H: Digital Animation

Computer Animation:
It 
It is the creation of moving images (animation) using computer technology. Computer animation is broken down into two categories. Computer-generated animation where the animation is designed solely on the computer system using animation and 3D graphics software, and computer-assisted animation where traditional animations are computerized.
Computer animation can be described as an art form that involves bringing still images to life using computer technology. Animation in this form can apply to images on a computer or to those in film. When computer animation is used for movies, it is often called computer-generated imagery (CGI).

Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to the art of stop motion animation of 3D models and frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations.


3D Animation:

3D computer animation  are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. Such images may be stored for viewing later or displayed in real-time.

The History of Computer Animation:

William Fetter:

(1928-2002), is an art director who worked for Boeing, was a computer graphics pioneer and the first to draw the human figure using a computer. He coined the term Computer Graphics in 1960, to describe his work at Boeing.

One of the first displays of computer animation was Futureworld (1976), which included an animation of a human face and hand:

Then the appearance of Toy Story in 1995 which was a computer-animated film released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's first feature film as well as the first ever feature film to be made entirely with CGI. 
Toy Story Trailer 1995:

Other External Links:
Part1

Part2 : click here to watch it
3D animation Industry:
One of the leading companies in animation and special effects is Weta Digital. Weta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. Weta Digital has developed several proprietary software packages to enable them to achieve groundbreaking visual effects.  he scale of the battles required for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy led to the creation of MASSIVE, a program which allows the animation of huge numbers of agents: independent characters acting according to pre-set rules.

To date, Weta Digital has won five Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003), King Kong (2005), and Avatar (2009).

Other example of making CGI Animation:



Sources:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.03/animation.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_animation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_animation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weta_Digital
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/nyit/morrison/index.html
http://www.viz.tamu.edu/courses/viza615/97spring/history.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/28234/frames/history/computer.html
http://www.wimeck.com/tutorials_files/introduction%203d/history_3d/h3d.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Fetter
http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/3d_rendering_history_part_1._humble_beginnings
http://courses.washington.edu/eatreun/html/history/h_nw.html
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5070359_history-computer-animation.html