Small 2D images, such as characters or objects, moved around the screen in video games and computer graphics.
When you look at my early animation, I'm doing the same animation with sprites that they were doing in the early video games. I was moving little pieces of memory around the screen.
Copper Giloth, Copper Giloth on Video Games to Video Art
So either you would fill your timeline with lots and lots of sprites, they were called: the images and the sounds and the material you would use for making a CD-ROM.
LIA, 1990s Net Art: Auriea Harvey, Joshua Davis, LIA, Draves