When my husband and I were recently selecting new flooring with Empire Today, the use of animation software to help us visualize our options was truly impressive. It made me appreciate the far-reaching applications for advancements made in computerized animation. We also used it for selecting Empire Carpet for our basement. This experience made me suggest this field to our daughter, who is half way through college, working on a fine arts degree. We looked into specialized graduate schools for the purpose of getting the most advanced training possible in animation software. She has always loved cartoons and animated films, so she finds this notion extremely exciting and said she in fact had this on her mind, as a field to explore. As much as I've always been passionate about hand-drawn animation, having been raised on classic cartoons and animated feature films, the useful applications and amazing quality of animation software is undeniable. From science, to entertainment, to commercial applications, it is in fact a wonderful and valuable tool. Just think of the ease of making complete alternate versions or partial revisions of a design of any kind. My daughter is motivated even more to applying herself in her education, making sure to get the fundamentals down of drawing by hand and traditional animation in order to have the sense for subtlety and perspective that she can eventually drawn from in learning to apply animation software.

The art of 3D animation has taken the world by storm. It is one of the most interactive and interesting ways to watch a movie. With many movies now adapting to 3D animation, there are many movies to select from to watch and to enjoy.

3D animation movies are helping to boost box office sales around the world by up to 30%. The success of films like Avatar, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Pixar's Toy Story 3 are all examples of films which have grossed more than $1 billion each at the worldwide box office, and just weeks ago Rio became a huge international market success, tripling its domestic earnings overseas. In many territories, ticket sales have been flat but increased surcharges on 3D admissions have made up the difference.

There are 34 3D movies scheduled for 2011, compared to 25 last year, and the increased revenues from 3D are driving more theaters to convert to digital projection in the US and overseas as well. Two years ago, Pixar's Up became the first 3D movie to ever open the Cannes Film Festival, and this year another Disney entry, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, is scheduled to debut.

The Disney animation classic The Lion King is now coming to 3D thanks to months of painstaking animation work by artists. All of the favorite Lion King characters will be returning to the big screen for the first time in 3D, and there is even a Zulu language version that will be available to South African fans for the first time. This special edition will be screened at select 2D theaters in South Africa.

The film will be released nationwide on August 26th, which marks 17 years since its original release. The producer of the 3D version, Don Hahn, said that he is most proud of all the talented people who worked to make the film a reality. He said his goal is always to pick the best artists, technicians and directors and allow them to create magic together. He finds that working with these talented and creative people is the most thrilling part of his job.