The computer graphics industry started with the development of the first computer-aided design (CAD) programs in the early 1960s. The 3D wireframe and 2D layout programs that dominated at the time are the foundation of everything computer graphics. Photographs from the era show engineers sitting in front of a large, flat-faced CRT using a light pen to do CAD.
In the early days, some brave souls developed their own CAD programs. For instance, in 1972, Ed Catmull made the first polygonal 3D computer-animated CG film of a hand with a 3D modeling and animation program he wrote. It could reproduce a disembodied hand on a screen and make it move.
