Moving Innovation

Moving Innovation: A History Of Computer Animation, by Tom Sito, is the first comprehensive history of CGI and digital animation. Sito discusses pioneering computer animators such as John Whitney, computer-game graphics, cinematic visual effects (including Jurassic Park), and animation studios such as Pixar (Toy Story and its sequels).

The book also includes recent developments such as the motion-capture technology used in The Lord Of The Rings (I, II, III), The Hobbit, the recent King Kong remake, and Avatar. It's a useful companion to Cartoons (Giannalberto Bendazzi) and The World Encyclopedia Of Cartoons (Maurice Horn), histories of hand-drawn animation. The first survey of computer art - HW Franke's Computer Graphics, Computer Art - was published over forty years ago.