Computer studies have been associated with programming. But for all those with a creative mind and a vivid imagination there is one profession that will surely fascinate you. Computer animation & visual effects.

Ever dreamt of working for the film industry? You don't have to be an actor or a director to do so. Computer Animators share equally the glamour of a blockbusting creation. Films like Terminator II, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Men In Black, Armageddon, The Mummy, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings (the list could go on...) have based their success on their phantasmagorical visual effects.

Light sabers in Star Wars were in fact simple metal bars that were later coated with fluorescent blue, red, green computer generated glow. In The Mummy, the leading actor Brendan Fraser was fighting against invisible opponents which were afterwards added with the help of computer programs.

There are a lot of US companies whose job is to make digital effects for films. One of them is George Lucas Industrial Light & Magic (I. L. M.). Dennis Muren , George Lucas right-hand man is the one behind the job. He is the Art Director responsible for a whole team of computer animators. He's been awarded 8 movie awards for films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Terminator II , Jurassic Park.. I. L. M. has a website you can visit www.ilm.com. By clicking on Company Information you get to download a valuable pdf infopacket (needs Acrobat Reader) packed with compelling info on the film industry, the companies profile, universities and colleges to study computer animation & visual effects and lots more

Dream Quest and Pixar are two more American companies famous for their grand contribution to show-biz. Dream Quest and Walt Disney are the ones behind the blockbusting success of Armageddon while Pixar offered us the more light-hearted Toy Story. Here in England, London, FrameStore has created many of the images and effects that brought Lewis Carrolls masterpiece, Alice in Wonderland, to life.

Another interesting side of this job is film introductions. Some of the most impressive film openings are created by Kyle Coopers Imaginary Forces. Their portfolio includes the likes of Seven, Mission Impossible, The Island of Dr. Moreau , Flubber, Twister, Spawn, Blade as well as the eye-catching trailer for Men In Black. Kyle Cooper and his colleagues use fast-cutting and startling images to draw viewers into a movie before the story ever begins.

Computer animators can of course work for other more down to earth posts such as for TV ads (I. L .M. alone earned $10,000 per second for a Coca Cola commercial) and for music video-clips, Peter Gabriel's being one of the most surreal examples. Architecture is another branch in an ever-increasing need of computer animation. Computer generated blueprints help the prospective buyers to decide on their ideal house and they can do all that just by clicking on the mouse.

No matter where one chooses to get their teeth into, it goes without saying that computer animation & visual effects are highly creative professions. They combine art and technology, audio and video. They give one the chance to animate their own world, to shape their rich imagination into a being that walks, talks, runs, eats, works...

Computer animation can cost thousands of dollars if viewed as a highly professional job. Hollywood companies use high-end Silicon Graphics workstations (like SG Oxygen Computers) to support the hundreds of Gigabytes in RAM memory being used to create entirely computer generated scenes.

The rest of us have the option of a 3 GHz processor with a 512 MB RAM. Windows XP are preferable to Windows 95 or 98. The most widely used software in the market is 3D Studio MAX (used in Contact), Soft Image (used in Godzilla), Maya (used in The Mummy) and Light wave.