Andy Curtis is on the look-out for an elephant.

The project manager at hi-tech Bradford firm Simula has been handed one of his most unusual tasks to date by an American film company.

It wants an image of an elephant knocking over a tree.

And it reckoned Simula, with its recently installed motion capture studio, would be able to help out.

The studio uses the same optical technology which was used by George Lucas in making the Star Wars movies and is the only one of its kind in the north of England.

Since the request, Mr Curtis has been ringing round circuses in a bid to find a willing volunteer. So far his search has proved fruitless, but the firm has been able to help-out dozens of other firms.

Requests have included using real SAS soldiers to act out a skirmish for a computer game and a saucy inquiry from a European adult entertainment firm, which Simula decided to turn down.

Mr Curtis is also on the look-out for a pair of Bengal tigers that have been requested for a US film.

The studio at the University of Bradford, which was funded by Yorkshire Forward, only opened in June but Mr Curtis said he had been surprised by the level of interest.

Most of the work has come through the Games Republic group of Yorkshire-based computer game developers.

Motion capture works using a model wearing a special suit to carry out a particular movement. High-speed cameras take about 1,200 pictures per second and create a digital record which is then used to animate 3D models.

Mr Curtis said: "We have been very surprised by what some people have wanted. Because what we do is so unique, there are only a handful of companies in the world to turn to, so I am not surprised that inquiries come from far afield.

"We offer an end-to-end service, from project planning and talent sourcing to post production work. But sometimes our skills are put to the limit."

He said motion capture work now represented the majority of the work for the Bradford multi-media consultancy company which was set-up in 1999.

"We have been getting a really good response, and not just from Yorkshire, but all over the world," he said.