What does “computer-generated” mean?
“Reach for the stars” is a computer-generated image. This doesn’t mean that it was created from scratch by a computer, only that computers were involved at different stages of its making. Many of the skills – and a few additional ones – required in “traditional” art are also necessary in computer-generated art. A computer-generated image is buit by placing digital models – virtual 3D sculptures – of real or imaginary objects in a virtual space. These models are defined by numbers, just like music is written with notes, or stories with letters. The skill of the 3D artist consists in creating the models and their environment with all their properties. Once these are defined, the corresponding numerical data are processed and rendered into an image that can be displayed, printed etc. It is customary to call the final image a “render”. The whole process is not unlike taking a studio photograph, only that in the case of a computer-generated image both the camera and the scene are virtual. A
