by the mid-1980s, advancements in computer graphics programs allowed matte painters to work in the digital realm. the first digital matte shot was created by painter chris evans in 1985 for "young sherlock holmes" for a scene featuring a computer-graphics (cg) animation of a knight leaping from a stained-glass window. evans first painted the window in acrylics, then scanned the painting into lucasfilm's pixar system for further digital manipulation. the computer animation (another first) blended perfectly with the digital matte, which could not have been accomplished using a traditional matte painting.