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                      Pull Focus Effort, and Render Problems

​Otherwise, Christos and I discussed my review of the Pull Focus tutorial (Obscene Angle 2018), which this time found me having trouble viewing the render.  That is, the Arnold render view presented a black screen, and manipulation of the lighting had no effect.  I was however, able to view the render via the alpha channel, and as below, it did show the animation that I had designed so as to show a substantial difference in initial focus between the two objects (2 pawn chess pieces), -a difference which was then programmed to reduce as the camera swung around the chess pieces.
Neuronal Single Cell Modelling : The Pyramidal Cell

As per prior blog entries (wk#12 of term 3, wk#10 of term 2), the predicament of modelling single neurons, perhaps primarily for visual impact, has limited appeal and is somewhat of a distressing prospect when considered upon the backdrop of 'scientific' failures by accomplished artists, such as outlined in my prior blog (wk#12 of term 3).  To address the concern of not repeating the same sort of error (visually engaging models that are not scientifically accurate or are presented without appropriate context), I invested some time searching for a decent model of a specific cell type (a human hippocampal pyramidal cell), and researching a possible backdrop upon which to display my identified cell.  Integrating these issues, I plan to model the human pyramidal cell, as below, and somehow integrate that model w a backdrop of the hippocampal trisynaptic circuit, thus quickly moving beyond the (less relevant) modelling of simply a single neuron to the more significant modelling of a simple circuit (Stepan et al 2012, Yoshida et al 2018).   After integrating the pyramidal cell into a backdrop of the trisynaptic circuit, the clip will then be fused w my full model of the hippocampal system (as modelled in the 1st term).         

The Pyramidal Cell and Hippocampal Trisynaptic Circuitry

The central role of the pyramidal cell to the function of the hippocampus is nicely summarized in the following cartoon animation from the Neural Academy (2018).    The subsequent video clip "emergence of HTC-Waves in vitro"  (2nd video below) is a genuine scientific demonstration of flow of electrical activity thru the circuit, as schematized in the Neural Academy cartoon clip (Stepan et al, 2012).
Hippocampal Modelling: The Artistic Challenge

In addition to achieving some reasonable degree of scientific accuracy for a hippocampal pyramidal cell and trisynaptic circuit, I will need to aim for a decent aesthetic threshold of artistic quality w the clip.  As developed and presented in detail for the oral and written components of terms 1 and 2, my music-video-brain-film project (Bill Bevan Music Video Brain Films), is motivated by presenting legitimate neuroscience themes in a scientifically accurate, yet artistically engaging manner (Ottowitz 2020a,b).   In my biased opinion, my most recent music video brain film (Emotion's Brain SECTIONS), was able to achieve a good presentation of scientific concepts (reasonable neuroanatomical accuracy for different brain structures and relevance to human behavior) and do so within an engaging artistic framework (Ottowitz 2019).
Bibliography

Autodesk Maya (2018).  Arnold Render View is Black in Maya 2018, https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Arnold-Render-View-is-Black-in-Maya-2018.html
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Neural Academy, (2018) The Trisynaptic Circuit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEchxzgweOg
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Obscene Angles (2018). Focus Pull tutorial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPHJGnvzuNU
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Ottowitz WE, (2019). Emotion's Brain SECTIONS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjSTDil_Bv0

Stepan J, Dine J, Fenzi T, Polta SA, Wolff GV, Wotjak CT, Eder M, (2012). Entorhinal theta-frequency input to the dentate gyrus trisynaptically evokes hippocampal CA1 LTP. Frontiers in Neural Circuitry, available at doi: 10.3389/fncir.2012.00064 .

Yoshida S, Kato-Negishi M, Takeuchi S, (2018). Assembly and Connection of Micropatterned Single Neurons for Neuronal Network Formation. available at doi:10.3390/mi9050235