Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation

Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation

<P><B>A behind-the-scenes history of computer graphics, featuring a cast of math nerds, avant-garde artists, cold warriors, hippies, video game players, and studio executives.</B></P><P>Computer graphics (or CG) has changed the way we experience the art of moving images. Computer graphics is the difference between Steamboat Willie and Buzz Lightyear, between ping pong and <I>PONG</I>. It began in 1963 when an MIT graduate student named Ivan Sutherland created Sketchpad, the first true computer animation program. Sutherland noted: “Since motion can be put into Sketchpad drawings, it might be exciting to try making cartoons.” This book, the first full-length history of CG, shows us how Sutherland's seemingly offhand idea grew into a multibillion dollar industry. </P><P>In <I>Moving Innovation</I>, Tom Sito―himself an animator and industry insider for more than thirty years―describes the evolution of CG. His story features a memorable cast of characters―math nerds, avant-garde artists, cold warriors, hippies, video game enthusiasts, and studio executives: disparate types united by a common vision. Sito shows us how fifty years of work by this motley crew made movies like <I>Toy Story</I> and <I>Avatar</I> possible. </P>