Quick tips on animating scientific figures

Posted by Rebbica Jhonsan on March 3rd, 2020

Here are few things you need to remember when you’re working on animating one or more figures from your paper.

•Simplicity is important: Don’t use complex animation or too many details to explain the concept.

•Consider narration: It is common for authors to narrate, as a voice over, what is happening in the figure so that it sounds like a brief talk given by the author.

•Label the figure correctly: Remember to label all the parts of the figure correctly during animation.

•Animate ethically: Remember that you are only animating the figure, not modifying it. Don’t manipulate the image or make major corrections to the original one. That is unethical.

So, have you come across any animated scientific figures before? If yes, did they enhance you understanding of the figure? Let me know your thoughts about making scientific figures come alive.

Science is complex and cannot always be explained with text. One of the most important parts of a scientific manuscript is the figures it contains. Often, these figures are technical in nature and contain complex statistical data understanding which might be time consuming. Moreover, figures are static and expect the reader to make connections between data points themselves.

I first understand the primary focus of the figure. This helps me decide what to animate and how so that I can show the relevant correlations and/or phenomena. I often get help from our team of subject-area experts for this. The simpler a talking figure is, the more impactful it will be. When animating the figure, I stick to the bare minimum and animate only what is necessary. I also make sure that the animation is not too fast or too slow – either could hamper a viewer’s understanding of the figure.

Original Article:- https://www.impact.science/use-animation-to-breathe-life-into-scientific-figures/