Robot Factory
CURRENT STATE: Finished post-production, still need to add audio.
Update: Finished
DESCRIPTION: This is part of a metaphor where the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is represented by robots. This metaphor is used to explain two constants in the Michaelis-Menten equations (Vmax and Km).
2D Animatic
After many script re-writes, I had settled on using a robot factory as a metaphor for the activity of an enzyme population. I thought the setting of a factory would visually simplify much of the chaotic nature of molecular interactions. I then created a 2D animatic in After Effects to plan out the timing of the shot, as this shot contains many moving pieces.
Process
Production & Post-production
My first challenge was to design my robots so that they moved in a believable mechanical manner when rigged. Once modelled and rigged, I animated two different behaviours for the robots using the trax editor: scanning the conveyor belt and converting the forks. Using the timing from the animatic, I built and animated my factory scene and tested the overall camera work and timing through a series of low-quality renders. Post-production was done in after effects with an imported camera movement. The video to the right shows the development of the scene from rough footage to post-production.