It isn’t often that I read a text book that is a real page turner, but Tom Sito’s new book - MOVING INNOVATION, A History of Computer Animation is definitely a must-read.
It covers over a century of innovations including the first motion capture experiments of Etienne-Jules Marey, a contemporary of Eadweard Muybridge, to the use of optical effects by Georges Melies in his magical films, the design and optic effects wizardry of John Oxberry’s revolutionary contribution, the Oxberry camera, and on through the dawn and emergence of the Computer Graphics revolution, Moving Innovation follows the trail of historical developments of dreamers and inventors right up to the present. Even though such innovators as Elfriede and Oskar Fischinger, Mary Ellen Bute, and Norman McLaren never touched a computer, we are taken step by step through the groundwork they laid for present day CG. The book brings to life the colorful cast of math nerds, avant-garde artists, cold warriors, dope smoking hippies, video game enthusiasts and studio executives who were the strange bedfellows who brought about this new medium.
Tom delves into the work of engineers and inventors like John Whitney, Senior, who is considered the father of computer animation. After the war, visionaries like Whitney scavenged the then numerous army surplus stores for components such as Mark V and VII antiaircraft gun sights. They modified them to create things like the Analog Cam Machine, which eventually led Whitney to becoming the first IBM artist in residence. Another chapter is devoted to “Spook Work: the Government and the Military” and the seldom acknowledged major role that technologies developed for World War II played. They enabled innovations in the newly dreamed of area of computer animation.
Films such as Tron and Toy Story didn’t just happen. Names such as Alexander Schure and Ivan Sutherland are hardly household words but they both made substantial contributions for present day animation to build on. Schure, an entrepreneur who won $10,000 on Jeopardy on the topic of animation, founded the New York Institute of Technology. His financing and support created the first research lab/studio to attempt computer animated features and commercial work. Sutherland, the creator of the first graphic interface program Sketchpad, is considered one of the fathers of computer graphics and started the legendary computer graphics program at the University of Utah. This list of innovators and visionaries goes on and on right up to the present.
Chapters devoted to visual effects and motion capture take the reader step by step into how each new discovery has changed the art of animation. The path from Walt Disney classics such as Pinocchio and Lady and the Tramp to John Lasseter’s Brave Little Toaster and the birth of Pixar is traced in detail.With the rise of Pixar and the conquest of Hollywood the story is far from over and the author will have plenty of new material for a sequel as CG continues to develop.
As an animator and Hollywood insider for more than 30 years, Tom Sito has experienced first-hand many of the innovations that he writes about, and is a masterful story teller. His impressive list of credits includes being one of the key players in Disney’s 1980’s and ‘90’s animation revival. He has worked on such Disney classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. In 1995 he left Disney to help set up the DreamWorks animation unit. In addition he is also a professor of Cinema Practice in the School of Cinematic Arts at University of Southern California.
The 336 page book has hundreds of crisp black and white photographs as well as copious footnotes, a brief alphabetical description of the cast of characters, and a glossary of terms. The extensive bibliography steers the reader to other books, articles, and on line sources on related topics. Each and every paragraph is just crammed with many interesting facts, and as you read, each paragraph leaves you smiling (or outright laughing) and the narrative never seems boring or pedantic.
Whether you are involved in the animation or games industry or a lover of animation this book should be read and kept close for handy reference. For animation schools, Moving Innovation is an invaluable educational reference to not only teach students about their past but to guide them into the 3D revolution.
Publication Date: 24 May 2013 Price: $29.95 7 x 9 Hardcover
Order from: http://mitpress.mit.edu or on the shelf of your local bookstore
