Neuron Builder v2.1 (actually v0.8) - WIP

I've continued scripting the neuron builder I started in a previous post. I've had a lot of fun getting this thing working. It's one of the more satisfying things to hit enter and have thousands and thousands of commands execute spontaneously and immediately. I've posted some screenshots on facebook but if you're not on there, I'll drop them here too.

 Color coding the various projections and soma based on the neuromorpho standards.

A simple interface to start off with.

Organize the hierarchy with some simple naming conventions and check if materials already exist so the hypershade doesn't get cluttered up unecessarily.

Clean up the interface and add a link to hypothetical documentation in the help menu.

Add a radius multiplier to beef up tiny tiny dendrites. In retrospect, this wasn't that necessary, but it was a good exercise in learning some MEL.

And the current state of the situation. I've added the ability to input your own names and prefixes. There are some known issues and bugs, so I won't release it to the public yet. I'd also like to implement some more functionality to make it that much more useful. Right now it's little more than a way to get the data into the scene to use as a template. I would like it to generate usable curves and perhaps even geometry.

Later,

Stuart

Data Visualization Project #1

This is a piece I created for the information visualization class I'm taking. I won't really explain it because if I've done my job, it's self-explanatory, at least with the text on the piece itself (as long as it's big enough to read).

Clicken to embiggen.

Later,
Stuart

Neuron builder - v2 WIP

My supervisor showed me a type of data in a simple text format that encodes the branching structures of neurons. He thought it would be interesting to try to create a script that would import this data into Maya and build a 3D representation of it. I thought that was a neat challenge, since I was already trying to develop ways to procedurally model neurons.

This is where I'm at so far, creating simple cylinders from the data:

This is a section of the code. It's a bit tedious switching back and forth from MEL to Javascript for Unity, but I keep learning new things, and it's always satisfying to click a button and have hundreds of commands executed instantaneously.

Later,

Stuart

RtIN - First shot stills

I've rendered out the first shot (not the shot that comes first in the animation). Here are a couple of stills from it. I aimed for a high-key, clean laboratory feeling. Despite rather lengthy render times, I ended up with some aliasing problems, so I'll likely be re-rendering at some point in the future. For the time being, I'm moving on to the next shot so I can continue getting assets completed.

Later,
Stuart

RtIN - Petri Dish

A petri dish! I've modelled a bunch of other stuff but I haven't rendered out any WIP images yet. I could post screenshots, but I kind of like the higher production look, even if it means I post less often. Sorry :(

Later,
Stuart

RtIN - Monitor

Production for "Recording the Illuminated Neuron" has officially begun (well a couple weeks ago) and I've gotten something of a start on modelling. I've spent a bit of time working on getting a WIP rendering system set up so it's easy for me to render out and post WIP images. Still lots of opportunity to tweak the system but I'm happy with the results so far using sIBL from hdrlabs.com.

I haven't decided whether I will want to post renders without wires or with, most of the time. Here are two with wires on top and one without.

Later,
Stuart

New year, new semester, treefrog

It's 2013 and I'm jumping back into the swing of things for the final semester of the program. How is that even possible? Everything is very much more scary this side of Christmas, but I'm really looking forward to it too.

I made this treefrog in ZBrush (Hyla versicolor). It's a screenshot, not a proper render (I need to figure out how to do that in Z). I'd like to do more animal and nature scenes in 3D, so this was a small attempt to get into that a bit more. There's still so much to learn, it's rather overwhelming. But it's fun.

Happy New Year,
Stuart

P.S. I know I promised a Hobbit review before Christmas... but the plane landed before I'd written more than a paragraph, so I may or may not ever get round to finishing it. Sorry. Got to pick my battles.

MRP Animatic

As the semester comes to a close, I've decided to post my 2D animatic for the 3D animation in Maya I will be creating for my Master's Research Project. I suppose I still haven't explained my project so this is a good a chance as any.

DISCLAIMER: If you don't want to see my animation until its beautiful, 3D, final form, then don't watch the animatic. It's very visually rough, the narration is preliminary in my terrible voice, and everything is a spoiler for the final piece.

In February, I needed to start looking at selecting a project for my MRP, the main component of the MSc in Biomedical Communications I am pursuing. I saw a presentation on a very interesting new tool in neuroscience and chose it as the topic of study. The brief for this topic is to explain the function and usefulness of the newly developed probe to potentially interested parties, including researchers and graduate students. The "micro-optrode" represents the possibility for unprecedented (if I can use such a bold word) examination of individual neurons in living brains. For the time being, this research is being done on mice and rats. I will let the animatic (hopefully) explain the rest...



I will also be building an interactive simulator for the probe to be housed on a website along with the animation. Starting in January, I'll be in production for this animation.

Merry Christmas!
Stuart

Metastatic Bone Cancer process

I'm hopefully about ready to start rendering this 2-page illustration for the pathology course. My very first idea was something along these lines:

and it has evolved to this point:

I used maya to construct the rough shape of the rib to get a better perspective view and used it as a template. Booleans were used to cut out windows in the rib, and because the mesh wasn't really getting used for anything itself, I didn't mind that the topology was a mess from the booleans.

Later,
Stuart

MRP Teaser

Now that the pre-production for my Master's research project (MRP) is well under way, I'd like to share some of the materials I have created for the project. This is just a teaser to start (storyboard panel). I will explain the scope and content of my project soon, since I don't think I've yet described it adequately.

Later,
Stuart