Saving the day (and money) with special effects and computer graphics

The story is legendary. Arnold Schwarzenegger's muscles and a $100million budget couldn't shield Warner Bros.' Eraser from a possiblelawsuit involving one letter of the alphabet. Cyrex, as the film'scorrupt company was called, was too close to Cyrix, a Texas-basedcomputer-chip manufacturer. Rather than face an expensive legal battle,unwanted publicity, and countless headaches, Warner Bros. decided achange was in order. Using four facilities running 24 hours a day, thestudio changed Cyrex to "Cyrez" in 90 shots.

The Eraser incident is the industry's best-known example of howspecial effects can save a picture.

Read other stories of how your peers have used computer graphics,animation and imagination to remake the industry.