1960s

During most of the 1960s the computer was-in the opinion of most visual artists, critics, and spectators- too different a medium to be used in the creation of artistic projects. Similar prejudices about technology arose in the nineteenth century when machines were introduced on a massive scale to the industrial world, eventually becoming popular in everyday life. During the 1960s the impact and influence of computers on animation and imaging can be compared to the impact photography had on the visual arts of the late nineteenth century. Miniature painters and engravers feared hat the new invention would replace hem, and some of them even called it the Ôinvention of the devilÕ.

Computers have been used for the creation of imaged since the 1950s, but the first artistic experiments with computer-based systems did not take place until the early 1960s. Most of the early animations and images produced with computers were created in research laboratory instead of art studios, and most of them used two-dimensional techniques at first. Even though most of the individuals who created these early woks came from science and engineering, and they lacked formal training in fine arts, their work showed a strong artistic intention and a significant degree of aesthetic consciousness. Because using the early computer systems to create animation and images was not easy, many of these early creators had to put more effort into the process of creating the works than into the form and content of the work themselves.

Many early computer artists paid more attention to the development of the computer-based imaging tools than with the style of their work. However this technology is still in the stage of development, as a result these early works were all defined in a major way by the limitations of the computer equipment itself, and by the lack of computer programs that were capable of rendering complex images in a variety of ways. Some of the pioneers of computer art are John Whitney, Sr. and Charles Csuri. One of the earliest experiments with computer-generated character animation was Mr. Computer Image ABC created in 1962 by Lee Harrison III with the Scanimate system at Computer Image Corporation( the system won an Emmy Award in 1972).