CGI In Movies

The acronym CGI refers to the term computer generated imagery or the 3D computer graphics that are used to produce special effects in some movies. Some of the various software used for this purpose includes 3ds Max, Blender, Light Wave 3D, Maya and SoftImage XSI.

The first CGI used in movies was the 2D graphics of the 1970’s. Westworld was one of the first movies to use this technology. The first use of 3D wireframe imagery was developed by two students at the University of Utah and was used in the sequel to Westworld, Futureworld, which was released in 1976. This movie featured a computer generated hand and face. Star Wars was the next movie to rely heavily on CGI for the scenes involving Darth Vadar. The first real character created using CGI for use in movies was in Young Sherlock Holmes. The imagery was in the form of a knight standing in a stained glass window.

However, it was not until 1989 that CGI really took hold in the movie industry. This was the year that the movie Abyss won the Academy Award for Visual Effects with its sea creature. After this success CGI played a prominent role in the making of Terminator 2 – Judgement Day. In this movie, audiences were blown away with the special effects that allowed the T-1000 terminator to morph into different shapes in various scenes.

Bablyon 5, which debuted in 1993, was the first television series to make use of the CGI technology and was the first to use a virtual set. That same year, the first full-length animated movie, Insektors, was released and showed how CGI could be used in every facet of a movie. 1995 was a premier year with many movies making use of CGI. From then on, the budget allocated for the use of special effects in movies skyrocketed to about $40 million per movie.