|
| ''Metadata''
|1971
|This is an experimental 2D2-D animated short drawn on a data tablet by [[Peter Foldes]], who used the world's first key -frame animation software, invented by Nestor Burtnyk and Marceli Wein.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=10954 |title=Metadata - NFB - Film Collection - National Film Board of Canada |website=www.nfb.ca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321065011/http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=10954 |archive-date=2009-03-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/aboutUs/nrc90/achievements/animation_e.html |title = Home - National Research Council Canada|date = April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/tree/nfbc.html |title=National Research Council of Canada |access-date=2008-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402221929/http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/tree/nfbc.html |archive-date=2012-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/reports/p021.htm|title=USA Visit 1971|website=www.chilton-computing.org.uk}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Out of the Unknown]]''
|1971
|Produced by Charles McGhie, some early [[computer-generated imagery]] techniques were combined with [[stop-motion]] and real-time [[visual effects]] to create the opening title sequence for the show's fourth and final series.
|-
| ''[[A Computer Animated Hand]]''
|''[[Great (1975 film)|Great]]''
|1975
|The [[Academy Awards|OscarAcademy Award]]-winning 1975 short animated film about the life of the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] engineer [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] contains a brief sequence of a rotating [[Wire-frame model|wire-frame]] model of Brunel's final project, the iron steamship ''[[SS Great Eastern]]''.
|-
|''[[Futureworld]]''
|1976
|First use of [[3D computer graphics|3-D computer graphics]] for animated hand and face. Used 2D2-D digital compositing to materialize characters over a background.<ref name="filmsite9"/>
|-
|''[[Logan's Run (film)|Logan's Run]]''
|''Hobart Street Scene''
|1976
|First use of a 3D3-D [[hidden-line removal]] movie depicting an architectural street scene.<ref>“Understanding BIM: The Past, Present and Future” Routledge 2020 Ingram Page 260</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=|first1= |title=The first architectural movie of a real street scene from 1976 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvI31PLC4-0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/yvI31PLC4-0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|accessdate=6 April 2021 |work=youtube.com |date=}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It shows the planned Crown Courts in [[Hobart]] in 1976 and was used for planning approval. The buildings exist today.
|-
|''[[Demon Seed]]''
|-
|''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''
|Used an animated 3D3-D [[Wire-frame model|wire-frame]] graphic for the trench run briefing sequence on [[Yavin|Yavin 4]]. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 1989.
|-
|''[[The Black Hole]]''
|rowspan=2 align="center" |1979
|Used raster [[wire-frame model]] rendering for the opening credits depicting a 3D3-D wireframewire-frame of a black hole.<ref name=filmsite10>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsite.org/visualeffects10.html |title=Greatest Visual and Special Effects (F/X) - Milestones in Film, 1975-1979 | last = Dirks | first = Tim |website= Filmsite.org | publisher = Filmsite}}</ref>
|-
|''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]''
|''[[Looker]]''
|align="center" |1981
|First computer-generated model of a whole [[human body]]. Also, first use of 3D3-D shaded CGI.<ref name=filmsite10/><ref name=Netzley49>{{cite book | last = Netzley | first = Patricia D | title = Encyclopedia of Movie Special Effects | publisher = Checkmark Books | year = 2001 | page = 49}}</ref>
|-
|''[[The Works (film)|The Works]]''
|rowspan=3 align="center" |1982
|The [[New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab]] premiereddebuted a trailer at [[SIGGRAPH]] 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]]''
|-
|''[[Tron]]''
|First extensive use (15 minutes fully computer -generated) of 3D CGI including the [[Light Cycle]] sequence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/tron.html|title=Tron - The 1982 movie|access-date=2010-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525083246/http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/tron.html|archive-date=2009-05-25|url-status=dead}}</ref> Also includes very early facial animation (for the [[List of Tron characters#Master Control Program|Master Control Program]]).
|-
|''[[Golgo 13: The Professional|Golgo 13]]''
|-
|''[[Dream Flight]]''
| First 3D3-D generated film telling a story, shown in Electronic Theater in SIGGRAPH ‘83
|-
|''[[Rock & Rule]]''
|-
|''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]''
|First use of the [[Cyberware (company)|Cyberware]] [[3D3-D scanner]], first 3D3-D [[morphing]].<ref name=filmsite12/>
|-
| ''[[Luxo Jr.]]''
|-
|''[[Rendez-vous in Montreal]]''
|First 3D3-D generated film involving [[virtual actors]] Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart
|-
|''[[Doctor Who]]''
|First title sequence to be made with 3D3-D animation. Debuted in [[Doctor Who (season 24)|season 24]] featuring the [[Seventh Doctor]].
|-
|''[[Willow (1988 film)|Willow]]''
|rowspan=3 align="center" |1988
|First extensive photorealistic use of CGI morphing effect in a [[feature film]].<ref name=Netzley239>Netzley, p. 239.</ref>
|-
|''[[Akira (1988 film)|Akira]]''
|-
|''[[Tin Toy]]''
|First computer-animated short film to win an Oscar[[Academy Award]]. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2003.
|-
|''[[The Abyss]]''
|rowspan=4 align="center"|1989
|First digital 3DCGI water visual effect.<ref name=netzley50>Netzley, p. 50.</ref>
|-
|''[[The Jim Henson Hour]]''
|TV series with real-time and rendered CGI featuring digitally puppeteered CGCGI character "Waldo."
|-
|''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]''
|''[[Total Recall (1990 film)|Total Recall]]''
|rowspan=4 align="center" |1990
|Use of [[motion -capture]] for CGI characters.
|-
|''[[Die Hard 2]]''
|-
|''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]''
|First 2D2-D animated film to be produced with solely digital ink and paint ([[Computer Animation Production System|CAPS]]). First fully digital feature film.
|-
|''[[Backdraft (film)|Backdraft]]''
|-
|''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]''
|First realistic human movements on a CGI character.<ref name=netzley50/> The first partially computer-generated main character and the first blockbuster movie to feature multiple morphing effects.<ref name=filmsite14/> First use of a personal computer to create major movie 3D3-D effects.
|-
|''Pentagon''
| ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]''
| rowspan="6" align="center" |1993
|First photorealistic CGCGI creatures.<ref name=netzley50/> Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2018.
|-
|''[[The Incredible Crash Dummies (film)|The Incredible Crash Dummies]]''
| First fully CG CGI-animated TV special.
|-
|''[[Live & Kicking]]''
| ''[[Waterworld]]''
|rowspan=3 align="center" |1995
|First realistic CGCGI water.<ref name=netzley50/>
|-
| ''[[Casper (film)|Casper]]''
|First CGI lead character in a feature-length live-action film, and first CGI characters to interact realistically with live -actors.
|-
|''[[Toy Story]]''
|''[[Cassiopeia (1996 film)|Cassiopeia]]''
|rowspan=5 align="center" |1996
| A Brazilian CGI -animated feature film produced and released by NDR Filmes in Brazil on April 1, 1996. First CGI feature-length animation that did not use scanned models for heads.
|-
|''[[The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film)|The Island of Dr. Moreau]]''
|First film to use motion -capture CGI to portray a character.
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Country (TV series)|Donkey Kong Country]]''
|First half-hour computer-animated TV series to use motion -capture for their characters.
|-
| ''[[DragonHeart]]''
|First 2D2-D all-CGI backgrounds with live -actors. First film to use ILM's Caricature software (created during the film's production).
|-
| ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers]]''
|-
|''[[Marvin the Martian in 3D]]''
|First CGCGI film created for viewing with 3D3-D glasses.
|-
|''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]''
|First wide-release feature film with majorCGI elements rendered under the [[Open-source software|open-source]] [[Linux]] operating system.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6339 | publisher=Linux Journal | title=Linux and Star Trek | author=Rowe, Robin | date=2003-01-01}}</ref> Also included a number of advances, specifically in the rendering of flowing water.
|-
|''[[A Bug's Life]]''
|rowspan=3 align="center" |1998
|First CGCGI anamorphic widescreen film. First all-digital transfer to [[DVD]]. First film to be reframed for [[home video]] releases.
|-
|''[[Invasion: Earth (TV series)|Invasion: Earth]]''
|-
|''[[What Dreams May Come (film)|What Dreams May Come]]''
|First use of 3D CGI in combination with 3D3-D ___location scanning ([[Lidar]]) and motion-analysis based 3D3-D camera tracking in a feature film.
|-
|''[[Fight Club]]''
|-
|''[[The Matrix]]''
|First use of CGCGI [[interpolation]] with [[bullet time]] effects. Added to the National Film Registry in 2012.
|-
|''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace]]''
|First film to have a fully CG CGI-rendered supporting character using performance footage captured on -set, pioneering this commonly used technique. Extensive use of CGCGI for thousands of shots, including backgrounds, environmentalvisual effects, vehicles, and crowds.
|}
| ''[[Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within]]''
| rowspan="4" align="center" |2001
|First CGI feature-length digital film to be made based on [[photorealism]] and [[live -action]] principles. The first theatrically released feature film to utilize performance capture ([[motion -capture]]) for all of its characters actions.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997597,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051121073232/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997597,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 21, 2005 | magazine=Time | title=Cinema: A Painstaking Fantasy | date=2000-07-31}}</ref>
|-
|''[[Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (film)|Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius]]''
|-
|''[[Shrek]]''
|First CGI -animated movie to receivewin an Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature Film.
|-
|''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]''
|-
|''[[Ice Age (2002 film)|Ice Age]]''
|First CGI full-length feature animated film exclusively rendered with a ray tracer (CGI Studio).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.awn.com/animationworld/ray-tracers-blue-sky-studios|title=Ray Tracers: Blue Sky Studios|access-date=2016-06-30}}</ref>
|-
|''[[The Matrix Reloaded]]''
|align="center" |2003
|''The Burly Brawl'' - the first use of "universal capture", the combination of [[Motion capture#Markerless|dense (rather than point-based) motion -capture]], per-frame [[texture mapping|texture]] capture and [[optical flow]] of [[pixel]]s over the data from [[multi-camera setup|7 camera setup]] bought into a shared UV space by projection onto a neutral expression geometry leading to the introduction of realistic [[digital look-alike]]s
|-
|''[[Able Edwards]]''
|-
|''[[:es:Olocoons_(miniserie)|Olocoons]]''
|First CGI -animated series to use Cel-shaded designs and backgrounds mixed with 2D2-D elements.
|-
|''[[Shrek 2]]''
|-
|''[[Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow]]''
|First movie with all-CGI backgrounds and live -actors.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.05/conran.html | magazine=Wired | title=Kid Robot and the World of Tomorrow}}</ref>
|-
|''[[The Polar Express (film)|The Polar Express]]''
|''[[Chicken Little (2005 film)|Chicken Little]]''
|align="center" |2005
|First feature-length [[computer animation|computer-animated]] film released in limited [[3D film|3D]] releases.
|-
|''[[Elephants Dream]]''
|''[[Plumíferos]]''
|rowspan=3 align="center" |2009
|First CGI feature-length movie made using [[Open Source]]/[[Free Software]] for all 3D3-D models, animation, lighting and render process, under [[Linux]] operating system.
|-
|''[[Avatar (2009 film)|Avatar]]''
|First full-length movie made using performance motion-capture to create photorealistic 3D3-D characters and to feature a fully CG 3D3-D photorealistic world. The first virtual art department and complete virtual production pipeline was developed by director [[James Cameron]] and team to create the film in real-time.
|-
|''[[Up (2009 film)|Up]]''
| 