Unit 66: 3D Modelling: Task 1 - Applications of 3D

3D in Games

3D Monster Maze was the first ever game released on a commercial games machine that was in 3D. It was developed by Malcolm Evans in 1981 for the Sinclair ZX81 platform. The game awarded points for each step the player took without getting caught by the Tyrannosaurus Rex that hunted them in the 16 by 16 cell, randomly generated maze.

http://listverse.com/2010/05/11/15-firsts-in-video-game-history/

Transition to 3D

The fifth generation is most noted for the rise of fully 3D games. While there were games prior that had used three dimensional environments, such as Virtua Racing and Star Fox,

Virtua Racing

Star Fox

It was in this era that many game designers began to move traditionally 2D and pseudo-3D genres into full 3D. Super Mario 64 on the N64, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon on the PlayStation and Nights into Dreams... on the Saturn, are prime examples of this trend. Their 3D environments were widely marketed and they steered the industry's focus away from side-scrolling and rail-style titles, as well as opening doors to more complex games and genres. Games like GoldenEye 007, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Virtua Fighter were nothing like shoot-em-ups, RPGs or fighting games before them. 3D became the main focus in this era as well as a slow decline of cartridges in favor of CDs, which allowed much greater storage capacity than what was previously possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games#Transition_to_3D_and_CDs

GoldenEye 007

In 1997 GoldenEye 007 was released exclusively for the N64 console and was proved extremely successful, combining 3D graphics and a greater realism than had been seen before.

Hyperrealistic 3D graphics are now the norm (and expected) for most major releases today.

The Last of Us

However, there are examples of how 3D graphics have been used to enhance a more retro-appearance and gameplay.

Limbo

3D in Film and TV

Films

Pre-digital Animators - Willis O'Brien

Pre-digital Animators - Ray Harryhausen

Futureworld

The first 3D animation in a film was included in the 1976 movie called Futureworld, where A 3D animation of a rotating palm and face made of polygons is shown. This was actually the world's first 3D animation rendered in 1972 by Ed Catmull and Fred Parke.

Jurrasic Park

The first major revolutionary use of composited 3D imagery in a movie was in Jurassic Park released in 1993, almost all of the dinosaurs were created in using 3D CGI in and shown in the live-action scenes of the movie.

Avatar 2009

Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2011

Animation

Pixar's Tin Toy 1988

TV

Reboot

3D featured rarely on television until 1994 when a Canadian production company called Mainframe Entertainment based in Vancouver released a CGI TV series called ReBoot. The series was credited to be the first ever full-length, completely computer-animated TV series. ReBoot was a Canadian CGI-animated action-adventure cartoon series that originally aired from 1994 to 2001.

Now it is commonplace:

Breaking Bad