It was possible to plan precise outcomes with computer animation, which lent itself to product promotion. From the beginning computer animation became equatable with 3D, which in turn became equatable with heightened realism. Just as 2D animation became almost exclusively associated with a flat, linear style of drawing, 3D has become associated with hyper realism. In fact, the aesthetic driving 3D computer animation is to have form and surface become imperceptable from cinematic realism. To a great extent this goal has been reached.
Realism implies narrative and narrative requires linear thinking.
One could argue that under these circumstances the visual exists solely to further the plot or explicate the thesis. The plot or thesis springs fully formed, not from the optic nerve of an artist, but from the mind of a writer. The animator or video artist is then but a servant of a script. The dethroning of the writer is the real revolution of abstract and non-narrative motion imaging. The fate of the visual arts in mainstream media culture has been similar.