Excerpt from an article by Maeve Doyle
NeuronBuild 1.8 dropped today and is available for immediate download from GitHub.com. This latest version includes bug fixes and new features. NeuronBuild is a plug-in script for the 3D modelling software Cinema 4D. The plug-in makes neuron structures stored in the online repository NeuroMorpho.org available to a new community of users.
Nicholas Woolridge, associate professor in the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications at the University of Toronto Mississauga first wrote the software in 2013.
Photo credit: Maeve Doyle
“Science communicators can use NeuronBuild to populate their animations and illustrations with accurate neuron structures,” says Woolridge.
Neuroscientists interested in cell shape study neurons and record and plot their structures, or morphology. They publish their data to NeuroMorpho.org for access by other research scientists. NeuronBuild allows science communicators to choose a neuron datafile, select some options and import it into Cinema 4D.
“This tool democratizes data,” says Kent Moore, U of T Mississauga’s Vice-Principal, Research. “With access to real data, science communicators can share the knowledge to even more audiences such as students, other researchers and the public.”
Fixes and features
Earlier versions of NeuronBuild only imported neurons. The plug-in can now reconstruct additional cell types, such as astrocytes.
One major new feature allows users to turn a representation into a single object, which makes texturing the cells easier. “This is really technical and specific to the user audience, but using NeuronBuild with Cinema 4D’s new volume system, you can turn the object into a single polygon mesh, which makes the structure easier to render,” says Woolridge.
Another new feature eases the process of creating dynamic representations such as growing neurons or animations of neural impulses.