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Chromosome Coil
This visualization presents the various levels of
DNA organization (coiling) within a chromosome.
Copyright ©2005 HHMI |
8 Stem Cell Surface
A molecular view close up of the surface of a stem cell.
The blue rod-shaped molecule acts like an antenna,
'listening' for the yellow hormone molecular message.
Copyright ©2005 WEHI |
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CGSociety :: Artist Profile
Drew Berry - Biomedical Animator
By Paul Hellard, 24 October 2005
Drew Berry, biomedical animator for The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), is a key member of an international team that recently won an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Science, Technology and Nature Programming for the episode, ‘The Human Race.’
“My main role at WEHI is to help explain the discoveries of the Institute to the general public by creating the most vivid and accurate visualizations possible,” says Berry. The international DNA project was a natural extension of this, as so much of WEHI's research is DNA-based and the public has such a great fascination with DNA.
“As far as the Emmy is concerned,” Berry continues, “I'm just overwhelmed by the fact that we can come out on top of the world when we are competing against gigantic animation studios in the United States and the rest of the world.”
“The DNA project was one of those golden opportunities where I had the great fortune and pleasure to work for the amazingly talented, experienced and motivated team at Windfall Films in London, who led the project with ambitious goals, good funding and most importantly, enough time and freedom for us all to give it our best. My biggest hope is that I get another chance to sink my teeth deep into something as big and chewy as that again.“
Berry’s biomedical animations have been applauded globally and exhibited in prestigious venues, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. In 2004, Drew's animations were also honored with a BAFTA Award.
“My approach is the opposite tack to simplifying the science,” says Berry. “Rather than dumbing it down, I set out to show the audience exactly what the scientists are talking about. By building accurate visualizations founded on real scientific data, the animations come alive of their own accord, engage the audience, and go a long way towards explaining what the science is about. The science is rich, detailed and fascinating, and if you can watch it in action you will intuitively get to know how it works.” This is perhaps also what enthralled Berry at the outset of his foray into 3D. |
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Beginnings
Berry was given a copy of Infini-D by a friend in 1995. “I only started playing with it because it was fun,” he says. Over the next couple of years he began to do animations for biology education videos, primarily for the creative pleasure and technical challenge. During the day he was working as the Photoshop guy at WEHI. Around that time, several important discoveries were made about Malaria by the scientists he worked with, so in his spare time he created some animations to help visually explain the parasite's lifecycle, using an education copy of 3ds Max.
The Malaria animations proved pivotal in Drew Berry’s career as they became popular with TV news bulletins, current affairs and science programs. To this day they remain amongst his most successful sequences, gauged by how often they are called upon for many sorts of programs. Off the back of the Malaria animations, he pitched to the Institute's director, Suzanne Cory, for equipment and the freedom to explore the possibilities of scientific animation, which is a role he’s been doing full time now for about seven years.
While at SIGGRAPH in 2000 he watched a demo by Duncan Brinsmead of Maya's PaintFX and dynamics capabilities. “Learning from tutorials on the Internet and Gnomon Workshop DVDs,” says Berry, “it took me about six months to make the transition from 3ds Max and become productive with Maya. It was difficult at first, but overwhelmingly worth it.” |
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