Friday, May 10, 2019

Magic of Molecular Maya

The latest email newsletter from Clarafi has links to Scientific Visualisations using software including Molecular Maya.

Molecular Maya (mMaya)

"A free plugin for Autodesk Maya that lets users import, model and animate molecular structures. We leverage the power and flexibility of Maya while offering innovative, intuitive tools specialized for the challenges of molecular modelling and animation. mMaya is further enhanced by a series of 'kits' that expand its functionality and greatly streamline molecular modelling, animation, and simulation (see below)." (Clarafi)

System Requirements

  • Maya 2015-18 (note, 2018 is now supported)
  • OSX or Windows

Clarafi gives a list of many software tools that can be used for Scientific Visualisation. I think it is all rather fabulous.

Clarafi has a showcase of great examples of animations.

Here is an example of the animation "What is a Protein" from the Protein Data Bank. I think it is the best introduction to proteins I have ever come across.


The Protein Data Bank is a source of data in XML format to use with animation software.

My cloud software project has a couple of modules that work with the Protein Data Bank.

Here is a great animation of the growth of a chicken embryo.


The most stunning scientific animation of a cell I have ever watched is Inner Life of the Cell.

"The Inner Life of a Cell is an eight-minute animation created in NewTek LightWave 3D and Adobe After Effects for Harvard biology students",

"Created by XVIVO, a scientific animation company near Hartford, CT, the animation illustrates unseen molecular mechanisms and the ones they trigger, specifically how white blood cells sense and respond to their surroundings and external stimuli."

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Toy Soldiers - Behind the Scenes at Stan Winston

"Go behind the scenes of Joe Dante’s Small Soldiers and see how Stan Winston Studio used real puppets and on-set performance to bring to life the militarized Action Figures."

From April 30, 2019, blog post at Stan Winston School of Character Arts (SWSCA).

The Studio took on this job soon after the magic of the Jurassic Park and Terminator jobs.



These are a few of the photos from the SWSCA blog which are taken from the truly excellent book The Winston Effect: The Art & History of Stan Winston Studio. It must have been a lot of fun.