Hybrid Medical Animation

Getting started: We intently listen to your needs and expectations. Then, we ask questions until we’re 100% confident that we understand your objectives, resources, timelines, target audience, regulatory hurdles, and budget.

Questions might be: Will there be voice-over? What kind of formats will the animation be delivered in? Will there be a need for illustrations from the animation? Are there branding colors we’ll need to be aware of?

Next, a detailed production schedule is made (including key review dates) to ensure the project stays on course.

Meanwhile, our medical director reviews all source materials, such as scientific articles, PowerPoint decks, and marketing materials; if necessary, he may interview experts in the field of interest.

Meticulous attention to scientific content and examination of visual needs are critical in laying a solid foundation for the success of every project.

Storyboards stage: Once the script has been approved, a text storyboard is created. A text storyboard is a document that combines the script/narration with a side-by-side, written, planned description of events happening onscreen. This is a key step that will help you begin to get a feel for the flow of the animation.

Once the text storyboards are approved, our storyboard artist will create the actual storyboards – a series of drawings that bring the script to life. They provide an early feel for composition of scenes and characters, camera moves, and general flow.

Storyboards are an important piece of communication between the client and the hybrid team because they provide a foundation for everyone to move forward.

Changes at this stage are the easiest to make and will help to prevent extra charges and delays in the schedule.

Character & Set Design: At this stage, the hybrid team is in the building phase, constructing 3D models of characters and scenes. The narration and storyboards are revised and finalized, and the animation work has begun.

We are as scientifically accurate as possible. Models are sometimes derived from the Protein Data Bank. Or, a client may want something more conceptual in order to convey a simpler visual message. Rough concept drawings are also sometimes made first.

Your first look at the animation’s “cast of characters” will be in a PDF document that contains images of the 3D characters, their structure, and what we’re thinking in terms of lighting and rendering style. It is essentially a first look at what we are proposing to be the “look and feel” for your animation.

If there are changes to the set and models, they need to be done at this stage to stay on schedule.

Animation preview: The preview stage is where we begin to bring things to life, marrying the cast of characters to the narration and storyboards.

An animation preview movie is essentially a non-color rough draft of the animation. Its central purpose is to involve our client early in the process so they can review timing, composition, movement and overall flow. Because we’re still in the preview phase, changes at this stage to the animation can be made with a relatively quicker turnaround time.

After revisions have been made and there is approval on the preview movie, final rendering will begin.

This stage is very important because changes introduced after final rendering are far more time consuming and can greatly affect the schedule.

Rendering: The rendering stage of the project involves taking the approved animation scenes and processing them for rendering. This process involves incorporating final lighting and materials with the approved cast of characters and the approved rough preview animation.

The render farm begins rendering sequential frames on the processed files as further processing continues for the rest of the shots.

The length of this stage depends on the complexity of the lighting and the overall length of the animation. This process can range from a couple days to a week.

Post & delivery: Once the rendering has finished, we’ll combine the final animation and voiceover with essential elements such as music, special effects, titles, and graphics.

Deliverables of the final project can be provided in any format, such as QuickTime, Windows Media, Flash, and others.

We can develop your project for a number uses: