Microbial Musings

We are happy to welcome Ezra Kortz to our team as Senior Medical Animator! Ezra’s artistic talent, technical skills and medical illustration education make him a perfect addition to the MadMicrobe family.

Ezra was born in San Francisco and raised in the southwest. He is formally trained in art and design (BA, Cornish College of the Arts Seattle, Wa). He also holds a degree in medical animation and illustration (MS from UIC, Chicago).

Ezra has experience in a multitude of areas pertaining to medical 3d animation, visual effects and digital art\design. He has worked extensively for studios in Los Angeles and NYC, both in the FX and medical animation field. In addition to this, he has freelanced for numerous corporations, constructed a CG department for leading NYC digital retouch studio and owned his own medical animation company.

In his free time Ezra enjoys spending time with family and friends as well as outdoor activities such as sailing, camping, snowboarding and biking.

Ezra is thrilled at the opportunity to be part of the team of talented and authentic individuals that make up MadMicrobe Studios.

Check out some of Ezra’s work on a few recent projects below:

MadMicrobe recently completed a project showcasing Boston Scientific’s WATCHMAN device; a device implanted into the left atrial appendage of the heart to help protect patients with AFib from potential stroke-inducing blood clots.

In order to clearly show the location of the procedure within the left atrial appendage (LAA), our team needed to build a custom cross section of the heart in zBrush.  This appendage can be challenging to isolate effectively within even the most accurate 3D heart models, so we created a stylized cross section which not only shows the appendage but also clearly shows the left and right ventricles, the valves within, as well as a clear view of the right atrium.

Once the model was built and approved by the client, our team was then able to begin the process of texturing and lighting, as well as positioning the device within the LAA. Below is a test styleframe rendered using the Arnold render engine.

After identifying the assets needed for the animation, we began the look-dev process for the human figure, device and an x-ray version of the heart for use throughout some of the motion graphics sections of the video. Below are a few of our early tests.

The most challenging task of the project , and in many device projects we work on, was rigging the WATCHMAN to correctly unfurl once deployed via a catheter into the LAA. This was accomplished with many of the great rigging, mograph and deformer tools native in Maxon’s Cinema 4D.

Thanks for looking!

MadMicrobe goes VIRAL! (Literally)

Beware Trick or Treaters… There are some scary creatures lurking in your neighborhood this evening—too small to be seen with the naked eye! We hope you enjoy this fiendishly fun little promo our team put together to help celebrate one of our favorite holidays.  Happy Halloween!

“Joel Dubin is a medical animator and co-founder of MadMicrobe Studios, where he holds the title of creative director.

Joel creates stunning 3D animation visualizing anatomical and cellular processes and phenomena for the vast healthcare market.

Together with his team at MadMicrobe, they have worked on some incredible projects, including effects work for the film Morgan, and animation showcasing new 3D bioprinting technology that aims to revolutionize organ transplant. Through all of this, it is apparent Joel is truly enjoying a career doing what he loves.”

MadMicrobe was featured in RENDEROSITY MAGAZINE via an in depth interview with our Creative Director, Joel Dubin. Our thanks to Nick Sorbin of Renderosity for the great opportunity!

You can read the rest of interview with Joel ind learn more about what makes MadMicrobe tick by clicking here.

Be sure to check out Renderosity Magazine’s article by writer Nick Sorbin showcasing Cinema 4D and it’s prominence in the Medical Animation industry:

Joel says he’s “found Cinema 4D to be the perfect tool for medical animation, primarily for its ease of use and how intuitive the process of working with it is. In my many years in the business, Cinema 4D was the one 3D software package that I clicked with. It is geared to the way an artist’s brain works but still allows you to dig deeper into the technical aspects of the software.”

Click here to read the full article: How Cinema 4D Became a Primary Tool of Medical Illustrators

Biolife4D is creating some very  exciting and game changing medical technology here, and we are very happy to have had a small part into helping get the word out to the world! To learn more, please check out the website at BIOLIFE4D.

Here are some stills from the animation:

Its always an honor to share the screen with such a talented lineup of artists using our favorite software package! We made the cut with a handful of Science Animation shots towards the end of the reel. Enjoy…