Biological animations can be a powerful tool for scientific communication, but not all animations are created equal. While some are captivating and visually stunning, others can be dull and ineffective at conveying complex scientific concepts. So, what sets good biological animations apart from the rest? Understanding the elements that go into creating a great animation can make all the difference in creating an animation that is both visually appealing and scientifically accurate. In this post, we'll explore the technical and artistic components that can take your biological animation from average to exceptional.
Over the years biological animations have developed a fascinating visual language. Although we cannot actually know what proteins and microbes would look like to the naked eye, we will understand an animation that represents them in a familiar visual representation, as some visual representations became well-established in pop science and encyclopedic illustrations. But what makes a biological animation truly engaging and eye-pleasing is a combination of components from surprisingly diverse fields- from artistic methods of visual storytelling to technical settings in 3D software, the basics of photography, and even some biological conventions.
Lighting:
If you stop to think about it, there shouldn't be any lighting inside a cell or in our body. Which is exactly why you should never think about it, and just use the most dramatic lighting every time. Good options include a strong source of light in the background or dark ambient lighting. When everything is backlit we actually see details better thanks to the rim lights that surround the edges. Generally speaking, everything they teach portrait photographers would be useful for Hero shots, even though this is biology. The video equivalent of this would be to study how to light an interview or better yet- a cinematic scene, as many of the same principles apply here.
3D models-Technical settings:
Objects in biological animations would generally look good if most of the materials would be shiny but non-metallic, as we generally want everything to look wet.
Another easy trick to make models look more alive is to bump up their subsurface scatter- a trait that controls how many light rays would penetrate the surface of the object and have a shift of color to whatever "inner" color we designate. For convincing proteins, I find a good amount of subsurface is between 12 to 28%.
With (left) and without sub-surface scatter. Notice the way the tips of the protein are lit as the catalysis takes place. In both examples the protein is purple, but on the left example, we see a significant color shift due to the reddish sub-surface scattering of light.
Camera movement & settings:
Camera movement: Adding a subtle camera shake often makes things feel more realistic and makes the viewer more engaged than if we would use generic smooth camera movement. However, that's not the case for "Hero shots" or extra calm dramatic moments, where we would want the camera to have a baby-smooth motion. I mean that the motion curve would be smooth like a baby's skin, not that the camera should move like a clumsy baby. Aperture: We would like to set the aperture to be wide open in most scenes. This helps us achieve a shallow depth of field which directs the viewer's attention to what's in focus. In microbiology animations, we would like to make the depth of field extremely shallow (f-0.1 or lower) to give the scene a microscopic miniature look.
Compositing tricks:
The compositing part is much more interesting as there is a set of completely random things that just seem to work really well:
Dust specs everywhere for no reason
'God rays' in every wide shot
a considerable amount of camera lens dirt whenever we're inside of something.
It makes a lot of sense to add these things from an artistic point of view, but if you stop to think about it, it's actually a bit silly in this context.
In this example, we see a very 'lazy' model, but with random dust specs, a narrow depth of field and lens dirt added it almost looks like a legitimate animation. For blender users I recommend the following lens dirt tutorial: Link.
In conclusion, great biological animations are the result of a careful combination of technical expertise and artistic flair. By considering elements like lighting, 3D model settings, camera movement and settings, and compositing tricks, you can create stunning and engaging animations that bring scientific concepts to life.
If you'd like to see all these elements in action I suggest you watch our latest biological animation that dives into one of the most mysterious organelles in the cell:
Let me know in the comments which of the tips was most surprising to you and maybe I'll expand on similar tricks in a future post!
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