Multimedia artists and animators work primarily in the movie industry, computer and video games, advertising, and computer systems design services. They both draw by hand and use computers to create the series of pictures that form the animated images or special effects seen in movies, television programs, and computer games. In 1962, Computer engineers developed a method of drawing both straight and curved lines using computers and since then it has allowed for rapid advances and ultimately allowed people to create even the most technical of illustrations on a computer.
Today technical illustration is used in many different ways; it is used by engineers or scientists to communicate highly complex specifications with their peers as well to communicate with people outside their specialisations, and also by highly skilled specialists to communicate with the general public. Many multimedia artists model objects in three dimensions by computer. Some artists, usually animators, work with programmers to make their three-dimensional models move. They can transform complex information into striking images that stimulate imagination, facilitate learning, and record scientific discovery.
A medical illustration is a visual representation that is the result of art skills expressed in a tangible or virtual medium that conveys medical or biological information. It is collaboration between the biologist and the animator that does the magic. Over the past two years, the partnership has resulted in eye-catching images and animations of Biomolecules that grace scientist presentation slides, their lab's website etc. Medical or Scientific animators are borrowing tools from Hollywood to breathe life into cells and molecules on screen.
Scientific animators work with software similar to that used to create special effects and animated films in Hollywood, including a program called Autodesk Maya. But instead of creating monsters and explosions, they pull in data from a variety of sources, including review and research papers, to bring molecules and cells to life on screen. Dozens of papers can be necessary to inform a single animation. Animators also tap into scientific databases, such as the Protein Data Bank (http://www.pdb.org), to extract molecular structures, images, microscopy data and other key information. Some animators also spend a lot of time in close discussions with scientists to nail down details of how a molecule or cell moves or interacts with others.
From the human genome to the latest robotic surgical technique, the demand for accurate, effective medical illustration is continuously expanding. Medical illustrations and animations appear in virtually all media and markets used to disseminate medical, biological and related information. Attorneys use medical illustration to clarify complex medical information for judges and juries in personal injury and medical malpractice cases.
While medical illustrations are still widely and consistently used for print and exhibits, the trend is toward greater use in multimedia and interactive designs, particularly those involving animation. Many, but not all, medical illustrators also work in three dimensions, creating sculptured anatomical teaching models and museum exhibits, models for simulated medical procedures and prosthetic parts for patients.
In academia, animators also develop courses and adapt animation tools for use in science. Eventually, they hope, visualizations could become a research tool used to develop, test and refine biomedical hypotheses, not just a method of communication. “As we get more data, we need better ways to synthesize the data into models,” says Dr. Iwasa. Dr.Iwasa is in the vanguard of scientific animators working in academia. Harvard's cell-biology department hired her three years ago to facilitate communication among faculty members and other scientists. Since then, she has worked with about a dozen researchers to visualize the molecules, pathways and cellular processes that they study, such as cell death. She also has a growing freelance business, 'one-micron illustration', creating animations, illustrations and websites for researchers at Harvard and other institutions. You can get a glimpse of her animation on https://iwasa.hms.harvard.edu/.
Academia is only a small part of the market for scientific visualizations. Scientific animators can also be found at a growing number of commercial animation and design studios that specialize in biomedical work. Medical-device, biotech and pharmaceutical companies use animations about their latest products in sales, marketing and educational materials. Visualizations also end up in museum exhibitions, classroom teaching tools, digital textbooks and documentaries, and on journal covers and websites.
Because of the variety of assignments medical illustrators typically experience, they should be accomplished in a wide range of art methods and media production skills to meet the current needs of the Bio-communication industry. These methods and skills range from advanced drawing, painting and sculpture techniques in tangible media, to functional concepts and techniques involved in the production of commercial and graphic art, to up-to-date computer graphic skills in still and motion media.
Content and anatomical accuracy is paramount in the field of scientific illustration; images are designed and created to communicate specific content. Therefore, it is most rewarding for detail-oriented individuals who genuinely enjoy and have natural ability in both art and science. Having a background in art or an eye for design and visual storytelling is crucial for scientific animators. An innate sense of aesthetics or some basic training in lighting, colour and composition to enable visual expression through drawing or other media is key to success, says Graham Johnson, an animator who will soon be starting a position at the University of California, San Francisco. He will be continuing his work developing software that, for example, integrates molecular modelling tools with animation programs to better connect raw scientific data with animation capabilities.
A strong foundation in general, biological and medical science is also necessary to enable the illustrator to fully comprehend and then conceptualize complex biological and medical information. Subjects range from structures in the real world that can be directly observed to the theoretical and unseen, such as molecular processes. Highly developed visualization skills to transform such complex information into two-dimensional and three-dimensional images that communicate to diverse audiences are essential. Those interested in scientific illustration should enjoy working alone and in teams during problem-solving, and be able to work closely with clients to understand not only the project itself but the client's often unspoken needs as well. Writing, research and ancillary computer skills are also valuable.
Scientific animators around the world are seeing rising demand for their work from sectors including academic research, publishing, biotechnology and the drug industry. Driving this interest is an expansion in digital media connected with devices such as the iPad, and a burgeoning appreciation from publishers, scientists, educators, museum staff and others of the power of three-dimensional (3D) visualizations to communicate complex concepts. Animation studios have proliferated in the past five years, and medical-illustration master's-degree programmes have expanded their class sizes, with graduates generally able to find jobs with animation firms and research institutions. More and more scientists are seeking out animators, and a few, hoping to tinker with animation to aid their research rather than build a fully fledged career in it, are learning to use the tools themselves.It is rightly said by Dr.McGill, Director of Molecular Visualization at Harvard Medical School, “When you're going through the process of making visualization, you come up with new questions and open up new ways of thinking.”
Today technical illustration is used in many different ways; it is used by engineers or scientists to communicate highly complex specifications with their peers as well to communicate with people outside their specialisations, and also by highly skilled specialists to communicate with the general public. Many multimedia artists model objects in three dimensions by computer. Some artists, usually animators, work with programmers to make their three-dimensional models move. They can transform complex information into striking images that stimulate imagination, facilitate learning, and record scientific discovery.
A medical illustration is a visual representation that is the result of art skills expressed in a tangible or virtual medium that conveys medical or biological information. It is collaboration between the biologist and the animator that does the magic. Over the past two years, the partnership has resulted in eye-catching images and animations of Biomolecules that grace scientist presentation slides, their lab's website etc. Medical or Scientific animators are borrowing tools from Hollywood to breathe life into cells and molecules on screen.
Scientific animators work with software similar to that used to create special effects and animated films in Hollywood, including a program called Autodesk Maya. But instead of creating monsters and explosions, they pull in data from a variety of sources, including review and research papers, to bring molecules and cells to life on screen. Dozens of papers can be necessary to inform a single animation. Animators also tap into scientific databases, such as the Protein Data Bank (http://www.pdb.org), to extract molecular structures, images, microscopy data and other key information. Some animators also spend a lot of time in close discussions with scientists to nail down details of how a molecule or cell moves or interacts with others.
From the human genome to the latest robotic surgical technique, the demand for accurate, effective medical illustration is continuously expanding. Medical illustrations and animations appear in virtually all media and markets used to disseminate medical, biological and related information. Attorneys use medical illustration to clarify complex medical information for judges and juries in personal injury and medical malpractice cases.
While medical illustrations are still widely and consistently used for print and exhibits, the trend is toward greater use in multimedia and interactive designs, particularly those involving animation. Many, but not all, medical illustrators also work in three dimensions, creating sculptured anatomical teaching models and museum exhibits, models for simulated medical procedures and prosthetic parts for patients.
In academia, animators also develop courses and adapt animation tools for use in science. Eventually, they hope, visualizations could become a research tool used to develop, test and refine biomedical hypotheses, not just a method of communication. “As we get more data, we need better ways to synthesize the data into models,” says Dr. Iwasa. Dr.Iwasa is in the vanguard of scientific animators working in academia. Harvard's cell-biology department hired her three years ago to facilitate communication among faculty members and other scientists. Since then, she has worked with about a dozen researchers to visualize the molecules, pathways and cellular processes that they study, such as cell death. She also has a growing freelance business, 'one-micron illustration', creating animations, illustrations and websites for researchers at Harvard and other institutions. You can get a glimpse of her animation on https://iwasa.hms.harvard.edu/.
Academia is only a small part of the market for scientific visualizations. Scientific animators can also be found at a growing number of commercial animation and design studios that specialize in biomedical work. Medical-device, biotech and pharmaceutical companies use animations about their latest products in sales, marketing and educational materials. Visualizations also end up in museum exhibitions, classroom teaching tools, digital textbooks and documentaries, and on journal covers and websites.
Because of the variety of assignments medical illustrators typically experience, they should be accomplished in a wide range of art methods and media production skills to meet the current needs of the Bio-communication industry. These methods and skills range from advanced drawing, painting and sculpture techniques in tangible media, to functional concepts and techniques involved in the production of commercial and graphic art, to up-to-date computer graphic skills in still and motion media.
Content and anatomical accuracy is paramount in the field of scientific illustration; images are designed and created to communicate specific content. Therefore, it is most rewarding for detail-oriented individuals who genuinely enjoy and have natural ability in both art and science. Having a background in art or an eye for design and visual storytelling is crucial for scientific animators. An innate sense of aesthetics or some basic training in lighting, colour and composition to enable visual expression through drawing or other media is key to success, says Graham Johnson, an animator who will soon be starting a position at the University of California, San Francisco. He will be continuing his work developing software that, for example, integrates molecular modelling tools with animation programs to better connect raw scientific data with animation capabilities.
A strong foundation in general, biological and medical science is also necessary to enable the illustrator to fully comprehend and then conceptualize complex biological and medical information. Subjects range from structures in the real world that can be directly observed to the theoretical and unseen, such as molecular processes. Highly developed visualization skills to transform such complex information into two-dimensional and three-dimensional images that communicate to diverse audiences are essential. Those interested in scientific illustration should enjoy working alone and in teams during problem-solving, and be able to work closely with clients to understand not only the project itself but the client's often unspoken needs as well. Writing, research and ancillary computer skills are also valuable.
Scientific animators around the world are seeing rising demand for their work from sectors including academic research, publishing, biotechnology and the drug industry. Driving this interest is an expansion in digital media connected with devices such as the iPad, and a burgeoning appreciation from publishers, scientists, educators, museum staff and others of the power of three-dimensional (3D) visualizations to communicate complex concepts. Animation studios have proliferated in the past five years, and medical-illustration master's-degree programmes have expanded their class sizes, with graduates generally able to find jobs with animation firms and research institutions. More and more scientists are seeking out animators, and a few, hoping to tinker with animation to aid their research rather than build a fully fledged career in it, are learning to use the tools themselves.It is rightly said by Dr.McGill, Director of Molecular Visualization at Harvard Medical School, “When you're going through the process of making visualization, you come up with new questions and open up new ways of thinking.”
