This effect was the first CG character to be scanned and painted directly onto film using a laser.
The movie's visual effects include many discoveries in computer made special effects, marking the first use of natural human movement for a CG character and the first computer made main character.
We had CG characters since the beginning, but the bar has been raised since then.
Zach Braff and Joey King were on set, recording their dialogue simultaneously with the other actors, whenever their CG characters were present in a scene.
Because the motion of CG characters is derived from the movements of real people, it results in more realistic and nuanced computer character animation than if the animation were created manually.
Motion capture is used when live-action actors wear special suits that allow computers to copy their movements into CG characters.
Directors can see the actors performance in real time, and watch the results on the motion capture driven CG character.
However, the game is given a 2.5D look, featuring rendered level designs and CG characters.
Originally, Gollum was set to solely be a CG character, but Jackson was so impressed by Serkis' audition tape that they used him on set as well.