Editing Special effect (section)

===Introduction of computer-generated imagery (CGI)===
The use of [[computer animation]] in film dates back to the early 1980s, with the films ''[[Tron]]'' (1982)<ref name="Tron"/> and ''[[Golgo 13: The Professional]]'' (1983).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Beck|first1=Jerry|title=The Animated Movie Guide|date=2005|publisher=[[Chicago Review Press]]|isbn=1569762228|page=216|url=https://archive.org/details/animatedmoviegui0000beck/page/216|url-access=registration}}</ref> Since the 1990s, a profound innovation in special effects has been the development of [[computer-generated imagery]] (CGI), which has changed nearly every aspect of motion picture special effects. Digital compositing allows far more control and creative freedom than optical compositing, and does not degrade the image as with analogue (optical) processes. Digital imagery has enabled technicians to create detailed models, matte "paintings," and even fully realised characters with the malleability of computer software.

Arguably the biggest and most "spectacular" use of CGI is in the creation of photo-realistic images of science-fiction/fantasy characters, settings and objects. Images can be created in a computer using the techniques of animated cartoons and model animation. ''[[The Last Starfighter]]'' (1984) used computer generated spaceships instead of physical [[scale model]]s. In 1993, stop-motion animators working on the realistic dinosaurs of [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]'' were retrained in the use of computer input devices. By 1995, films such as ''[[Toy Story]]'' underscored the fact that the distinction between live-action films and animated films was no longer clear. Other landmark examples include a character made up of broken pieces of a stained-glass window in ''[[Young Sherlock Holmes]]'', a shape-shifting character in ''[[Willow (1988 film)|Willow]]'', a tentacle formed from water in ''[[The Abyss]]'', the T-1000 Terminator in ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]'', hordes and armies of robots and fantastic creatures in the ''[[Star Wars prequel trilogy|Star Wars (prequel)]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' trilogies, and the planet, Pandora, in ''[[Avatar (2009 film)|Avatar]]''.