Drew Berry

Drew Berry specializes in visualizing science at the microscopic scale. After MSc research in cell biology, filming living cells under time-lapse microscopy, Drew switched careers and worked for advertising and marketing companies for several years, developing his skills in visual communication and design.

Realising he missed the stimulation of scientific research and discovery, he joined The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia, as their Photoshop guy. With his experience from the world of advertising, his Photoshop technique was fast and efficient, so he ended up with lots of spare time on his hands. In 1995, he picked up a copy of Infini-D (and later 3D Studio Max), taught himself animation because it was fun and started creating short animations for biology education videos. After seeing a demo of Paint FX by Duncan Brindsmead at Siggraph 2000, Drew immediately switched to Maya and has been in awe ever since.

Drew creates scientific visualisations for science documentaries, museum exhibits and gallery installations around the world. His most recent project involved creating animations of the very nasty bugs Smallpox, Ebola and Anthrax for a National Geographic documentary on Bioterrorism.

Q. How did you get involved in the 3D computer graphics industry?
A. I grew up with computers as a kid (Commodore 64, Amiga 500 and onwards) with a particular fascination for games and graphics programs. When the time came for me to take CG quasi-seriously, I was native enough with the concepts to plunge into 3D. I have always created graphics on computers because it was what I choose to do for fun, and it was the natural way to present the ideas in my head.

I've been working full-time creating CG for about 10 years. My current role evolved from my weekend hobby to full time occupation by pitching to the Institute's senior management for support, so that I could explore the potential of CG and scientific visualisation.

Q. How do you use Maya software?
A. Maya is my core tool for building scientific animations.

I usually spend about a third of my time in reading journals and researching topics; then about a third of my time playing with Maya, evaluating its various avenues for constructing animation; and the remaining time actually building and refining the final visualisations.

Q. What projects have you worked on?
A. I've provided animations for a variety of documentaries, science TV shows, national news bulletins, museum films and gallery installations. My biggest project so far was creating DNA visualisations for a major trans-national project, marking the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the double helix. I had the great honour of having James Watson and many other Nobel Laureates looking over my shoulder during production. The final output of this project was a five episode documentary "DNA", a museum film, the DNAi.org online education portal, and a BAFTA winning DVD "DNA Interactive".

Another unexpected development is having my scientific visualisations screened as art in a number of galleries around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Q. What makes this industry so exciting to you?
A. Rapid evolution, diversity of creative ideas and extraordinary innovation. And that's just the science.

Q. Where do you see the industry going in the next five years?
A. There is enormous need to make science accessible and engaging to the public. Visualisation is a field that is wide open to novel approach, and science is overloaded with fascinating content that has never been tackled before. My own work has a very long way to go before it begins present the true detail and the sophistication of current scientific understanding.

As far as the rest of the CG industry, I couldn't begin to dream where it will go in five years. I am always astounded by the creativity of other CG artists and the extraordinary technological developments of the software tools.

Q. What words of wisdom do you have for anyone interested in entering the world of 3D computer graphics?
A. Play around and find out exactly what you love to do, and do a lot of it.