Thread: Please tell me about the first use of 3D computer graphics

3D graphics came about in the late 70s, but it was almost exclusively R&D at that time. Actually, almost all graphics at this time was vector based. In the early 80s companies started comping out with abilities to make animations for commercials or movies. The first movie to really use 3D graphics was Tron. I guess that would be the first use of computer graphics commercially.

Apple was the first to incorporate 3D graphics in a computer with the original Macintosh in 1984. It had a 3D rendered chess program. It was really 3D rendered, but they faked the lighting. Real lighting wasn't invented until early 2000s.

Pixar made the first 3D animated movie in the early 90s: Toy Story.

3D Monster Maze was the first computer game that was real 3D, it came out for the Sinclair in 1981, but the first "modern" 3D game was DOOM, made by id in the early 90s.

CGI didn't really take off until the 90s because everything got standardized by the release of OpenGL. OpenGL is still the gold standard for 3D graphics and will probably stay there for a long time because it has no competitors. It's closest competitors are DirectX and Allegro, but combined, they barely take up 5% of the market.

Really, the first "modern" 3D game was Quake. Doom still used sprites for all bad guys and stuff. IIRC, Quake was the first game where everything was 3d.Also, I believe Doom didn't support having one platform above the other (like a balcony, or going under a staircase). So like, you wouldn't be able to implement a multi-level parking lot (or even spiral stairs).

I thought the first CGI character was the glass window in Sherlock Holmes Jr.

Also, in StarWars (1977) They used computers to add in motion-blur (after chroma keying) and to render some of the planets I think.

Lucas Film then invented an animation program along with edit-droid that Disney bought and later became Pixar, which for some time seperated from Disney and was supported by Steve Jobs as they made little cute animations mainly for advertisements. And then they had to rejoin Disney when they wanted to make Toy Story because they needed a studio to back them up.

Motion-blur isn't 3D graphics, it's a 2D vector effect on still image. Star Wars didn't have any CG in it until it was updated in the 90s. Star Wars was actually a medium budget movie and didn't have the money to do that kind of thing. A second of CG at that time would have cost $1000.