The most rapidly growing area and possibly the most fascinating in the computer industry is graphics and animation. There are new programs and techniques being developed and tested continuously, resulting in some tremendous new ideas being showcased during an animation competition.

There are many different areas that are included in the judging, as well as several different skill levels. There are always new animations being presented in all areas of the competition and for some people the competition may result in a job offer as well.

Some of these competitions have qualified entrants from around the world selected on an individual basis, as well as in teams. Usually, judges select the most qualified from a "pool" of animations reels that have been submitted. The categories are as varied as the industry itself, with areas including cartoon animations, animations flash, gif animations, animations backgrounds, animations video and just about every other form of animation you can imagine.

If you have any doubts about the importance of an animation competition or whether or not anything useful ever comes from it, then just turn on your TV. It wasn't too long ago that cartoons were just for kids, but prime time has its share as well, with animated shows that appeal to adults. For instance, The Simpson's, King of the Hill and Family Guy are just a few of the cartoon animations that have quite a loyal audience.

Recently, several companies got together to combine a few of their specialties of game development, film rendering and interactive platforms and host a competition of their own. This was a huge success and produced many new animations, new ways to design computer animation, along with several other techniques which were showcased with the best of the best.

In another area of the competition contestants had to create animations with a storyline about a pivotal moment between an antagonist and a protagonist. There were some really great results that should be showing up on your tv screen fairly soon.

Computers are a large part of our lives and not just adults or professionals, but for children as well. Many of the larger companies also host an animation competition that has been designed with children in mind. This is a great way to get children interested in computers and lets them create some awesome new animations as well.

The areas in the competition are similar to those in the adult contest, but aimed at their skill and age levels. This stimulates their imaginations and may even result in a possible career within the computer industry.