Computer graphics Vs. Traditional methods

As with any artistic endeavor, the final result is only as good as the skills of the people creating it; the tools are always secondary to the talent. Practical models have a distinct advantage in their interaction with light on a set or outdoor environment. Our eyes are accustomed to viewing images captured in a real space through a lens and onto film. The many subtle nuances of this seemingly simple and commonplace technique are very time consuming and are difficult to duplicate in an all-digital environment.

Creating a completely realistic all-digital reality occasionally is done so well that it goes unnoticed altogether. Most times, the whole point of a visual effect is to blend seemlessly into the context of a film and not stand out at all. Mission impossible is a movie that is an excellent example which had several such sequences. One of the scenes depicted a helicopter entering a tunnel entrance. No sets or models were used at all, but you never know it.

One of the biggest advantages of computer graphics is being able to do a job when it cannot be done any other way. In the movie, Small soldiers, ILM created more than 300 shots with many hundreds of interacting commandos and Gorgonite action figures, all completely digital and integrated perfectly with the live action sets. Achieving that volume of photorealistic animation on a very strict production timetable would not have been possible with any practical techniques. The animators even had to match with the few live action puppet closeup shots.