A TEAM APPROACH TO CREATING CUSTOM MEDICAL ANIMATIONS
by Michelle Davis, posted July 3rd, 2014
At Medmovie, we work with you to make sure you receive a custom medical animation with lasting value that you love. Below is a walk-through of our collaborative process and tips for making sure your project is a success. As a custom project, your creative input and feedback is invaluable.
Establishing clear project objectives, timeline, and budget
What ideas and impressions should your audience walk away with? We’ll consult with you to hone and focus your objectives. We stick to these objectives and factor in your timeline and budget to define the content and flow of your animation.
A coronary artery stent; source and reference files can help inform and speed up initial model creation.
Deliver resources to help define important details early on
Providing references such as engineering CAD files, product photography, and instructions for use documents during pre-production assures that your project stays on track and that we can implement these resources before final production. This saves time in revision, as well as making early versions are as close to final as possible.
Scripts help inform on-screen content and pacing
You may choose to create the script yourself or have us create one for you. Either way, finalizing the script during pre-production helps assure a cost-effective workflow. The script provides valuable information about the order of events and pacing that’s needed before final production begins. Even in a video without narration, a “script” of events can be used to make sure every action happens in the proper sequence.
Pre-production defines the story and lets you preview content
We’ll perform research and create storyboards and motion tests as needed, allowing you to preview elements like device actions, camera movements, and colors. This draft will look unfinished but should have all the information you need to review the complete flow of your animation. Changes are easy at this stage and we’ll work with you and revise as needed until all the details are on target.
This motion test still shows content sizing and positioning as well as camera angles.
Producing your finished project
With the planning completed, full animation and compositing can begin and bring your project to life. We’ll keep you abreast of progress, confirm details as needed, and post files for final review to make sure everything’s just right.
General tips to ensure efficient workflow:
Review files thoroughly with your team
It’s best to review all items thoroughly and to share them with team members like content experts right from the start. If you’d prefer some kind of edit, just let us know. Big changes such as anatomical content, device modeling, and animation timing are easier to make early in the process and elements like labels may be changed closer to delivery.
Providing timely feedback helps your project move forward as scheduled
At times, we may wait for your feedback or confirmation before moving ahead with a certain production step. This assures you’ll receive the product you expect. There’s no need to feel rushed when you receive files for review, but feedback that takes longer than originally planned for can affect the project timeline as a whole.
Consolidate team feedback
All members of your team can and should provide their valuable project feedback, whether from development, marketing, or content expert point of views. However, it’s best to designate a single point of contact with us, if only to consolidate feedback and organize team notes. This assures your team as a whole gives streamlined and consistent feedback.
A still from the finished animation
Final Thoughts
Our process ensures you are involved and informed throughout the creation process. We produce the work using our creative experience, while you define project goals and confirm your animation is realized to your liking. In this way, Medmovie delivers a valuable piece of animation that everyone is proud of.