FAQ
Drew Berry 2020
www.wehi.tv
Twitter @drewberryIV
What software do you use?
Autodesk Maya for 3D animation
Adobe After Effects for compositing
Adobe Premiere for editing
Adobe Photoshop for image manipulation
What software should I learn?
Photoshop (essential first step)
After Effects (after you know Photoshop well)
Pick a 3D animation program to start learning – most offer a free student or trial version and lots of online tutorials. Pick any one of the following (all are good choices): Maya (tough to learn but powerful system), Cinema4D (many biomedical animators use this one), Blender (opensource, free), 3DStudio Max (game focus, logical to learn), Houdini (if I had my life again...), and so on...
I want to try and learn biomedical animation on my own, how do I get started?
Visit clarafi.com and look at all the work in the gallery for examples of biology animations, maybe do some of the technique tutorials and download the free Molecular Maya pluggin – it provides an essential toolset for molecular modelling in Maya.
There are also many other animation training websites available. We often use The Gnomon Workshop and Pluralsight (Digital Tutors). While their tutorials are not specifically designed for biomedical animation, most of the skills taught are transferable.
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/
https://www.pluralsight.com
Where do I study to become a biomedical animator?
There are excellent programs in biomedical communication at Johns Hopkins, University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Totonto, amongst others. This is how many people now get into the field.
http://www.bmc.med.utoronto.ca/bmc/
http://ahs.uic.edu/bhis/academics/bvis/
http://medicalart.johnshopkins.edu
Where did current WEHI.TV employees study?
Drew Berry has a Masters in Cell Biology from the University of Melbourne, Australia and a PhD in Technology (hc) from Linköping University, Sweden. He is self-taught in animation.
Etsuko Uno has a Masters in Biomedical Science from Rockefeller University, USA, and holds a Graduate Diploma in Animation from RMIT, Australia.
Justin Muir developed video games professionally for twenty years in Australia and the United States, specializing in animation and spent four years at Northwestern University in scientific animation.
Charles Reilly has a Ph.D in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Maja Divjak has a PhD in Molecular Biology from Monash University, Australia and a Graduate Certificate in 3d Animation from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, Australia.
Do I need to study science to become a biomedical animator?
At wehi.tv we believe a strong science background (MSc, PhD) is essential for biomedical animation, for the ability to read, interpret and navigate the scientific literature.
Recommended books
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
Visual Explanations, Edward Tufte
In the Blink of an Eye, Walter Murch
Machinery of Life, David Goodsell
Molecular Biology of the Cell (3rd edition is the favourite), Alberts et al.
Will I enjoy 3D animation?
Depending on what you are already into (fiddling with computers or paintbrushes?) and what you intend to achieve with moving graphics, it can be a short or long road to being able to create animation. To find out if you like it, you can give it a go by downloading free student or trial versions animation packages (Blender, Maya, Houdini, Cinema4D, 3DStudio Max etc).
What our some conferences that I could go to introduce me to the field?
Visit the Association of Medical Illustrators http://www.ami.org/ and think about attending their annual conference to meet people in the field and students.
Go to your local ACM SIGGRAPH conference http://www.siggraph.org to see the latest computer graphics technology and digital art tools
Learn about the fronteir of cell biology at the American Society for Cell Biology http://www.ascb.org/meetings
What are some good resources for biomedical animation?
There are tons of resources available for you to get into this kind of work. First stop is clarafi.com which has tutorials, people's work and other stuff for you to look at.
Other places to explore:
www.wehi.tv
drewberry.com
http://www.ami.org/
http://forums.cgsociety.org/
http://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/so-you-want-to-be-a-medical-illustrator/
http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2002/05/i-am-medical-illustrator
http://www.freelancemedicalillustrators.com