Visualization of molecular machinery using agent-based animation

This paper proposes an agent-based model for animating molecular machines. Usually molecular machines are visualized using key-frame animation. Creating large molecular assemblies with key-frame animation in standard 3D software can be a tedious task, because hundreds or thousands of molecular particles have to be animated by hand, considering various biological phenomena. To avoid repetitive animation of molecular particles, a prototypic framework is implemented, that employs an agent-based approach. Instead of animating the molecular particles directly, the framework utilizes a behavior description for each type of molecular particle. The animation results from the molecular particles interacting with each other as defined by their behavior. Interaction between molecular particles is enabled by an abstract model that is implemented by the framework. The methodology for creating the framework was driven through learning by example. Three molecular machines are visualized using the framework. During this process, the framework was iteratively improved and extended. The resulted animations demonstrate that agent-based animation is a viable option for molecular machines.