Digital Magic Digital Magic Company or Digital Magic for short , located in Santa Monica , CA . , was an effects house responsible for the post - production editing of , as well as creating , visual effects of numerous episodes on the last three seasons of , the first three seasons of , the first six seasons of , the feature film , as well as the documentaries " Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special " and " " . The company also provided digital optical effects for the video game " " . Digital Magic , a division of Four Media Company , produced visual effects and provided post - production services and facilities to film and television productions . Among its founders was Mark F . Miller , who served as the company ' s president from 1998 until 2000 , when he left the company to found Eden FX with John Gross . Digital Magic was especially created in 1991 for " The Next Generation " at the start of its fifth season when the franchise made the decision to drop The Post Group as main provider for effects post - production editing services . ( " Cinefantastique " , issue 97 , Vol 24 # 3 / 4 , p . 80 ) The " digital " in the name initially did not refer to the technique of computer generated imagery ( CGI ) , but rather the use of computers as aid in compositing and editing visual effects shots in post - production as opposed to actually generating these effects on the computer . Still Digital Magic , along with Rhythm & Hues and Santa Barbara Studios were among the very the first production companies that were experimenting for the television franchise on a more regular basis with the new technique , that by that time was making a rapid entry in the industry . Illustrative of this was employees Joe Conti and Tim McHugh ' s first use of the software in creating the Anaphasic lifeform for . LightWave 3D went on to become the standard software package for CGI in the television franchise . Former Digital Magic employee , Special FX Supervisor Loni Peristere , also being a former employee of Pacific Ocean Post , a sister company of Digital Magic , has shed some light on the way the company operated , " " Digital Magic was once an ' effects boutique ' created solely for ' Star Trek , the Next Generation ' . The boutique did all the visual effects for the show and a group of people working there created Digital Magic , because of the ' Star Trek ' franchise . Digital Magic is a company that owns visual effects equipment and is a facility where very talented visual effects artists have worked . In other words , Digital Magic would be a company which has an Inferno , a Henry , 3D machines and SGI machines that we use . They facilitate the work but their involvement in the actual production process is minimal . It ' s almost like a shop . But because of their reputation for having a well run shop , they hire good artists and they produce the work that they promise with the best machines that the industry makes . " " In , the company received an International Monitor Award in the category " Film Originated Television Series – Electronic Visual Effects " for their work on . The company has also worked on such television productions as " Dr . Quinn , Medicine Woman " ( 1999 ) , " Lois & Clark : The New Adventures of Superman " ( 1993 – 1997 ) , " Buffy the Vampire Slayer " ( 1997 – 2003 ) , and " Angel " . Their film work included among others , " Candyman " ( 1992 ) , " Cliffhanger " ( 1993 ) , " Coneheads " ( 1993 ) , " Dumb & Dumber " ( 1994 ) , " The River Wild " ( 1994 ) , " Judge Dredd " ( 1995 ) , " The Arrival " ( 1996 ) , " Volcano " ( 1997 ) , " Species II " ( 1998 ) , and " Armageddon " ( 1998 ) , with the short movie " Bottleneck " ( 2006 ) , being the company ' s last recorded credit . As of 2011 the company is no longer in operation , as their homepage , " www . 4mc . com / digitalmagic . html " , has been off - line since 2008 .