1930)Includes first
  technicolor animation
• Woody the Woodpecker

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Other Animators

• Tex Avery
• Created Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and the
  personality of Bugs Bunny

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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)?

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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)?

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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

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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)?

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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

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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

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Computer Animation

• 1981
• Digital Productions formed by Whitney and Demos
• Cranston/Csuri Productions founded by Chuck
  Csuri, Robert Kanuth and Jim Kristoff

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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

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Computer Animation

• 1982
• The Last Starfighter (Digital Productions) begins
  production
• Tron released
• Skeleton Animation System (SAS) developed at CGRG
  at Ohio State (Dave Zeltzer)

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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

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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)

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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

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Computer Animation

• 1985
• Tony de Peltrie airs
• Young Sherlock Holmes stained glass knight
  (Lucasfilm), 2010 (Boss Films)and Looker (DP)?

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Computer Animation

• 1986
• The Great Mouse Detective was the first animated
  film to be aided by CG
• Pixar purchased from Lucasfilm by Steve Jobs

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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)?

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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

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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

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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

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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)?

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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

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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)?

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Computer Animation

• And so on