Tiny self-assembling metal cubes dance across the
screen in a video posted on the Web site of
the Johns Hopkins Institute
for NanoBioTechnology. You could read a book — or
at least several
chapters — on the principles behind how these
microcubes build themselves up from microscopic
metallic sheets cut by lasers. Or you could watch a
one-minute animated video that tells their
fantastic story.
The INBT video of the self-assembling cubes is the
result of the independent study course
Animation in Nanotechnology and Medicine and was produced
under the guidance of INBT
animation/Web director Martin Rietveld, who shares his
skills and experience in 2-D/3-D animation
with students from throughout Johns Hopkins who want to
learn to use this lively medium.
INBT's animation studio and the independent study
course have attracted students from the
basic sciences, engineering, the School of Medicine's
Department of Art as Applied to Medicine and
the Krieger School's Writing Seminars, to name a few. Some
students understand the science; others
are skilled in illustration or other types of
visualization. "My job is to try to guide these forces into
something that actually produces a movie," Rietveld
says.
Students who sign up for the course should be aware of
the time commitment involved in order
to produce a film as well executed as the current
productions, Rietveld says. Presently, there are two
animated movies on the INBT Web site demonstrating the
research of INBT-affiliated faculty
members. One explains the self-assembling cubes used in the
research of David Gracias, assistant
professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in the
Whiting School of Engineering, and the
other shows the interaction between a protein and a lipid
bilayer, based on the work of Blake Hill,
associate professor of biology in the Krieger School of
Arts and Sciences.
Rietveld recommends that before students start the
course, they should be somewhat familiar
with animation software. They learn about the science they
intend to animate by interviewing the
scientists and engineers engaged in the research. Students
then shift their attention to production,
storyboarding and animation. Eventually, they'll do
post-production and audio work. Projects are
completed using INBT's computers and software. For specific
tasks, such as recording video and audio,
INBT collaborates with the Digital Media
Center and the Center
for Educational Resources.
"It can take at least two semesters, and students in
the course are expected to put in at least
10 hours per week to complete a project," Rietveld says.
The 3-credit independent study course does
not necessarily adhere to a fixed schedule, so students
need to have a lot of self-motivation, Rietveld
adds.
"It takes a long time to produce something of quality,
[and] it is difficult to achieve this kind of
artistic integrity while maintaining scientific accuracy,"
Rietveld says, "but that is why working in this
kind of animation is challenging and fun."
To see David Gracias' self-assembling cubes, go to:
inbt.jhu.edu/animation/self-assembling-cubes.php.
To see Blake Hill's channel-forming protein, go to:
inbt.jhu.edu/animation/channel-forming-protein.php.
For more information on INBT's animation studio,
including how to register for Animation in
Nanotechnology and Medicine, contact Martin Rietveld at rietveld@jhu.edu.