| Film | Year | Notes |
|---|
| Logan's Run | 1976 | Used Scanimate to create the forcefield in the Carousel sequence. |
| Futureworld | First use of digital3D computer graphics for animated hand and face. Used 2D digital compositing to materialize characters over a background.[17] |
| Hobart Street Scene | First use of a 3Dhidden-line removal movie depicting an architectural street scene.[22][23] It shows the planned Crown Courts inHobart in 1976 and was used for planning approval. The buildings exist today. |
| Demon Seed | 1977 | Used rasterwire-frame model rendering for the Proteus IV's monitors. |
| Star Wars | Used an animated 3Dwire-frame graphic for the trench run briefing sequence onYavin 4. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 1989. |
| Alien | 1979 | Used rasterwire-frame model rendering for navigation monitors in the landing sequence.[17] Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2002. |
| The Black Hole | Used rasterwire-frame model rendering for the opening credits depicting a 3D wire-frame of a black hole.[24] |
| Looker | 1981 | First computer-generated model of a wholehuman body. Also, first use of 3D shaded CGI.[24][25] |
| The Works | 1982 | TheNew York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab debuted a trailer atSIGGRAPH for their CGI project. This would have been the first feature-length CGI film, but it was never completed. |
| Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | ILM computer graphics division develops "Genesis Effect", the first use of a fractal-generated landscape in a film.[26] Bill Reeves leads the Genesis Effect programming team, and creates a new graphics technique called "Particle Systems". Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2024. |
| Tron | First extensive use of CGI including theLight Cycle sequence.[27] Also includes very early facial animation (for theMaster Control Program). A sequence of 15 minutes of the film was fully computer-generated. |
| Return of the Jedi | 1983 | FirstStar Wars film to use shaded CGI. Translucent shaded models were used for the holographic diagram of the second Death Star orbiting Endor during the Rebel briefing sequence. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2021. |
| Rock & Rule | First animated film to use computer graphics.[28] |
| Golgo 13 | First Japanese animated film to incorporate CGI sequences.[29] Entirely digital models of revolvers, skeletons, helicopters, and skyscrapers (created by Toyo Links Corporation andOsaka University's CG division) are used in the film's title sequence and part of the climax; the remainder of the film istraditionally animated byTokyo Movie Shinsha. |
| Dream Flight | First 3D generated film telling a story, shown in Electronic Theater in SIGGRAPH '83. |
| The Last Starfighter | 1984 | Uses CGI for all spaceship shots, replacing traditional models. First use of "integrated CGI" where the effects are supposed to represent real world objects.[28] |
| Lensman: Secret of The Lens | Uses CGI for spaceships and other scenes. |
| The Adventures of André and Wally B. | Lucasfilm's computer animation division creates an all-CGI-animated short. The first CGI animation withmotion blur effects andsquash and stretch motion. |
| 2010: The Year We Make Contact | Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere is CGI-rendered, mostly during the black spot shots. |
| Tony de Peltrie | 1985 | First CGI-animated human character to express emotion through his face and body language.[30] |
| Weird Science | First use ofPerlin noise in a feature film.[31] |
| The Jetsons &Yogi's Treasure Hunt | The first animated series to use digital ink and paint. |
| Young Sherlock Holmes | Lucasfilm creates the firstphotorealistic CGI character, "stained glass knight" with 10 seconds of screentime.[32][33] |
| "Money for Nothing" | The first computer-generatedmusic video.[33] The animators would go on to foundMainframe Entertainment. |
| Labyrinth | 1986 | First realisticCGIanimal.[33] |
| The Great Mouse Detective | The first Disney film to extensively use computer animation—notably for the two-minute clock tower sequence. |
| Flight of the Navigator | The first use ofreflection mapping in afeature film, used for the flying alienspacecraft.[33] |
| Howard the Duck | First digital wire removal in a feature film.[33] First use of thePixar Image Computer in film.[34] |
| Luxo Jr. | First use ofshadows inCGI, made with the specially developed softwarePhotorealistic Renderman. FirstPixar film, and first CGI film to be nominated for anAcademy Award. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2014. |
| Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | First use of theCyberware3D scanner, first 3Dmorphing.[33] |
| The Golden Child | First use of primitive photorealistic morphing.[35] |
| Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future | 1987 | FirstTV series to include characters modeled entirely withcomputers. |
| Knightmare | Firstgame show with interaction between humans and computer-generated surroundings. |
| Rendez-vous in Montreal | First 3D generated film involvingvirtual actors Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart |
| Willow | 1988 | First extensive photorealistic use of CGI morphing effect in afeature film.[36] |
| Akira | CGI is used to animate the pattern indicator, and to plot the paths of falling objects, model parallax effects on backgrounds, and tweak lighting and lens flares.[29] |
| Tin Toy | First computer-animated short film to win anAcademy Award. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2003. |
| The Abyss | 1989 | First digital CGI water visual effect.[37] Last use of analog compositing for the majority of effects. |
| The Jim Henson Hour | TV series with real-time and rendered CGI featuring digitally puppeteered CGI character "Waldo." |
| Les Fables géométriques | First broadcast series of animated CGI shorts. |
| The Hunt for Red October | 1990 | An early use of particle effects to integrate realistic bubble trails and water flow into miniature shots.Scott E. Anderson wrote the code for the dedicated particle system, psys, that created the effects.[38] |
| Total Recall | Use ofmotion capture for CGI characters. This primitive form of motion capture involved tracing the animation of CGI skeleton models by hand over footage of the performers. |
| RoboCop 2 | An early use of real-time computer graphics or "digital puppetry" to create a character in a motion picture.[39] |
| Die Hard 2 | First digitally manipulatedmatte painting.[37] |
| The Rescuers Down Under | First 2D animated film to be produced with solely digital ink and paint (CAPS). First fully digital feature film. |
| Backdraft | 1991 | First use of photorealistic CGI fire in a motion picture.[39] |
| Terminator 2: Judgment Day | First realistic human movements on a CGI character.[37] The first partially computer-generated main character and the first blockbuster movie to feature multiple morphing effects.[39] First use of a personal computer to create major movie 3D effects. Inducted to the National Film Registry in 2023. |
| Quarxs | One of the earliest computer-animated series. |
| The Lawnmower Man | 1992 | First feature film to use computer animation to explore the subject of virtual reality. First virtual reality sex scene.[40] First use of motion capture involving the recording of a performer's movements into a 3D space as opposed to keyframe animation.[41] |
| The Babe | First computer-generated crowds. |
| Death Becomes Her | First humanskin CGI software.[37] |
| The Muppet Christmas Carol | First use of a green screen for digitalchroma key compositing in a feature film. |
| Babylon 5 | 1993 | Firsttelevision series to use CGI as the primary method for its visual effects. First TV use of virtual sets. |
| The Incredible Crash Dummies | First fully CGI-animated TV special. |
| Jurassic Park | First photorealistic CGI creatures.[37] First digital face replacement.[42] Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2018. |
| Live & Kicking | First TV program to feature a live computer-generated character as part of its cast. |
| VeggieTales | First completely computer-animated direct-to-video release. |
| Insektors[43] | First fully computer-animated TV series. First use ofcharacter animation in a computer-animated television series. |
| The Crow | 1994 | First deceased actor (Brandon Lee) to be re-created through CGI. |
| The Flintstones | First CGI-rendered fur.[37] |
| The Mask | First use of CGI to transform a live actor into a photorealistic cartoon character. |
| ReBoot | First half-hour computer-animated TV series.[44] |
| Radioland Murders | First use of virtual CGI sets with live actors.[45] |
| Casper | 1995 | First CGI lead character in a feature-length live-action film, and first CGI characters to interact realistically with live-actors. |
| Batman Forever | First CGI stunt doubles, created through motion capture. |
| Waterworld | First realistic CGI water.[37] |
| Casino | First use of digital compositing to create a period-appropriate setting, and first use ofradiosity lighting in a feature film. |
| Toy Story | First CGI feature-length animation. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2005. |
| Cassiopeia | 1996 | Second feature-length CGI animation and first CGI feature film not to use scanned models for heads. First Brazilian CGI feature animation. Produced and released by NDR Filmes. |
| Twister | First realistic CGI natural disaster, created using particle effects. |
| Dragonheart | First 2D all-CGI backgrounds with live-actors. First film to use ILM's Caricature software (created during the film's production). |
| The Island of Dr. Moreau | First film to use motion-capture CGI to portray a character. |
| Donkey Kong Country | First half-hour computer-animated TV series to use motion capture for their characters. |
| Beast Wars: Transformers | First CGITransformers animated series produced byMainframe Entertainment. Sequel to theoriginalTransformers. |
| Star Wars (EpisodesIV,V andVISpecial Editions) | 1997 | First re-release of a film to incorporate CGI characters and elements. |
| Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension | First CGI film created for viewing with 3D glasses. |
| Spawn | First extensive use of CGI fire in a feature film beyond sweetening. First film to integrate a CGI fabric onto a character's costume.[46] |
| Titanic | First wide-release feature film with CGI elements rendered under theopen-sourceLinux operating system.[47] Also included a number of advances, specifically in the rendering of flowing water. |
| A Bug's Life | 1998 | First CGI anamorphic widescreen film. First all-digital transfer toDVD. First film to be reframed forhome video releases. |
| Invasion: Earth | First major use of digital effects in a British TV series. |
| What Dreams May Come | First use of CGI in combination with 3D location scanning (Lidar) and motion-analysis based 3D camera tracking in a feature film. |
| Fight Club | 1999 | Firstphotogrammetry basedvirtual cinematography scenes, including the firstbullet time sex scene with fully naked body renderings of body doubles forHelena Bonham Carter andBrad Pitt; renderings of different settings with both extreme close-ups and wide shots; and the first very photorealistic close-up rendering of a human face - which also belongs to a famous actor in a leading role (Edward Norton) - with detailed facial deformation and extreme close-ups (starting at the cell-level of the brain, flying through the different layers of tissues, a follicle and the skin with sweat droplets). |
| The Matrix | First use of CGIinterpolation withbullet time effects. Added to the National Film Registry in 2012. |
| Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | First film to have a fully CGI-rendered supporting character using performance footage captured on-set, pioneering this commonly used technique. Extensive use of CGI for thousands of shots, including backgrounds, visual effects, vehicles, and crowds. |
| Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists | 2000 | First feature-length film to be created usingmotion-capture technology. |
| Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | 2001 | First CGI feature-length digital film to be made based onphotorealism andlive-action principles. The first theatrically released feature film to utilize motion capture for all of its characters actions.[48] |
| Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius | First CGI feature-length movie made usingoff-the-shelf hardware and software. |
| Shrek | First CGI-animated movie to win an Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature Film. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2020. |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | First use ofAI for digital actors (using theMassive software developed byWeta Digital). |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | 2002 | First virtual actor to win an award (Critics' Choice Movie Awards byAndy Serkis playingGollum), in the newly created categoryBest Digital Acting Performance |
| Spider-Man | First digitally rendered photorealistic costume. |
| Ice Age | First CGI full-length feature animated film exclusively rendered with a ray tracer (CGI Studio).[49] |
| The Matrix Reloaded | 2003 | The Burly Brawl - the first use of "universal capture", the combination ofmarkerless motion capture, per-frametexture capture andoptical flow ofpixels over the data from7 camera setup bought into a shared UV space by projection onto a neutral expression geometry leading to the introduction of realisticdigital look-alikes |
| Able Edwards | 2004 | First movie shot completely on a green screen using digitally scanned images as backgrounds. |
| Olocoons | First CGI-animated series to use Cel-shaded designs and backgrounds mixed with 2D elements. |
| Shrek 2 | First feature film to use global illumination.[50] |
| Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow | First movie with all-CGI backgrounds and live-actors.[51] |
| Chicken Little | 2005 | First feature-length computer-animated film released in3D. |
| Elephants Dream | 2006 | First CGI short movie released as completely open source. Made withopen-source software, theatrical and DVD release underCreative Commons License.[52] Unique that all 3D models, animatics and software are included on the DVD free for any use. |
| Flatland | 2007 | First CGI feature film to be animated by one person. Made withLightwave 3D andAdobe After Effects.[53] |
| Plumíferos | 2009 | First CGI feature-length movie made usingopen source/free software for all 3D models, animation, lighting and render process, underLinux operating system. |
| Avatar | First full-length movie made using motion capture to create photorealistic 3D characters and to feature a fully CG 3D photorealistic world. The first virtual art department and complete virtual production pipeline was developed by directorJames Cameron and team to create the film in real-time. |
| Up | First computer-animated feature to be nominated forAcademy Award for Best Picture. |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | 2012 | First CGITMNT animated series. |
| Oblivion | 2013 | First-ever use of a virtual production set on a feature film. |
| Zafari | 2018 | First television series produced entirely using agame engine (specificallyUnreal Engine 4). |
| Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | First feature film to heavily use machine learning on artist-generated original data to aid production.[54] |
| The Mandalorian | 2019 | First usage of a 360-degree LED screen to combine virtual sets with live action actors. |
| Avatar: The Way of Water | 2022 | First use of motion capture in underwater photography. |
| The Death of Film | 2025 | The first film fully made from generative AI. The film is also the first animated film over 24 hours.[55] |
