Everything about Computer-generated imagery

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

1. Read the overview: Computer-generated imageryA 5-minute orientation
2. Skim a recent paper: Demystifying Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) Influencers: The Effect of Perceived Anthropomorphism and Social Presence on Brand OutcomesInfluential work since 2022
3. Pick up a classic book: Digital Creature RiggingThe most-reprinted book on the subject
4. Read the landmark paper: Advances in Computer-Generated Imagery for Flight SimulationCited 27 times
5. Go sideways: History of computer animationA closely related topic
6. Go sideways: Computer graphicsA closely related topic

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

• Advances in Computer-Generated Imagery for Flight Simulation

  Johnson Yan · 1985 · IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications · 27 citations

• The extinct animal show: the paleoimagery tradition and computer generated imagery in factual television programs

  Vincent Campbell · 2008 · Public Understanding of Science · 11 citations

• Multiresolution statistical analysis of computer-generated fractal imagery

  J.G Jones, R.W Thomas, P.G Earwicker · 1991 · CVGIP: Graphical Models and Image Processing · 9 citations

• Computer-Generated Imagery for 4-D Meteorological Data

  William L. Hibbard · 1986 · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 9 citations

• Automata: Seeing Cyborg through the Eyes of Popular Culture, Computer-Generated Imagery, and Contemporary Theory

  Adam I. Bostic · 1998 · Leonardo · 9 citations

• Flashcard computer generated imagery medicinal plant for orthopedagogic education

  Rohman Dijaya, Noor Mayaminiy Maulidah, Dahlan Abdullah · 2018 · MATEC Web of Conferences · 6 citations

• Final Frontiers: Computer-Generated Imagery and the Science Fiction Film

  Stacey Abbott · 2006 · Science Fiction Studies · 6 citations

• Simulation of ERCP with computer generated imagery and a “reality engine” computer

  D Curtis, J Peifer, M Sinclair · 1995 · Gastrointestinal Endoscopy · 3 citations

🆕 Influential since 2022

• Demystifying Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) Influencers: The Effect of Perceived Anthropomorphism and Social Presence on Brand Outcomes

  Regina Jihea Ahn, Su Yeon Cho, Wanhsiu Sunny Tsai · 2022 · Journal of Interactive Advertising · 162 citations

• Revealing the face of Ramesses II through computed tomography, digital 3D facial reconstruction and computer-generated Imagery

  Caroline M. Wilkinson, Sahar N. Saleem, Ching Yiu Jessica Liu · 2023 · Journal of Archaeological Science · 12 citations

• Is the Influencer I Follow Human or Robot? The Value of Computer-generated Imagery Influencers to Luxury Brands

  Grace White, Lubna Nafees · 2022 · GLIMS Journal of Management Review and Transformation · 2 citations

• An Analysis of the Use of Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) in Nollywood: The Examples of Aníkúlápó and Lisabi

  Oyekola Taiwo Samuel · 2025 · International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Studies · 2 citations

• The Use of Live Action, Animation, and Computer-Generated Imagery in the Depiction of Non-Human Primates in Film

  Alexandra Martinez, Marco Campera, K. A. I. Nekaris · 2022 · Animals · 2 citations

📚 Books worth reading

• 📕Digital Creature RiggingStewart Jones · 2012
• A practical approach to medical image processingElizabeth Berry, Elizabeth Berry · 2007
• 📕Beginner's Guide to Multi-Level Image ThresholdingNadaradjane Sri Madhava Raja, Nilanjan Dey · 2020
• 3D Photoshop for Creative ProfessionalsStephen Burns · 2015
• 📕High-Speed 3D Imaging with Digital Fringe Projection TechniquesSong Zhang · 2016
• 📕Physics of PET and SPECT ImagingMagnus Dahlbom · 2017
• 3D graphics for game programmingJungHyun Han · 2011
• 📕Computer-Aided Detection and Diagnosis in Medical ImagingQiang Li, Robert M. Nishikawa · 2015

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics

• History of computer animation The history of computer animation began as early as the 1940s and 1950s, when people began to experiment with computer graphics – most notably by John…
• Computer graphics Computer graphics (CG) deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film…
• Visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking…
• Real-time computer graphics Real-time computer graphics or real-time rendering is the sub-field of computer graphics focused on producing and analyzing images in real time. The term…
• Visualization (graphics) Visualization (or visualisation in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also known as graphics visualization, is any technique for creating…
• Virtual cinematography Virtual cinematography is the set of cinematographic techniques performed in a computer graphics environment. It includes a wide variety of subjects like…
• Computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both…
• Visual computing Visual computing is a generic term for all computer science disciplines dealing with images and 3D models, such as computer graphics, image processing…