Thomas Wheeler and Professor Brent Adams, Visual Arts
The project I have completed, with the help of the ORCA scholarship, as my BFA project for Illustration includes a 25 page research paper and a 1 minute 30 second computer animated film called Revealing DNA. Research for the project began in February 1997, and the entire project was completed by July 1997. The film, printed scenes from the film, and the paper were displayed at the BFA show in the Brimhall Gallery from August 1 – August 17.
Many artists today view science as a field of study completely disassociated from, almost opposed to, the field of art. Through the general education program required at BYU, I have gained a love and interest in science that has been added to my love for art. This project represents the combination of these interests with a modern twist: computer graphics. I feel that the project was ambitious, and although certain plans for the film were modified to meet time requirements, I am very pleased with the results.
The following questions represent the primary scope of the research paper: 1) Could computers be used as a more effective way of communicating scientific information in illustrations? 2) What skills or education would an artist need to produce competitive science illustration with a computer? 3) What is the market demand for digitally produced science illustration, including single still images, 3-dimensional animations, or other applications (such as interactive CDs)?
To answer these questions I began with research into the history and purposes of scientific illustration. I learned that the field of scientific illustration stemmed from the needs of scientists and educators to communicate information visually. This need to communicate technical or complex information through visual means is still the primary purpose of scientific illustration today. The field has also been influenced by the love and respect for the natural world which many early draftsmen and artists held. Several unique and talented artists have been attracted to science. Leonardo DaVinci, Albrecht Durer, and H. Vandyke Carter (illustrator for Gray’s Anatomy) are notable figures. These artists were fine draftsmen, and keen observers who felt a deep reverence for the natural world around them. Albrecht Durer wrote that “nature is the original measure of art” (Robin 69).
As part of my research I conducted a telephone interview with Edward Bell, Art Director at Scientific American magazine, to learn more about the current trends of scientific publishing. From this interview, together with other research, I found that the use of computers is steadily increasing in scientific art for print. Publications prefer to use digital work over traditional work because the costs of reproduction, and editing are significantly lower.
In the area of 3D computer graphics, the computer brings a unique possibility to scientific illustration. 3D computer modeling and animation offer the opportunity for the illustrator to leave the confines of the printed page, and show motion through time. This new and challenging industry is a merging of art, design and film — and as such is difficult to classify into one area. The ability to show how a thing operates with motion in 3 dimensions, particularly those things difficult or impossible to film, is unprecedented.
As I began work on the animated film Revealing DNA, I began to realize that my plan to create 3-5 minutes of computer animation was a little unrealistic. I decided that instead of showing the complete transcription and translation process, whereby a polypeptide chain is generated, I would reduce the footage to show the location and reveal the intricate structure of the DNA molecule. The completed film is about 1 minute and 30 seconds of animation, and shows the structure of the nitrogenous bases and the 3 dimensional double helical structure of the molecule at a more detailed level than normally shown in a two dimensional image. The viewer sees how the bases pair up and watches as the double helix rotates. In the future I would like to animate the transcription and translation process of the DNA molecule.
Revealing DNA, and other animations like it can serve a variety of educational purposes. The film can be used in a classroom environment, or the digital animation could be rerendered to be incorporated into an interactive educational CD. The software and hardware demands are rather large for a project of this nature. I used Alias Power Animator, running on an SGI 02 workstation. I also used Adobe Photoshop on a Macintosh to create textures, and to generate 5 still images. The completed digital movie is more than 1800 frames (viewed at 30 frames per second) and represents over 1700 megabytes of data.
