Pre-Production

Concept & Scripting

The VasCare "Fibroids and UFE" project kicked off with a straightforward goal: develop a visually reassuring yet medically precise 3D conceptual animation to educate patients on Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) as a compelling alternative to hysterectomy. Initial client direction was intentionally minimal, allowing us the flexibility to internally craft and refine the visual storytelling style. The narrative was carefully scripted with a comforting and concise voiceover, highlighting UFE’s simplicity, minimally invasive nature, and rapid recovery, while deliberately steering clear of graphic realism to keep viewers comfortable.

We began by diving into existing medical models and animation assets from our library to shape initial visual direction. This included leveraging a pre-existing, highly detailed 3D body model featuring the circulatory system from earlier medical projects. Our scripting closely integrated with visual development to ensure tight alignment between the narrated explanation and visual storytelling, emphasizing clear, gentle communication about the procedure.

Rapid Prototyping

During Rapid Prototyping (RP), we meticulously sourced and selected appropriate 3D anatomical models, especially detailed representations of the uterus. Fibroids were custom-modeled from scratch to retain full control over their visual presentation. Initially, more anatomically realistic fibroids with intricate blood vessel detail were considered, but internal reviews guided us toward simplifying their visuals to ensure the animation was approachable and comforting to patients.

For efficient iteration, we employed Cinema 4D during RP, quickly refining camera movement and composition. To rapidly communicate our concepts without distracting visuals, simple shaders and textures were applied at this stage. We dedicated special attention to dynamic camera transitions, including detailed zoom-ins that moved fluidly from external body views to microscopic internal perspectives of blood vessels. Camera lenses underwent careful testing, exploring options between 35mm and 18mm lenses to achieve optimal clarity and impactful storytelling.

Early prototyping involved experimenting with both dark and bright visual themes. After several iterations, we chose a brighter visual style due to its clarity, comfort, and alignment with the client's preference for soft, modern, and feminine colors, moving away from previous uses of stark reds and blues.

Early Visual Styles Explored

Visual development at this phase included detailed experiments with semi-transparent, stylized materials for representing the uterus and fibroids. Leveraging Cinema 4D’s Redshift renderer, we extensively tested materials featuring subtle Subsurface Scattering (SSS) effects to enhance realism without sacrificing the reassuring, non-graphic appearance. The body was portrayed with semi-transparent Fresnel shaders, creating an outlined visual from camera-facing angles while maintaining transparency and clarity from front views, ensuring viewer comfort and spatial clarity.

Our lighting explorations prioritized softness and visual interest without creating harsh contrasts, consistently emphasizing the approachable, calming aesthetic desired by VasCare. Frequent internal reviews refined this approach, ensuring visual clarity and viewer comfort were always central.

During RP, animation logic and camera choreography were critical areas of focus, addressing important challenges early. Key animations—like embolization spheres entering blood vessels and visually demonstrating shrinking fibroids—were thoughtfully planned to balance medical accuracy with visual simplicity. Initial camera movements were blocked out to test dynamic storytelling transitions, reinforcing the narrative around the minimally invasive and straightforward nature of the procedure. Adobe After Effects was used for preliminary integration of basic text callouts, guiding future refinements and confirming alignment with intended educational goals.

Client Feedback Shaping Direction

Client input during the RP phase was crucial, guiding key adjustments and shaping the direction for the final animation. Early feedback indicated a preference for softer, less graphic visuals. Requests to subtly integrate VasCare branding—such as discreet logo placement and prominently displayed contact information—were quickly adopted.

The client pointed out early visuals as feeling overly rigid or boxy, suggesting more organic, modern shapes and smoother visual transitions. Additional client notes emphasized refining anatomical accuracy without compromising viewer comfort, leading to adjustments of the uterus model to a less elongated, more proportionally accurate shape based on client-recommended references. Proactive inclusion of subtitles and additional on-screen text was implemented in direct response to client emphasis on accessibility and viewer convenience.

Through iterative feedback cycles, the client-approved RP established a robust visual foundation, confidently steering our efforts into Full Production with clear, precise visual, stylistic, and communicative goals.

Full Production

Look Development

During the Full Production phase, we polished the semi-transparent visual style selected in Rapid Prototyping, striking a careful balance between realistic representation and stylized abstraction. Using Cinema 4D paired with Redshift rendering, we refined material setups, emphasizing subtle transparency and translucency. Specifically, we rendered the uterus and fibroids with custom shaders employing precise Subsurface Scattering (SSS) parameters, achieving optimal visual clarity and softness—effectively hinting at tissue density without graphic intensity.

Lighting was thoughtfully designed to reinforce a calming atmosphere, incorporating soft shadows and smooth transitions between anatomical features. We deliberately avoided harsh contrasts, opting instead for diffuse, even illumination schemes to create an inviting and accessible visual experience. Fresnel shaders were refined for maximum visual coherence, delivering transparent outlines that maintained clear spatial relationships from multiple viewing angles, particularly during dynamic camera movements.

Design & Animation

Our animation approach prioritized smooth visual flow and clear educational communication. Following the client-approved Rapid Prototyping blueprint, fibroids, embolization particles, and anatomical interactions were precisely rigged and animated. Key emphasis was placed on visualizing fibroid reduction and the movement of embolization spheres within vessels—animations that communicated procedural simplicity without compromising anatomical accuracy. To keep viewers engaged and maintain educational clarity, we choreographed gentle, fluid camera transitions from macro views to detailed close-ups, carefully emphasizing critical procedural moments without overwhelming viewers.

In response to client feedback about anatomical accuracy, the uterus model was refined to reflect realistic proportions while remaining intentionally simplified for comfort. These adjustments included precise scaling and reshaping, ensuring visual harmony aligned closely with the project's educational goals.

Style Choices and Reasoning

The decision to adopt a stylized conceptual animation style was particularly suited to VasCare’s sensitive medical topic. Because Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) involves detailed anatomical visuals, realistic or overly graphic imagery could overwhelm patients. Thus, this gentler, abstracted visual approach was strategically chosen to balance technical accuracy with viewer comfort. Abstracting anatomical details minimized potential viewer discomfort while clearly communicating procedural simplicity and minimally invasive benefits—core messaging priorities emphasized by VasCare.

The soft, muted color palette and translucent materials closely matched VasCare’s branding—modern, comforting, and subtly feminine. This deliberate stylistic alignment reinforced the brand’s compassionate, patient-focused approach, creating reassuring visuals that reduced anxiety and enhanced educational value. Thoughtfully planned camera movements further supported this, guiding viewers gently through procedural steps, reinforcing simplicity, clarity, and reassurance throughout.

Technical Details

On the technical side, the animation leveraged sophisticated capabilities within Cinema 4D and Redshift. Every asset—especially custom-modeled fibroids and anatomical structures—underwent careful optimization via detailed polygon reduction and refined topology, ensuring smooth performance and efficient rendering. Advanced shader techniques, including multiple layers of subsurface scattering, Fresnel-based transparency, and selective roughness, provided nuanced depth and softness. Additionally, camera setups incorporated carefully tested focal lengths, refined during RP, to enhance spatial perception and viewer engagement.

Significant attention was dedicated to subtle, procedural animations illustrating fibroid shrinkage post-embolization, created through precise keyframing and easing techniques in Cinema 4D. This approach provided a visually compelling representation of the medical process without overly explicit realism. Similarly, the embolization spheres’ journey through blood vessels employed procedural path animations enhanced with subtle motion blur, increasing realism while maintaining visual simplicity.

The main challenge in production involved balancing anatomical accuracy with viewer comfort. Our approach included careful shader adjustments, selective simplification of visuals, and thoughtfully planned animations. Ongoing client collaboration throughout this process facilitated smooth resolutions, ensuring a unified vision and delivering a cohesive, reassuring visual narrative aligned perfectly with VasCare’s objectives.

Post-Production & Delivery

Final Compositing & Color Grading

Post-production kicked off by compositing rendered frames in Adobe After Effects—an essential step in achieving the polished, comforting aesthetic central to VasCare’s vision. Leveraging Redshift’s multi-pass renders, our team carefully handled individual elements such as diffuse lighting, reflections, shadows, and depth, allowing precise refinement of each shot. We paid special attention to enhancing anatomical translucency through nuanced compositing adjustments, ensuring visual softness and clarity remained consistent.

Color grading played a crucial role in unifying the visual narrative. We used curves, selective color adjustments, and exposure tweaks to maintain a gentle, cohesive palette throughout. Each visual element was adjusted to subtly reinforce VasCare’s calming brand colors, enhancing viewer comfort without sacrificing anatomical clarity. This meticulous balance ensured consistent brand alignment and reassuring visuals across the entire animation.

To subtly elevate viewer experience, targeted visual effects—including soft lens flares, gentle glows, and delicate depth-of-field adjustments—were applied strategically during key transitions and anatomical close-ups. These enhancements gently directed viewer attention, increasing engagement without compromising the comforting aesthetic fundamental to the project's success. Selective ambient occlusion and volumetric lighting were also added carefully to enhance spatial depth, aiding viewer comprehension of anatomical layouts.

Infographics, UI Overlays, and Data Visualization

Clear, visually gentle UI overlays and infographics were smoothly integrated, directly reflecting VasCare’s emphasis on educational clarity. On-screen textual information, including procedural explanations and key medical insights, was animated subtly and unobtrusively, using gentle fades and easing effects to complement rather than distract from the main visuals. Text callouts were precisely anchored in 3D space, tracking smoothly with anatomical elements, ensuring viewer orientation while providing reassuring, easy-to-follow contextual details.

The doctor's card, a stylized yet grounded 2D segment, served to introduce the interventional radiologist and highlight VasCare's human-centered approach. Its design prioritized clear visual hierarchy, featuring the radiologist's silhouette alongside clean, modern typography for their name, title, and credentials.

The animation was carefully timed to sync with the voiceover, introducing the card through a smooth slide-in and scale-up motion. This entrance was followed by subtle hover movement and ambient lighting effects that preserved visual continuity with the surrounding animation. The motion design here was deliberate, offering a narrative pause that conveyed professionalism and trust without breaking the calming visual tone. Text elements were animated with carefully timed opacity fades and easing transitions, matching the pacing and tone of the voiceover. This moment functioned not just as a narrative touchpoint but as a visual trust signal, reinforcing VasCare’s medical expertise and patient-first approach.

Final Edits & Optimization

Late-stage refinements were crucial to fully aligning the animation with VasCare’s patient-focused messaging and educational goals. Following detailed client feedback, we made precise adjustments, including minor timing tweaks, slight repositioning of text for better readability, and subtle enhancements in color saturation and contrast to further improve visual comfort. These final optimizations ensured compositional and textural elements harmonized perfectly, reinforcing the overall soothing and accessible narrative.

Delivery

The final animation was delivered as a high-resolution 1920x1080 MP4, optimized for smooth playback across digital platforms aligned with VasCare’s distribution needs. Supplementary versions, including captioned iterations, were provided to ensure accessibility and inclusivity, fully supporting VasCare’s patient-education mission. We also delivered optimized still frames and graphic elements extracted from the animation, extending consistent visual messaging across VasCare’s wider marketing and educational materials.

Transcript:

If you’ve been diagnosed with fibroids, you may believe hysterectomy is your only treatment option…but that’s not true.

At VasCare, we’re treating fibroids with a safe, minimally invasive outpatient procedure known as UFE.

UFE shrinks fibroids and eases symptoms without harming your uterus. 

Our team is led by Dr. Llewellyn Lee, a Vascular and Interventional Radiologist with over 20 years of UFE experience. 

Call or visit us today to arrange a consultation.