i wanna be a pastry chef making amazing cakes, but what is used to shape the cakes and on ace of cakes (if you watch it) what do they always lay over the cakes (looks like a white layer or completely smooth frosting when put on cake)
please help!!

I think you must be talking about fondant, it's a rolled icing that can be coloured as needed (or bought coloured for large amounts) - use any brand except Wilton, because that tastes disgusting!. Fondant is only used to cover the cakes though, they shape the cakes by carving, and for that you need to find yourself a really good firm textured cake recipe, such as a pound cake. My advice would be to start with a project that is small and simple - I would suggest Debbie Brown's '50 Easy Party Cakes' and 'Easy Party Cakes' and Lindy Smith's 'Quick & Clever Party Cakes', in which there are 3D projects like frogs and teddies etc. They are good books to cut your teeth on and very informative. Good luck to you and welcome to CC!

They use a knife to carve the shape of the cake they want and the smooth frosting is fondant.

As the others have said, you're describing fondant that was used to cover the cakes. And as Bonjovibabe said, if you use Wilton fondant, use it only for practice! Don't eat it. Yuck. Make your own (I recommend the recipe here called Michele Foster's Delicious Fondant) or use a nice ready-made brand like Satin Ice.

I love cake sculpture. I do it all the time. Last week it was a dalmatian puppy made to look like it was eating the strawberries off the groom's cake for a man who just finished firefighter training.

Lots of people do cake sculpture different ways. You will want to practice and do things different ways until you find out what's going to work best for you and what you like to work with. Remember that all roads lead to Rome and what works for some may not work for you, but as long as the cake is made and everyone likes it, that's what matters. My sculptures are almost always covered in buttercream. I rarely use fondant on mine but will sometimes use modeling chocolate. You can see some examples in my photos here on CC and on my websites, which are links in my signature line.

The one thing you really totally absolutely need is a closely-textured cake that will hold detail when you cut into it. For practice purposes, I like students taking my classes to use boxed pound cake mix to start out with, and when they get used to the process, they can branch out into their own recipes.

HTH,
Deanna

thank you sooooooo much!!