By Robert Andrews BBC News Online

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With movies like Shrek and Monsters Inc looking better than ever, and proving box office hits, the country is looking to create a fledgling effects industry of its own - and a host of virtual leading men.

3D artists responsible for the likes of Star Wars at studios like Dreamworks and Industrial Light and Magic have gathered in Swansea to share tips with students eager to make the next big flick.

� Anthony Bloor
	Swansea Animation Days: What is it? Encourage CGI in south Wales Raise awareness of latest techniques Develop business for Welsh animators

They are at Swansea Animation Days 2002 (SAND) - a 48-hour festival showcase celebrating the latest CG techniques and mapping the future for digital animation, as 2D methods wane.

Staged by Swansea Institute's School of Digital Media - which runs a programme of animation and multimedia degrees - SAND is a platform for the mavericks making CG imaging a leading artform.

Organisers will try to convince them Wales can upgrade its established animation industry - supported by S4C over 20 years and worth an estimated �10m - to create a vibrant new CG effects community serving the both the small and big screen.

"It's the only way forward. We want to be out there flying the flag - but these are just the first steps," said the institute's director of digital media, Martin Capey.

The institute will hatch its 3D course's first graduates in June and Capey wants to give them the best possible start.

	:	Animation Days
See the latest 3D cartoon characters

The growth of CG animation - maths and design skills blur when artists create characters in virtual computer worlds - began with Toy Story creator John Lasseter's pioneering 1980s shorts.

Few outside of the 3D community ever believed computer animation could match the rich, expressive emotions available to real actors - until Lassetter's Toy Story, the first entirely virtual movie, grossed record sums in 1995.

Toy Story (1995) was a panacea for CG

But now, in the last year alone, Final Fantasy, Shrek, Ice Age and others have built on that acclaim to raise the profile of feature-length computer animations to new levels.

No longer just eye candy, their enchanting stories now stand up to most Hollywood fare.

Oscars bosses finally recognised the genre by debuting a dedicated new animation category at the 2002 ceremony.

Technically, too, artists have made strides - realistic hair, eyes, physics and facial expressions to lift characters off the virtual drawing board and into the realm of rich human emotion.

Even Saturday morning television series like Jimmy Neutron have shaken off lifeless early 3D techniques, achieving a warmth to rival hand-drawn characters'.

Student animation showcase (23.35)

Backed by the Welsh Development Agency, Swansea Institute now wants a slice of that stardom for Wales, looking to claim part of an industry now worth many millions.

While institute classes teach self-promotion alongside lighting and 3D modelling, Capey is leveraging Welsh Development Agency initiatives, European Union funds, and SAND to sow the seeds of a nascent industry.

Computer graphics are an inseparable part of all media now - all sorts of images are digitally created even if you don't know it - but it's not that difficult

Martin Capey, Swansea Institute digital media lecturer

Future graduates could spin off their own companies at Carmarthenshire multimedia business incubator MediaTechnium, for example.

"CG is an inseparable part of all media now. All sorts of images are digitally created - even if you don't know it.

"And it's not that difficult to create this sort of work - an average PC can handle it and software has come down in price," Capey said.

"The next two days are devoted to digital material. It's only going to strengthen Wales' position."

Virtual intelligence

The event will next year expand to a full week as part of International Film Festival Wales but already comes during a period of rapid CG development.

Not only have movies like Star Wars: Episode II raised the special effects bar - programmers are also making breakthroughs in artificial intelligence which give their characters realistic decision-making qualities.

It frees animators to easily create functioning societies and interactions - whether on the screen or in video games.

This industry of logic-ready virtual superheroes is the complex environment into which Wales' new creative entrepreneurs want to emerge.

Coupled with the Dragon International Studios facility slated for Bridgend in 2006, the country could begin to develop an indigenous route to movie production for upcoming talent.

But only time will tell whether any benefits will be real or just virtual.