Aladino Debert says his goal is to design his own house. Not that he plans on shifting his career back to architecture, which he practised for the first part of his career.

"There's such a synergy in creating a living space," says Debert, 31, who makes his living as animation supervisor at San Francisco- and LA-based effects house Radium, where he's completed effects such as an over-zealous puppy for Purina.

Debert's fascination with space, mechanics and design began when he was a boy in Buenos Aires. He took apart his first Walkman before he'd even inserted a tape. It was likely no surprise to his family when Debert went on to study architecture at Buenos Aires University.

In 1991 he moved to New York where, hoping to continue architecture, he attended Pratt University. Instead, through constant use of design programs like AutoCAD, he discovered animation and by 1994 had landed a job at NY-based Evolution Logic Studios.

After three years he relocated to LA and began working on movie titles and opens through Metro Light Studios, where he worked on films such as Dragonheart 2.

In 2000 Debert slid over to Digital Art Media (formerly VisionArt Design & Animation) and applied his 3D skills to Dungeons & Dragons and Spy Kids, working on various modeling, lighting, coloring and animation tasks.

Venice, CA-based Digital Domain was the next whistle stop, after Digital Art closed shop. In 2002, he got the chance to work on the opening time-lapse sequence in Spike Jonze's Adaptation, which charts the ages of the earth. That gig, he says, "was cool".

However, long-form was growing tiresome, and after practically missing the first three months of his son's life for Dr. Dolittle 2, short-form beckoned.

Now in charge of 45-person strong department, Debert says it's like being a director: "When you're an animation supervisor, you're directing a performance. You deal with the personal egos of your animators, and direct the animated characters."

Debert says he misses architecture from time to time, but in reality, animation is the perfect outlet to satiate both his desire to build and his need to be creative. Besides, he's got that house to build.

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