"Fine art," wrote the British art critic John Rushkin more than a century ago, "is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together." Add to that the computer and a whole new avenue of expression is born.

As with any production of a work of art, the animator puts his ideas into thousands of small drawings, which by means of slight progressive changes, are used to stimulate motion in an animated film.  Throughout the years, this area of film production had been both laborious and time-consuming, as well as extremely expensive.

As of the 1970s, the National Research Council of Canada had developed techniques which enabled the professional animator to use the computer to assist him in his creative work, provide him with a new means of expression and reduce the time required at the drawing board.

The Film Animator Today -- Artist without a canvas

Retired NRC Scientists Burtnyk and Wein -- Honoured as Fathers of Computer Animation Technology in Canada