Digital Art and Animation

Digital art and animation refers to the use of computer-generated visual imaging techniques, which are used most prominently in the film and computer game industries. It also refers to the use of simulated graphics, rendering, and image manipulation in art installations, software, and interface design.

Companies involved in the development and production of these techniques include Industrial Light and Magic, Dreamworks, Klasky Csupo, Pixar, and Disney. Films noted as leading examples in the use of computer-generated animation include Jurassic Park (1993), Titanic (1997), A Bug's Life (1998), Antz (1998), and The Matrix (1999). Types of films such as these fall into two major categories: films that use digitally animated characters and effects alongside, or integrated with, traditional techniques (e.g., Titanic); and those that use these effects to produce an entire film (e.g., A Bug's Life).

The development of digital art and animation techniques can be traced through several intersecting fields. The art of special effects in the film industry has developed from analog effects and animation to computer-generated images. Fine art animation and photography have also had direct input. These developments can be seen through the evolution of cartoon and animated forms, which have developed from the use of models and drawings, which are then filmed to create movement, to the use of simulation, where three-dimensional modeling and computer animation can be rendered directly through the software. Aesthetic influences from print forms such as graphic novels and Japanese anime are also relevant, as are animated film and science fiction.

The development of the field of digital art and animation also owes much to the computer-gaming industry, research into avatars and multi-user environments, and techniques such as motion capture and rendering. Sound and voice synthesis is also an important aspect of this field. It is via computer games that cutting-edge digital art and animation are distributed to the widest consumer groups. The game Quake is often cited as an [Page 132]example of the popular consumption of leading digital-imaging techniques. Also important is the intersection of these techniques with scientific and medical imaging processes, such as endoscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The application of digital art and animation techniques thus extends beyond the entertainment industry to other business arenas, the arts, science, medicine, and the military.

Psychedelic image of a sunset, in which the colors are controlled by the viewer. From Daniel Sandin's installation, “From Death's Door to the Garden Penninsula.” (Courtesy of Daniel Sandin)

The history of digital art and animation is also part of the history of visual culture. The emergence of film and photography as influential and widespread media forms occurred at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. From their inception, these technologies were used to create illusion and spectacle as well as for the purposes of realism. Early cinema was effects-oriented, and the dramatic use of light helped make black-and-white images compelling.

The history of special effects is more properly the history of cinema, but digital art and animation represent the convergence of computing and film. The use of digital effects in film emerged in the 1970s and saw exponential growth in the 1980s and 1990s, growth that can be related to a wider convergence in the media industries more generally. An example of this convergence is the development of Dreamworks SKG, which was formed in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Industrial Light and Magic, an effects company, is one of the forerunners of the field of digital special effects, founded by George Lucas and awarded more than 14 Academy Awards for best visual effects.

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