Science Fiction author Greg Egan wrote a novel called Distress[0] where the main character is a science journalist who makes documentaries. He uses software exactly like this. The book was published in 1995. It's a very good book and I highly recommended it and basically any other book written by Egan. (My personal favorite is probably "Diaspora" followed closely by "Permutation City".)
[0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19328253-distress