4 Examples of Beautiful Ophthalmology Animation That Showcase the Latest in Ophthalmic Research

By: Olivia Slayden

In recent years, the field of ophthalmology has witnessed significant advancements, driven by cutting-edge research and innovative technologies. We have seen this explosion of new ophthalmic research first-hand at Microverse Studios in just about every industry type we encounter whether it be medical device, pharma or the CROs that support research itself.

In this article, we will explore four examples of beautiful ophthalmology animation that not only illustrate the intricacies of eye-related conditions but also highlight the latest trends in ophthalmic research.

But first, let's quickly explore why our clients may have sought out medical animation in the first place.

The Rise of Medical Animation for Ophthalmic Research

Ophthalmology animation has become an indispensable asset in the realm of ophthalmologic research. With the eye being one of the most complex organs in the human body, traditional methods of education and communication often fall short in conveying the nuances of various conditions and treatments. Ocular medical animation bridges this gap by providing a visually compelling and scientifically accurate representation of eye anatomy, diseases, and surgical procedures.

The precision and detail offered by ocular medical animation make it an invaluable tool for researchers, educators, and clinicians. These animations can illustrate everything from the microscopic structures within the eye to the dynamic processes that occur during disease progression or treatment. For companies involved in ophthalmologic research, investing in high-quality ocular medical animation can enhance the clarity and impact of their findings, leading to better understanding and collaboration within the scientific community.

These animations can transform abstract concepts into tangible visual experiences, facilitating better communication of research outcomes and fostering greater engagement with stakeholders.

By leveraging the power of ocular medical animation, researchers can enhance the impact of their work, attract funding, and accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical applications.

Following are four such animations. You will see that each medical animation is unique- not only in subject matter but also in aesthetic style.

1. EyeCRO- MiDROPS

Mechanism of Action Medical Animation for Contract Research Organization
MiDROPS collage dropper bottle, eye diagram and single-phase emulsion surfactant molecule

EyeCRO is a leading contract research organization specializing in ophthalmologic research and drug development.

One of their innovative products is MiDROPS, a novel drug delivery system designed to enhance the treatment of various eye conditions. MiDROPS leverages advanced micro-dispersion technology to ensure precise and efficient delivery of therapeutic agents to targeted areas within the eye.

This cutting-edge system aims to improve the bioavailability and effectiveness of ophthalmic medications while minimizing side effects.

By providing a reliable and patient-friendly method for ocular drug administration, EyeCRO's MiDROPS is poised to significantly impact the field of ophthalmologic therapeutics and improve patient outcomes.

The mechanism of action animation we created for EyeCRO needed to explain their new technology in depth to a scientific audience while underscoring its awesome capabilities for scientific research without sounding too sensational. We also needed to create a unique, eye-catching aesthetic that remained respectful of their brand and the science behind their new technology.

2. Cloudbreak- CBT-001 emulsion

Mechanism of Action Medical Animation for Pharmaceutical Client

Cloudbreak Pharma is an innovative biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing advanced treatments for eye diseases.

One of their promising products is CBT-001, an emulsion designed for the reduction of conjunctival hyperemia and the regression of pterygium lesions. CBT-001 utilizes a unique formulation to deliver therapeutic agents directly to the affected areas, offering a targeted and effective approach to managing these conditions.

This emulsion aims to alleviate the redness and irritation associated with conjunctival hyperemia and reduce the growth of pterygium lesions, ultimately improving patient comfort and eye health.

Microverse Studios created the following mechanism of action animation with a unique look to clearly explain how their innovative therapeutic worked while also highlighting how groundbreaking it would be to have this first non-surgical option for patients suffering with the condition.

3. Avisi Technologies, Inc.- VisiPlate

Medical Device Animation for Biotechnology Company that Specializes in Ophthalmologic Conditions

Next, we have an ophthalmologic medical device animation created for Avisi Technologies' revolutionary VisiPlate.

Avisi Technologies Inc. is a cutting-edge biomedical company focused on developing innovative solutions for ophthalmologic conditions. One of their standout products is VisiPlate, an ultra-thin, biocompatible ocular implant designed to treat glaucoma.

VisiPlate addresses the challenge of managing intraocular pressure (IOP) by providing a minimally invasive method to facilitate aqueous humor outflow. This advanced device is engineered to integrate seamlessly with the eye's natural structures, reducing the risk of complications associated with traditional glaucoma treatments.

Through VisiPlate, Avisi Technologies aims to enhance patient outcomes and improve the quality of life for individuals suffering from glaucoma, a disease that affects approximately 103 million people world-wide.

The following ophthalmology animation exemplifies our approach to medical device animations. We see these devices as life-changing, specialized inventions and strive to highlight their transformative impact and inherent beauty while also clearly explaining their utility.

4. Aerpio Therapeutics- Glaucoma

Mechanism of Disease Animation for Pharmaceutical Client

Prior to their merger with Aadi Biolsciences in 2021, Aerpio Pharmaceuticals contacted Microverse Studios for an ocular medical animation that explained the science behind glaucoma.

Medical animations such as these are known as mechanism of disease (MoD) animations. Our clients often commission MoD animations to better explain a disease to their customers or in anticipation of future drug or other technology launches. These medical animations make clear difficulties related to a particular disease and what is at stake when left untreated.

The Importance of High-Quality Ophthalmology Animation

With the eye being one of the most complex organs in the human body, traditional methods of education and communication often fall short in conveying the nuances of various conditions and treatments and medical animation is a great way to make them accessible and engaging for both professionals and patients.

Ophthalmology animation bridges this gap by providing a visually compelling and scientifically accurate representation of eye anatomy, diseases, and surgical procedures. These animations can illustrate everything from the microscopic structures within the eye to the dynamic processes that occur during disease progression or treatment.

Is Ophthalmology Animation Right for Your Research?

For many companies involved in ophthalmic research, high-quality ophthalmology animation is not just a luxury but a necessity. That doesn't mean that it is necessarily right for you.

If you would like to find out if medical animation is the right choice for your ophthalmic research, get in touch! We would love to have a quick, 15-30 minute call to discuss whether medical animation or another science communication tool is the right choice for you.

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What Should 3D Medical Animation Cost?

By: Cameron Slayden

Note: This is a duplicate article for those searching for 3D medical animation rather than scientific animation. For all intents and purposes, both refer to the same type of animation and are therefore priced identically. If you would like to see that article instead, click here.

How Much Does 3D Medical Animation Cost Per Minute?

In the 3D medical animation industry, the cost of a project is typically quoted on a per-minute basis.

TLDR: Microverse Studios charges $35,000-45,000 for a one minute animation, $55,000-65,000 for a two minute animation, and $75,000-$105,000 for a three minute video. A 30-second production would range from $25,000-30,000. The per-minute rate decreases as duration increases. The range represents varying prices due to project complexity. As you can imagine, more complex stories require more work hours to complete.

Our predictable pricing covers all aspects of 3D medical animation production from start to finish. We have highly accurate metrics that allow us to predict and maintain scope. These are outlined later.

Why Do We Charge So Much?

In the 3D medical animation landscape, you'll see a variety of price points, with our rates squarely in the middle (despite our commitment to top-tier production quality).

We are able to provide complex, 3D medical animation at a mid-range price point thanks to our streamlined workflow and minimal overhead. We cannot charge the lowest rates, however,  because high production quality and scientific accuracy requires top talent.

Every member of our creative staff is both an award-winning filmmaker, and has a masters' degree in medical illustration. This means that the animators at our studio have the scientific background to completely understand your science and the creative chops to produce award-winning animation for every project. 

How Do Some 3D Medical Animation Studios Charge Less?

Imagine the process of 3D medical animation production as being like building a house. The experience and dedication of the team you choose determines the quality of the end product. If you're building a shed, cheap out. There is no need to source the finest building materials or the most exclusive architect. If you're building a sleek mansion, that’s a bit different. Choose your team wisely!

To be able to charge a lower price point, other studios need to pay their animators less. This could mean using freelancers, outsourcing overseas, or hiring animators without advanced degrees or scientific knowledge. 

For some less complex stories or stories that have more to do with CAD files and engineering, this isn't an issue. If your story is full of intricate scientific detail, you will need to decide up front how rigorous the science in your animation needs to be.

If you cannot skimp on complexity, then you will need to determine how much time your team has to explain the science behind your new technology and to correct any scientific errors that may pop up.

How Can Early Stage Startups Afford 3D Medical Animation?

Microverse Studios serves early stage biotech startups, larger pharmaceutical clients, and the agencies that cater to them.

We know that, for very early startups, cash flow can be complicated. We always seek to make our work available to everyone that needs it. We have had success deferring payments until after a raise is complete, providing long term payment options, and accepting partial payment in the form of equity (via SAFE note). 

How Do We Determine Project Scope for a 3D Medical Animation?

We've found that the best predictor of the quantity of labor in a given project takes into account three variables: script word count, optimal pacing, and concept count. 

These provide a consistent metric for scoping any animation because they're rooted in how the brain works. Let’s take a look at these variables now.

Script Word Count

When we write our scripts, we keep in mind that, in English, narration is read at about two words per second. We don't use word count as a rigid metric, because the verbiage needed to communicate each concept can vary widely, but it does provide some guide rails that can keep script edits from driving scope creep.

As a general rule, don’t expect an animation to be shorter than the time it takes to read it aloud, or about 120 words per minute. Pro tip: the brain can only read as fast as it can understand speech, so this includes text on screen!

Optimal Pacing

It takes about 10 seconds to move a piece of information from short term memory into working memory. In working memory, ideas are strung together into a narrative. If presented too quickly, short term memory will dump a piece of information to make room for the next. If presented too slowly, working memory will have a hard time sequencing them.

We always add a second on either side of each concept to account for smooth transitions, so that means that in sixty seconds you can fit about five concepts at the perfect pace for learning.

Concept Count

Your 3D medical animation will have a certain number of discrete ideas that the audience must understand before it ends. Pro tip: Knowing this, you can predict and tailor the duration of your own project before you talk to your first medical animation studio! 

The hard rules of cognition make concept count the central metric for predicting how long an animation must be. 

Because we know how much work goes into making a given concept come to life on screen, this also gives us a very accurate predictor for establishing project scope.

How Can I Minimize the Cost of My 3D Medical Animation Project?

Be concise. Certain elements will be critical to your story, but know the difference between what needs to be demonstrated in animation versus what can be a text box displayed alongside it. Always remember that animation is best served by stories that “show” rather than “tell.” 

Expository elements such as long lists of features or applications might even have better impact elsewhere on the webpage, remaining in view longer than if they are included in the animation.

Cost Breakdown in 3D Medical Animation

As we see it at Microverse Studios, every 3D medical animation has two cost components: pre-production/overhead and animation production. 

3D Medical Animation Pre-production/Overhead

Every project takes a certain amount of overhead, regardless of final video duration. This includes time spent working on things like research, meetings, internal review, creative direction, and production management. It also includes script writing, our unique style development protocol, concept art, and storyboarding. 

Because this workload is very consistent, we have a standard line item of $15,000 for most 3D medical animation projects. 

3D Medical Animation Production Costs

Animation production refers to creating the actual 3D animation. This includes geometry, programming, rigging, keyframing, camera work and so forth. It also includes using supercomputing resources, rendering, compositing, video editing, and professional voice. 

This second component represents the bulk of costs associated with production, and scales with video duration. The cost is dependent on the anticipated work to create the imagery up to Microverse Studios' standards for production value. 

For example, if an animation takes place in multiple microenvironments (i.e. kidney, lung, liver, etc.), each of these environments must be built from scratch. Part of our value is that we reuse very few materials from one animation to another, ensuring that every project is unique. This added research and work drives the cost difference for more complex projects. 

This production line item ranges from $20,000 to $30,000 per minute of finished animation. The range reflects variations in project complexity. 

examples of VR, 360, medical illustration and plain language medical writing

Other Medical Communication Services

We produce more than 3D medical animation! We also provide scientific and medical illustration for print and web, plain language medical writing for investor outreach, immersive experiences for your next conference booth, VR and 360 video and more. We even sweeten Powerpoint presentations.

Because the production process for each of these services can vary significantly, they are typically priced differently from 3D medical animation. Medical illustrations, medical writing and Powerpoint presentations, for example, would not require per minute pricing. Often, in these cases, we use our day rate of $2,000.

Frequently, one kind of project dovetails into another. For example, illustrations in one year might be expanded into animations the next.  We take into account work already done on a project when building expanded scopes in order to optimize our clients' bang for their buck.

If you'd like to find out more about our 3D medical animation or the other services we provide, reach out! A quick, 15-30 minute call is usually all we need to discuss the best possible means of scientific communication for your technology (or whether your project even requires our services in the first place). 

Our philosophy is to be transparent about our pricing structure, and to always keep our clients’ best interests at heart while serving their unique needs. We always counsel toward brevity and act as thought partners to make their stories as successful as possible. We have found this to be the best business strategy because it keeps our clients coming back again and again. 

About Microverse Studios
Microverse Studios is a full-service scientific and medical animation studio. Our 3D medical animation services include every aspect of animation production from research and scriptwriting to sound design and final delivery. Our clients come to us with an idea, and we turn it into a deployment-ready video.

We have had the honor of delivering game-changing innovators in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device fields with best-in-class, award-winning scientific filmmaking since 2005. Microverse Studios’ medical animators all have advanced degrees and the experience and expertise to quickly and completely understand the science behind our clients’ technologies, whether it’s AI-driven drug discovery, next-gen PCR technologies, or drug mechanism of action/MOA and mechanism of disease/MOD.

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Medical Animation Production—What to Expect From Start to Finish

By: Cameron Slayden

Medical animation is an industry-standard method of scientific communication. In the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology industries, it's used to explain the hard science and features behind their technologies or therapies in the most efficient format possible. 

An entire industry has grown around providing for these needs at multiple price points. Commissioning this kind of work can be a considerable investment. This article will walk you through what to expect when embarking on this journey.

The Elements of Medical Animation Production

Microverse Studio’s production page lays out our specific protocol, but the phases outlined in this article go more in-depth, and should apply to just about any studio out there. These milestones were established organically over decades of experimentation. They represent the key touch points necessary for successful medical animation production. At Microverse Studios, we have found that this project flow optimizes production efficiency, without wasting client or animator time. Anything less runs the risk of an end product that doesn't meet (or exceed!) client expectations.

Briefly, here are the major production steps you should anticipate from your vendor when commissioning a medical animation:

Scope/Discovery for Medical Animation

Every medical animation studio has their own method to identify how much work will go into a project, and thus cost. This tends to center around the duration of the end product. Sometimes, studios will use the word count of the script as a metric (120 words per minute), because that's a hard determiner of absolute duration. 

However, we've found that there's a better way: we tie cost to the number of events taking place on screen. After all, everything that happens in a medical animation takes work to create. Sometimes an event may be easy to build and animate, but require an unusual number of words in the narration. 

The human brain takes about 10 seconds to absorb a piece of information and move it from short term memory to long term memory, where it can be incorporated into a narrative. If information is presented too quickly, the brain dumps whatever it’s thinking about to make room for the next idea, and the message doesn’t get absorbed. If ideas are presented too slowly, the brain can’t easily sequence them into a coherent narrative. 

If we add a second to each side of each idea for transitions, that makes the optimal pace of storytelling about 5 ideas per minute. This precisely ties the amount of labor to the end duration of the animation, making for a predictable production experience and minimizing scope creep.

Pricing based on number and complexity of onscreen events guarantees the most accurate rate. This way, scope is easily maintained by writing the narration around the important events and planning them visually in the storyboard.

Medical Animation Script

The script is the conceptual backbone of any animation, and that includes medical animation. It's important to keep spoken content grounded in verbiage that enhances onscreen events. It's also a good idea to avoid exposition. Verbiage that describes concepts that can't be directly animated risk confusing or boring viewers.

The narration is also an opportunity to inject principles of story structure into the production. With the right application, story structure can deeply enrich viewer interest.

Developing the Style for a Medical Animation

Most studios explore look and feel before starting medical animation production. If done well, look development can inject a strong aesthetic into the final product. It’s important to have key stakeholders involved in this conversation to make sure that everyone is happy with the visual approach. Often, the style developed at this stage becomes central to a product or company’s brand, so the stakes are high.

At Microverse Studios, we also create concept art to further explore how the style will apply to the scientific imagery. This way, the project begins with design documents that give a good sense of how the scientific imagery will look. This starts every project in alignment with client expectations.

Medical Animation Storyboards

A storyboard is usually created as a hand-drawn “sketch phase” for the animation. It establishes exactly what happens on screen during narration. Medical animation often includes very complicated scientific concepts. The storyboard is central to aligning client expectations with the animators' approach. 

Sometimes storyboards are series of detailed digital paintings depicting every event taking place. Sometimes they are simple black-and-white sketches of those events. In either case, they serve a critical early alignment on the visual plan for the story.

Medical Animation Asset Assembly

Medical animation production begins with assembly of the geometries and images that will go into creating the final video. Sometimes these elements are sourced externally. Examples might be protein structures or gross anatomy or CAD files. In medical animation, the visual subjects tend to be complicated. Often they need to be created from scratch. At Microverse Studios, every project we produce is bespoke, and so we create all elements new for each project.

Lights are set into the scenes, the appearances of the materials designed, and the look and feel of the imagery is established. At Microverse Studios, we provide stills at this phase to give clients an early look at final imagery.

One of the assets produced during this phase is the initial narration track. Stand-in voice in the first version gives the script a final gut-check before recording with the professional voice talent.

Rendering the Medical Animation Components

The 3D build files are then converted into a series of frames in a process called rendering. This can be computationally intensive, depending on the software features the animators use. If a medical animation renders on an artist's workstation, it can often take hours or days to complete. A production bottleneck forms, even when rendering on a local computer "farm." 

Artists working this way have to cut corners to speed the render process, which can impact quality. This is especially true when under deadline or rendering many projects in parallel.

Recently, other options have become available. Cost-effective supercomputing resources, such as Conductor by Coreweave, provide hollywood-level render capacity. This processing power allows animators to create their best work on every project.

Compositing for Medical Animation

Lens flare, on screen text, color correction, and other image “sweetening” is often added after rendering is complete. This requires video processing software such as Nuke, Fusion, or Adobe After Effects. Footage elements are layered over one another and effects are applied to create the final look. The final footage sequences render once again from this software to create footage sequences ready for the final edit. 

Editing Medical Animation Footage

Editing is an art form unto itself. It’s said that perfect editing is invisible. When done right, it creates a precisely paced story and a seamless viewing experience. No uncomfortable pauses, no jumpy transitions. The story flow just… feels right. Stand-in narration and music are carefully mixed and laid in. The entire production is output as a whole to become the first version of the video, ready to watch. 

Reviewing the Completed Medical Animation

Modern technology has made delivery and deployment of animation easy. Every studio will have their own toolset for delivery and review. We use Vimeo because it can deliver a link that can be viewed and commented on from any device. This is also important because the vast majority of medical animation is consumed on mobile devices.  

At Microverse Studios, animations undergo internal review before we deliver each version to clients. After receiving feedback, our creatives meet with the client to ensure we understand the feedback fully, and to align on the plan to address it. Microverse Studios’ standard contract allows 3 rounds of refinement, although usually our projects are accepted as final after just one.

Professional Voice, Sound, and Music for Medical Animation

The client selects final voice talent from a collection of auditions. Microverse Studios has a stable of voice talent that we present to clients, but occasionally clients ask us to put out an additional casting call or contract with celebrity talent (one client wanted Edward James Olmos, and another wanted JK Simmons!). Once the edit is approved, sound effects and final music are mixed and laid in along with the final voice. 

Derivative Deliverables from Medical Animation 

High quality  medical animation is an investment. Most studios want/expect their work to be a centerpiece for their clients’ communications strategies. Microverse Studios makes this easy by including unlimited alternate edits (such as sequence extractions or shorter versions) and still images from the video at no extra cost. 

A Thought About Weekly Status Update Meetings:

Between milestones, everything is in-progress and incomplete. Often, in-progress tasks are complex and technical, and hard to communicate to non-animators. The actual reviewable material isn't ready to view until the next milestone. When clients ask for weekly meetings, they often consist of the animators saying, "We're on target for the next milestone." In other words, a meeting that could have been an email.

Medical Animation Production Studios

When it comes to highly specialized and complex fields found in biotechnology, it's important to choose teams with optimal backgrounds. Specially trained scientific or medical animators will be able to fully understand the story they are animating. This will ensure scientific accuracy, which is critical in medical animation. It will also breathe scientific detail, nuance, and richness into the imagery. 

Strong filmmaking skills will also enhance the production quality of the end product. During the production phase, our medical animators use a variety of tools to animate each event outlined in the storyboard. This task calls upon a blend of programming, simulation design, and puppeteering skills. It also requires understanding of molecular and cellular biology, as well as tissue and fluid dynamics.  

Finally, a medical animation studio's internal review process will be critical to achieving the best possible outcomes. Motion elements are refined and iterated upon using unfinished renders. These “animatics” are rarely shared with clients, because they don’t look like the finished product. The animators work in a specialized 3D interface that can be difficult to interpret.  

Commissioning Your Next Medical Animation

The first step, of course, will be to find out if medical animation is the right choice for you. While animation is an effective communications tool, it’s not not appropriate for every situation. The studio you work with should have input on what the best applications for animation are. They will be able to review your message and either propose an approach to animation for you, or recommend an alternative that would be more cost-effective or efficient if animation isn’t the best choice.

If you'd like to learn more about how Microverse Studios' medical animation can tell your story, get in touch! We can set up a brief 15-30 minute conversation to discuss your new technology and whether it could benefit from what we have to offer.

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The Power of Scientific Communication in Contract Research Organizations: Why Medical Animation Matters

By: Olivia Slayden

In the world of science, discoveries and innovations are continuously unfolding. These advancements can improve lives, cure diseases, and solve complex problems. However, these benefits can only be fully realized if the findings are effectively communicated. This is where the importance of scientific communication, particularly medical animation, becomes evident.

Contract Research Organizations (CROs) stand at the forefront of medical innovation, developing new drugs, treatments, and medical devices. An effective scientific communication strategy can significantly enhance their impact by ensuring that complex research findings are conveyed clearly and accurately to diverse audiences. This not only fosters better understanding and collaboration among scientists, regulators, healthcare professionals, and the public but also accelerates the approval and adoption of new medical advancements. 

By investing in robust scientific communication methods such as medical animation specifically for Contract Research Organizations, these companies can streamline their operations, build trust with stakeholders, and ultimately drive greater success in their research endeavors.

What are Contract Research Organizations?

Contract Research Organizations are companies that provide research services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. They play a crucial role in developing new drugs, treatments, and medical devices, handling everything from initial research stages to clinical trials and regulatory approval.

The Role of Scientific Communication in Contract Research

Effective scientific communication is essential for CROs. It involves sharing research results and innovations in a way that is clear and easy to understand, reaching a variety of audiences with unique needs and expertise, including scientists, regulators, healthcare professionals, and the general public. Strong communication ensures that research findings are applied in real-world scenarios and enhances public understanding.

Benefits of Effective Scientific Communication for Different Audiences

1. Scientists:

When communicating with other scientists, the information needs to be detailed and precise. Scientists look for data and evidence that support research conclusions. Clear communication ensures that findings are accurately shared and can be built upon in future research.

2. Regulators:

Regulators require comprehensive information that follows specific guidelines to ensure compliance. They assess the safety and efficacy of new drugs and treatments based on the data provided. Effective communication of your science with regulators helps streamline the approval processes for new medical products.

3. Healthcare Professionals:

Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers need information that translates complex research into practical applications. Simplifying your complex research into practical applications will help these healthcare providers understand new treatments and make more informed clinical decisions for their patients.

4. General Public:

For the general public, scientific communication should simplify complex concepts without losing the essential facts. This audience benefits from explanations that relate directly to their experiences and concerns, such as how a new treatment could improve health outcomes. Effective scientific communication fosters better understanding and trust in scientific advancements.

This targeted approach in scientific communication is particularly important when CROs collaborate with pharmaceutical companies, regulatory bodies, and healthcare providers. It ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page, leading to more efficient and successful outcomes in medical research and development.

Scientific Communication Methods Used by Contract Research Organizations

CROs use several scientific communication methods to ensure their research is clear and actionable. Here is a brief overview of some of those methods.

1. Medical Animation:

This tool visualizes complex scientific processes in an engaging and straightforward way. It is particularly useful for explaining drug mechanisms and biological interactions. Medical animation is also particularly useful when complex scientific information must be absorbed in a short amount of time.

2. Scientific Publications:

More commonly, the clients of CROs, like pharmaceutical companies, are the primary publishers of research findings. There are some instances, however, when Contract Research Organizations publish findings in scientific journals. 

3. Conference Presentations:

CRO scientists may present their findings at conferences. These events allow for direct communication with peers and provide opportunities for feedback.

4. Regulatory Documents:

CROs prepare detailed documents for regulatory bodies. These documents must clearly explain the research, findings, and product safety to ensure compliance and approval.

5. Patient Education Materials:

CROs create materials to help patients understand their treatment options. These materials explain drug actions, side effects, and clinical trial details in understandable language so that patients can give informed consent for their participation in any clinical study.

6. Infographics and Brochures:

For quick and broad information dissemination, CROs may use infographics and brochures. These tools simplify complex information for easy understanding by a non-specialist audience.

These diverse communication methods ensure that scientific information reaches various audiences efficiently. Through these efforts, CROs significantly contribute to medical science and public health advancement.

The Impact of Medical Animation in Scientific Communication

Medical animation is an especially effective way to communicate complex scientific data. These animations turn complex concepts and processes into understandable and engaging visual content like no other form of media to date. They are particularly beneficial in several ways:

1. Enhancing Understanding:

Medical animation simplifies complex biological processes or drug mechanisms into animated sequences. These sequences are easier to understand than static images or text-heavy documents.

2. Increasing Engagement:

People generally engage more with visual content than text. Medical animation captures attention and makes learning about scientific topics more interesting.

3. Improving Retention:

Visual content is not just engaging; it’s also memorable. People remember information better when it's presented visually.

4. Facilitating Communication:

Medical animation can act as a universal language. This scientific communication tool bridges gaps between scientists with different specializations or between technical experts and non-experts.

Challenges in Scientific Communication

Scientific communication faces several unique challenges not typically found in other forms of communication.

Complexity of Information:

Scientific research often involves complex data that can be difficult to explain in simple terms. Contract Research Organizations must convey complex data in an accessible way without oversimplifying or misrepresenting the facts, balancing clarity with scientific integrity.

Audience Diversity:

Communicators in scientific fields must address the needs of a highly diverse audience. This includes experts who need detailed information and the general public who may need basic explanations devoid of jargon.

Misinformation:

Clear scientific communication in today's fast-paced digital world is more crucial now than ever. Information spreads quickly, and not all of it is accurate.

We've all seen the destructive power of this misinformation, especially in our post-pandemic world. It not only causes public confusion, but also undermines trust in scientific findings. 

Contract Research Organizations, like other scientists and researchers, can work to correct misconceptions by providing reliable information through reputable channels. Addressing these challenges head-on is essential for the successful application of scientific discoveries and for maintaining public trust in science.

Last Thoughts

For a Contract Research Organization, effective scientific communication is essential. Tools like medical animation are not just nice-to-have; they're necessary. They ensure that scientific breakthroughs are accurately understood and properly utilized, building trust with stakeholders and helping new treatments and innovations reach the market efficiently and safely.

Investing in a strong scientific communications strategy allows CROs to enhance their research impact. As science advances, the role of effective scientific communication and innovative tools like medical animation will only grow in importance, turning complex scientific ideas into actionable medical solutions.

If you operate a Contract Research Organization and have had difficulty communicating your complex science to stakeholders, medical animation may be your next step. 
Microverse Studios is an award winning scientific communications company that has been telling complex scientific stories, including those specifically for Contract Research Organizations, since 2005. Reach out for a quick 15-minute call to find out if medical animation fits your scientific communications strategy.

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What Should Scientific Animation Cost?

By: Cameron Slayden

Note: This is a duplicate article for those searching for scientific animation rather than 3D medical animation. For all intents and purposes, both refer to the same type of animation and are therefore priced identically. If you would like to see that article instead, click here.

How Much Does Scientific Animation Cost Per Minute?

In the scientific animation industry, the cost of a project is typically quoted on a per-minute basis.

TLDR: Microverse Studios charges $35,000-45,000 for a one minute animation, $55,000-65,000 for a two minute animation, and $75,000-$105,000 for a three minute video. A 30-second production would range from $25,000-30,000. The per-minute rate decreases as duration increases. The range represents varying prices due to project complexity. As you can imagine, more complex stories require more work hours to complete.

Our predictable pricing covers all aspects of scientific animation production from start to finish. We have highly accurate metrics that allow us to predict and maintain scope. These are outlined later.

Why Do We Charge So Much?

In the scientific animation landscape, you'll see a variety of price points, with our rates squarely in the middle (despite our commitment to top-tier production quality).

We are able to provide complex, scientific animation at a mid-range price point thanks to our streamlined workflow and minimal overhead. We cannot charge the lowest rates, however,  because high production quality and scientific accuracy requires top talent.

Every member of our creative staff is both an award-winning filmmaker, and has a masters' degree in medical illustration. This means that the animators at our studio have the scientific background to completely understand your science and the creative chops to produce award-winning animation for every project. 

How Do Some Scientific Animation Studios Charge Less?

Imagine the process of scientific animation production as being like building a house. The experience and dedication of the team you choose determines the quality of the end product. If you're building a shed, cheap out. There is no need to source the finest building materials or the most exclusive architect. If you're building a sleek mansion, that’s a bit different. Choose your team wisely!

To be able to charge a lower price point, other studios need to pay their animators less. This could mean using freelancers, outsourcing overseas, or hiring animators without advanced degrees or scientific knowledge. 

For some less complex stories or stories that have more to do with CAD files and engineering, this isn't an issue. If your story is full of intricate scientific detail, you will need to decide up front how rigorous the science in your animation needs to be.

If you cannot skimp on complexity, then you will need to determine how much time your team has to explain the science behind your new technology and to correct any scientific errors that may pop up.

How Can Early Stage Startups Afford Scientific Animation?

Microverse Studios serves early stage biotech startups, larger pharmaceutical clients, and the agencies that cater to them.

We know that, for very early startups, cash flow can be complicated. We always seek to make our work available to everyone that needs it. We have had success deferring payments until after a raise is complete, providing long term payment options, and accepting partial payment in the form of equity (via SAFE note). 

How Do We Determine Project Scope for a Scientific Animation?

We've found that the best predictor of the quantity of labor in a given project takes into account three variables: script word count, optimal pacing, and concept count. 

These provide a consistent metric for scoping any animation because they're rooted in how the brain works. Let’s take a look at these variables now.

Script Word Count

When we write our scripts, we keep in mind that, in English, narration is read at about two words per second. We don't use word count as a rigid metric, because the verbiage needed to communicate each concept can vary widely, but it does provide some guide rails that can keep script edits from driving scope creep.

As a general rule, don’t expect an animation to be shorter than the time it takes to read it aloud, or about 120 words per minute. Pro tip: the brain can only read as fast as it can understand speech, so this includes text on screen!

Optimal Pacing

It takes about 10 seconds to move a piece of information from short term memory into working memory. In working memory, ideas are strung together into a narrative. If presented too quickly, short term memory will dump a piece of information to make room for the next. If presented too slowly, working memory will have a hard time sequencing them.

We always add a second on either side of each concept to account for smooth transitions, so that means that in sixty seconds you can fit about five concepts at the perfect pace for learning.

Concept Count

Your scientific animation will have a certain number of discrete ideas that the audience must understand before it ends. Pro tip: Knowing this, you can predict and tailor the duration of your own project before you talk to your first scientific animation studio! 

The hard rules of cognition make concept count the central metric for predicting how long an animation must be. 

Because we know how much work goes into making a given concept come to life on screen, this also gives us a very accurate predictor for establishing project scope.

How Can I Minimize the Cost of My Project?

Be concise. Certain elements will be critical to your story, but know the difference between what needs to be demonstrated in animation versus what can be a text box displayed alongside it. Always remember that animation is best served by stories that “show” rather than “tell.” 

Expository elements such as long lists of features or applications might even have better impact elsewhere on the webpage, remaining in view longer than if they are included in the animation.

Cost Breakdown in Scientific Animation

As we see it at Microverse Studios, every scientific animation has two cost components: pre-production/overhead and animation production. 

Scientific Animation Pre-production/Overhead

Every project takes a certain amount of overhead, regardless of final video duration. This includes time spent working on things like research, meetings, internal review, creative direction, and production management. It also includes script writing, our unique style development protocol, concept art, and storyboarding. 

Because this workload is very consistent, we have a standard line item of $15,000 for most scientific animation projects. 

Scientific Animation Production Costs

Here, scientific animation production refers to creating the actual 3D animation. This includes geometry, programming, rigging, keyframing, camera work and so forth. It also includes using supercomputing resources, rendering, compositing, video editing, and professional voice. 

This second component represents the bulk of costs associated with production, and scales with video duration. The cost is dependent on the anticipated work to create the imagery up to Microverse Studios' standards for production value. 

For example, if an animation takes place in multiple microenvironments (i.e. kidney, lung, liver, etc.), each of these environments must be built from scratch. Part of our value is that we reuse very few materials from one animation to another, ensuring that every project is unique. This added research and work drives the cost difference for more complex projects. 

This production line item ranges from $20,000 to $30,000 per minute of finished animation. The range reflects variations in project complexity. 

examples of VR, 360, medical illustration and plain language medical writing

Other Scientific Communication Services

We produce more than animation! We also provide scientific and medical illustration for print and web, plain language medical writing for investor outreach, immersive experiences for your next conference booth, VR and 360 video and more. We even sweeten Powerpoint presentations.

Because the production process for each of these services can vary significantly, they are typically priced differently from scientific animation. Medical illustrations, medical writing and Powerpoint presentations, for example, would not require per minute pricing. Often, in these cases, we use our day rate of $2,000.

Frequently, one kind of project dovetails into another. For example, illustrations in one year might be expanded into animations the next.  We take into account work already done on a project when building expanded scopes in order to optimize our clients bang for their buck.

If you'd like to find out more about our scientific animation or the other services we provide, reach out! A quick, 15-30 minute call is usually all we need to discuss the best possible means of scientific communication for your technology (or whether your project even requires our services in the first place). 

Our philosophy is to be transparent about our pricing structure, and to always keep our clients’ best interests at heart while serving their unique needs. We always counsel toward brevity and act as thought partners to make their stories as successful as possible. We have found this to be the best business strategy because it keeps our clients coming back again and again. 

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How to Choose the Best  Medical Animation Company For Your Needs

By Olivia Slayden

You may have noticed, after doing a quick search, that there are hundreds of medical animation companies out there that specialize in scientific storytelling. If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve never worked with one, or you have but the experience was sub-par and you’re looking for a different provider.

As you reach out to the ones that catch your eye, what clues can you find to tell you what your experience will be, and whether they’ll give you an end product you can be proud of? Medical animation can be a significant cost investment for your company, but if you’ve spent any time in the field, you know that it is an industry standard communications tool. 

If you give me 10 minutes, I can tell you everything you need to know to find the best medical animation company out there to explain your technology (or at least, the best possible studio within budget).

Typically, a medical animation company is considered a top player when it combines scientific accuracy with appealing visuals. I contend that it's a little more nuanced than that, and there are more factors to consider.

The best medical animation companies stand out in the following areas:

Let's explore this in more depth now so that you can determine which medical animation company is the best for your needs. I will even provide concrete, practical methods you can use to evaluate each prospective studio yourself.

Production Quality

Like all products and services, medical animations come in varying levels of quality. Ultimately, the production quality in medical animation comes down to 5 things:

Visual Quality

Before signing with a medical animation company, I invite you to look closely at the various medical animation styles out there. You will quickly notice that some are more cinematic while others are less developed.

The best medical animation companies understand that crisp, clear, high-definition animations can make a difference in how the material is perceived and understood. They also understand that the intricate details of medical processes require impeccable precision and accuracy. 

By partnering with a company that prioritizes top-tier visual quality, you ensure your medical content and brand stand out, are memorable, and effectively communicate as intended.

Conversely, subpar animations might undermine your marketing goals or worse: They can misrepresent medical information, leading to potential misunderstandings, eroding the viewer's trust, and diminishing the overall impact and credibility of the content.

Storytelling

A good animation, whether scientific or not, tells a story. I won’t go through Joseph Campbell’s theories on myth and the hero’s journey or the subsequent work of Christopher Vogler regarding story structure here, but, basically, humans evolved to learn through stories. 

Additionally, there are specific beats in storytelling that, when met, make stories more engaging and memorable.

The best medical animation companies will use this knowledge to both captivate and educate their audiences. Believe it or not, these lessons learned in fiction writing over the millenia absolutely have a place in medical videos. 

For example, doctors experience the hero’s journey with the new device as their sword in medical device animation. Mechanism of action animations contain such story beats as the inciting incident, confrontation when the disease (antagonist) almost overcomes the human body in some way and then, finally, hopeful resolution when the new therapeutic (protagonist) saves the day.

Because of the hundreds of scripts we’ve written specifically for medical animations, we always ask for the opportunity to take the first crack at the script in-house. We’ve found, over the years, that this works best. That said, we have also collaborated with science writers on our clients’ teams on many occasions.

What You Can Do
You can determine both visual and storytelling quality in the same way: by watching a few of the medical animation studio's animations- in their entirety. If entire animations are not available on their website, check YouTube and Vimeo. You can also, of course, just ask for a few sample animations from the company directly. 

Most animation studios can produce great moments, but short clips won’t give you a sense of their ability to maintain quality throughout, maintain a cohesive look, or tell a proper story if you don't watch from start to finish. 

These animations are typically only three minutes long at most, so it won't take a great deal of your time. And suppose they can’t provide you with a short video to watch easily. In that case, that's another important data point about their approach.

The Talent

In a services industry such as medical animation, quality level will always depend upon the talent of the people producing your work. Let’s explore how experience and natural ability can affect the quality of your finished animation in more detail.

Experience

It’s true that some inexperienced artists are unusually talented, but I posit that it takes a few years to truly understand the industry. If a company you’re considering has vastly more animators with 0-3 years in the field, that will impact their maximum production quality and the level of nuance they are likely to bring to your project. This is a major way that some companies keep costs low.

As a smaller, boutique animation studio, we prefer to avoid potential issues by finding medical animators with a few more industry years under their belts. We don’t, for example, hire animators right out of graduate school. We are happy to provide them with internships, but they are for the artist’s educational benefit only- not for our clients’ projects.

A Keen Eye and the Drive to Implement It 

Experience can only get you so far. The best medical animation companies also hire true artists.

Some people just have an eye for what makes something beautiful and the drive to push their own limits. Attention to lighting, materials, camera effects, and the development of a coherent look that is unique to each story is a tall order, and not every group is up to the task.

And then innate ability has its limits. A great artist also has the drive to create groundbreaking work. In medical animation, there are often easier but less-than-stellar ways to do things that still yield acceptable results. Corners can be cut. True excellence often demands more.

What You Can Do
First, check the medical animation company's team page or employee profiles on LinkedIn. If experience and authority are a major theme, then you're in good shape.

As for whether the artists at the studio have that something special, take a look at the company’s portfolio again. Does it stand out amongst their competitors’ portfolios? Do they use the same colors and lighting on every project? Do their animations glow and linger in your mind after you watch them? If their best work doesn't blow you away, you will likely be disappointed with the animation you commission as well.
Schedule Your Animation Consultation With Microverse Today!

Workplace Environments: Time and Resources

Some companies keep costs (which can be considerable) down by overloading their animators. I recently learned of a medical animator who had to leave their last job at one of the nicer studios because they were working 80-hour work weeks on a regular basis. I think we can all agree that this is not a recipe for success.

Animators with too many projects and not enough time to do any one of them well cannot give you quality work, no matter how talented they are.

What You Can Do
I’ve thought of one way for you to screen companies for these practices: employer review sites. Many of the same sites that help employers and employees find each other such as Indeed or Glassdoor also provide these reviews. 

Employer reviews might not be available for most of the companies in our industry, as our studios are often small. The community is also small, and an animator might not want to be seen as a complainer by other potential employers. Furthermore, you will always see reviews from disgruntled employees that aren’t being fair.

All of those many caveats aside, if you see a significant number of complaints- far more than positive- then you might want to reconsider.

Advanced Technology and Techniques

I can tell you that animators care a lot about the technology they use. Aside from the scientific discussions, this is where my outsider status as a non-medical animator is made most obvious to me on a regular basis. It's all splines, deformers and, "Did you check your cloner/matrix/voxel/simulation settings?" all the time over here. For whatever reason, these weren't covered in my marketing and psychology studies.

Technology

The best medical animation companies pay close attention to the software, hardware, and rendering solutions they use and update as necessary. This makes animations more realistic, interactive, and engaging. Also, cutting-edge tools unlock cool effects that were difficult, if not impossible, to use earlier, and they can often drastically improve efficiency.

To get a better idea of what your typical animator has to consider when it comes to hardware and software, take a look at this post on how to build a medical animation workstation. It's a real eye-opener and useful too if you ever want to buy a tricked-out computer for that gamer in your life (...or self. No judgment here).

Technique

You don't see this from your end, and as an animation outsider within the company, I only glimpse it: medical animators are constantly solving problems. How do I show the individual cells of the cornea when they're all transparent? Why did updating my graphics driver break my 3D program? How do I simulate a protein unraveling without setting my computer on fire?

It won't matter that you've purchased the best software packages for the task if you don't know how to use them. The best medical animators keep up with the latest techniques, and are able to solve the problems that will inevitably arise on a regular basis.

We have Slack channels, message boards, and Discord servers dedicated to technical problem-solving, and we use them. Medical animators are great at collaborating and helping each other out. We also keep up with the newest trends and tools in software, hardware,  and developments in the medical animation industry. We achieve this through various news outlets, direct relationships with software companies, and the AMI.

What You Can Do
Again, the way to check on this is to look at samples of their work. Higher-end graphics require higher-end software, hardware, and rendering solutions, as well as experience and problem-solving ability. The more cinematic and complicated effects do as well. 

Detail and nuance in the scenes they build and how they present them cinematically reflect a deeper understanding and passion for the tools of the trade.

Creative, Video and Marketing Awards

This is not a factor. Rather, it's another metric for examining a medical animation company's production quality. Check out their awards!

How many do they have? How difficult is it to win one of these awards (entrants vs. winners)? When was the last time they were recognized?

I should mention that a lack of awards does not necessarily show a lack of quality. One must enter these contests first, and not every studio uses their resources in this way.

We do, though. It not only shows the world that we know what we're doing, but we believe our artists deserve recognition for their hard work.

What You Can Do
Most medical animation companies you're considering will boast about their achievements on their site, including their blog. If there's no blog or spot for awards, a quick social media or web search might yield results (although they really should be bragging on their site).

If you don't mind doing a quick search, a few of the awards venues you might want to check out are the Association of Medical Illustrators annual Salon, Communicator Awards, Telly Awards, Muse Creative Awards, and SIGGRAPH's electronic theater. The larger agencies might even have a Clio (Sigh. One day). 

Sadly, none of us win Academy Awards or Emmys… yet (Life goals).

I'll summarize my thoughts on production quality this way: The best outcomes come from medical animation companies that not only have optimal workplace environments but also invest in talent with superior aesthetic instincts that continuously push their own limits.

Scientific Accuracy

You have likely heard the old adage, “Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.” Well, not in scientific animation. For a scientifically literate audience, even a minor oversight or error can be intolerable and prove catastrophic to a client’s brand trustworthiness.

At its core, medical animation is about conveying complex medical and biological concepts. It's essential that these animations are scientifically accurate. Otherwise, they can be misleading and potentially damaging to your reputation amongst peers, investors, or other audiences.

It won't matter if your medical animation is beautiful if it's more science fiction than hard science. This is why almost every medical animation company mentions it on their website and why we guarantee accuracy beyond final delivery. 

What You Can Do
One easy way to tell if the medical animation company you're vetting values or is capable of accurate science, again, is to view a few examples of their work. Then, look for omissions, errors, and style choices. 

Are the cells or molecules properly proportioned to one another? Are the organs reversed or in the correct place? Do the vessels look like tree branches? Is their DNA turning the correct way? You would not believe how often it isn't.

Scientifically Educated Artists

Please trust me when I tell you that you will do far less hand-holding and waste far less time and money if you hire medically-trained artists from the beginning.

The best medical animation companies employ teams that not only have artistic skills, but also have extensive knowledge of biological sciences and medicine. This ensures that the content is not only visually stunning but also meets the coveted above criteria of being scientifically accurate and nuanced.

At Microverse Studios, we do this by only hiring animators with a master’s degree in medical illustration and animation. This area of study doesn't just teach visualization techniques unique to scientific topics. Medical illustration and animation students take various anatomy, physiology, and molecular and cellular biology classes alongside medical students. 

Medical illustration students even take surgical classes and observe and draw surgeries in the OR. They even have specific coursework in how to tie surgical knots. They do these things in order to truly understand the human body and to view it from the surgeon's perspective. The truth is that there is no better way to experience true-to-life colors, textures, and fluid dynamics or to better understand how tissues are organized and interact than through live surgery.

Education does not end here, however. The best medical illustrators may then seek certification from The Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI), a nearly 80-year-old organization dedicated to maintaining industry standards. The AMI requires ongoing education, and recertification occurs every five years.

You'll know a medical animator or illustrator is certified if there's a nifty "CMI" in their title. We don't push for recertification, but we do ensure that our animators can attend the AMI's annual meeting if they wish. The meeting is not only packed with continuing education lectures, but it's also a great way to keep up with the industry as well.

What You Can Do
Check to see if the medical animation company you're considering has animators with master's degrees. If they have never heard of medical illustration-specific programs or the AMI, then I would think twice.

To be fair, these are North American programs. As of this writing, I am not aware of any outside of Canada or the United States. At the very least, an animator with a background in the life sciences is preferable. Again, you can check this out on their team page or LinkedIn.

One of the medical animators on our team recently explained that non-medically trained artists will often pull reference materials from dubious sources such as Google Images or AI. They may also use diagrams from scientific papers, not understanding that these are overly simplified. 

Animators with specialized training have a deep understanding of anatomy and cell biology. They also know where to look when further research is necessary.

Personal Attention, Flexibility, and Customization

The best medical animation companies operate with a more customer-centric paradigm. This means they are attentive to their clients’ specific needs, are adaptable, and provide custom solutions for unique scientific concepts and brand identities. 

This dedication to client-centricity not only fosters strong, collaborative relationships but also drives outcomes that genuinely align with a client's vision and objectives.

Personal Attention and Flexibility

Great medical animators ensure that they truly understand the story their clients are trying to tell and to whom, and adapt as necessary. They will get to know all of the science surrounding your story, and then propose a way of telling it that takes into account your brand voice, your underlying value proposition, and what the audience already knows or doesn’t know. The end product will be designed to be an optimal communications tool that is customized for your unique circumstances.

We take it a step further and make the medical animator the lead on every project. Our creative director and project manager are also involved, but this setup ensures that the animator is involved in every discussion. This makes for more streamlined communications and eliminates the dreaded game of telephone that can cause confusion and delay.

Perhaps most importantly, the best medical animation companies involve their clients at every stage of production. They should not only be open to your feedback, but they should require client buy-in before moving on to the next phase- from script to refinement. By the time final delivery rolls around, you should never be surprised with how the finished animation looks and tells its story because you were involved at every stage.

Customization

As buyers, we sometimes assume that finding a larger agency is an easy way to satisfy our requirements. While their numbers may create an illusion of greater experience or proficiency, I’ve observed that 100-person studios can have difficulty maintaining a consistent standard of quality.

Simply put, you may get their A team… or you may not.

These larger medical animation companies, among others, have found strategies to tackle this issue and uphold quality standards. Two common methods stand out to me.

The first involves adopting a more homogenous style. In this instance, a medical animation company can be identified by their animations before you even see the credits.

It's a small world. Imagine what happens when the studio inevitably creates an animation for one of your competitors (or has already). Will both of your animations look the same? What happens if your audience is confused and believes one belongs to another?

The second method some studios use to guarantee a certain level of quality involves employing a more assembly-line production process. Each group is always responsible for a specific step in the process- even down to the wire-framing and applying textures.

While these two approaches assure a more consistent product, they also risk sacrificing project uniqueness and the client’s ability to stand out amongst competitors.

What You Can Do
Look at their portfolio for a diversity of styles and therapeutic areas. Diversity in therapeutic areas will reveal the company's ability to handle a wide range of topics. The diverse styles will show that they treat every project as its own adventure, including yours!

Then, check out their production process on their website or in the contract. Does it include an initial discovery phase that discusses style? What about a clear revision cycle? If not, I recommend that you seek clarification directly.

Professionalism

Of course, the best medical animation companies are also professional.

I won’t insult your intelligence by going too deeply into what professionalism is. I’m sure you know it when you see it, so I’ll try to stick with the most important, creative-industry-specific observations.

The most professional medical animation studios will:

Communicate Regularly and in a Timely Manner 

They do so to ensure alignment with the client's vision and objectives. Regular communication fosters transparency, builds trust, and allows for immediate feedback, ensuring that any required changes or adjustments can be made in real time. By maintaining an open dialogue, the agency can deliver results that truly resonate with the client's expectations and needs.

Furthermore, professional animators will never neglect client emails. While occasional oversights can happen during peak periods, such instances should be rare exceptions rather than the norm. 

In tight-turnaround, high-feedback scenarios, they might also offer real-time communication tools such as Slack in order to accelerate project completion and avoid issues altogether.

Provide Deliverables on Time

Medical animations include multiple deliverables at various stages of production. Professional studios will be clear about what these stages are and deliver them on time. They understand that you, too, have deadlines to meet and will let you know as soon as possible when they have run into an obstacle.

Conduct Business with Transparency and Honesty

The best medical animation companies operate with complete transparency in areas such as billing, project updates, and potential issues or challenges.

A lot of what we do is magic that takes place inside a black box. It's easy to exclude the client or tell them it's too complicated to explain. Being clear about what our protocol is for every project is essential to maintaining client faith.

What You Can Do
Personally, if I were to hire a large creative services firm to complete a significant project for me, I would not be shy about asking for  references. That way, I could get a sense of their customer experience. Of course, that can take time you don't have, but I would give it a try if possible. A company's reluctance to provide one could serve as a red flag.

And then another way to evaluate a company's level of professionalism is to check out their testimonials. Of course, you’ll never find a negative one, but it doesn’t hurt to see who has trusted the company enough to put their reputation on the line by recommending them. You might even consider reaching out to that person on LinkedIn if you're a close connection.

Next Steps

Ultimately, choosing a medical animation company depends on your specific needs and budget. High-end graphics or customization might not be a priority for you. Your story might not require scientific knowledge, and could be easily and immediately understood by the layperson. You might have extra time to help the animator along. 

If these are true for you, then a non-medical or budget animation company could work. There's no need to search for a zebra when a pony will do. 

If you would like to at least see what one of the best medical animation companies has to offer, then why not try us? We produce quality scientific animations every day and might surprise you with our value proposition.

Set up a quick, yet comprehensive 15-30 minute consultation through our contact form. We could be that zebra you're looking for.

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9 Benefits of Medical Animation for Engaging Your Audience

Ever found yourself struggling to convey intricate scientific concepts to an audience that might not share your depth of expertise? Have you ever faced the task of showcasing the value of your biotech platform in a clear way that stands out against the noise? It's not easy, especially when you're working with a tight budget and trying to maintain quality at the same time.

Many pharmaceutical and biotech companies experience these very same hurdles. The answer to these pain points might just be more visual than you'd think.

Here at Microverse Studios, we've been turning complex science ideas into brand-augmenting and easy-to-understand animations since 2005. 

With a perfect blend of storytelling passion and scientific expertise, our visuals aren't just easy on the eyes—they stick in the mind. We've honed our process to capture the core of your ideas, making collaborations smooth and effective.

In this article, we'll talk about how medical animations can help you. We'll look at how they make hard topics simple, and why they're a smart choice for your work. By the end, you'll know why these animations are a must-have for any science company.

9 Reasons to Choose Medical Animations for Your Next Presentation

1. Making Complex Concepts Accessible 

Ever sat down with a hefty science book and felt lost? You're not alone! 

Sometimes, words on a page just aren't enough, especially with those tricky science concepts. This is where the magic of visuals steps in. 

You've almost definitely seen animation used by your colleagues. That's because animation is the most effective way to get a complicated story into the mind of a casual audience.

Think about it: Isn’t it easier to understand how something works when you can watch The explanation unfold on screen? With medical animations, those hard-to-grasp ideas suddenly become clear. 

By turning concepts into engaging visuals, we’re not just learning; we're actually experiencing the information. It's like trading in your old textbook for a high-definition movie. Who wouldn't prefer that?

2. Cost-Effective in the Long Run

Sticker shock is real, isn't it? Seeing a price range of $5,000 to $100,000 per minute for medical animations might have you raising an eyebrow. 

But before you jump to conclusions, let's dig into the real value behind that price tag. Yes, there's an upfront cost, but let’s break down what you’re really getting. 

Think about it: you pay to have a studio create a top-notch animation once, but then you get to use it over and over. 

Whether it's for a presentation, training session, or even a catchy social media post, that animation, or a still taken from it, is at your disposal and ready to shine.

It's a bit like choosing quality over quantity. That one-time investment in a standout animation can save you heaps in future costs. And remember, time is gold! 

An animation cuts down hours spent on lengthy explanations. Less time talking, more time doing. And honestly, reducing those long-winded sessions? Priceless. So, while the initial cost might seem steep, the long-run benefits make it a smart move.

3. Enhancing Engagement & Retention

It's fascinating how a scene from a movie watched years ago can linger in our minds, while a page we read last week quickly fades from memory. 

That's because our brains are naturally tuned to visuals. We're just built that way! Pictures, colors, and movements stick with us much more than plain text. It's like our brains have VIP access to a special visual memory club.

Now, pair those visuals with a great story, and you've got a winning combo. 

This is where medical animations truly shine. Instead of presenting dry, tough-to-follow data, animations turn it into an engaging story. Imagine transforming a tricky science topic into an exciting mini-movie. Suddenly, it's not just about understanding; it's about feeling and connecting.

So, when scientific details morph into a vivid, animated story, not only do we pay more attention, but we remember it for longer. That’s the magic right there. With medical animations, you're not just sharing info, you're telling a tale that sticks around in the audience's mind.

4. Bridging the Gap for Non-Experts

Imagine being at a conference mixer, and a colleague starts discussing the intricacies of CRISPR technology. While some professionals immediately dive into the conversation with their insights, others might find themselves a step behind, grappling with the finer details. 

That's where medical animations step in to save the day.

Instead of leaving folks scratching their heads, animations create a level playing field. They take those nuanced scientific ideas and morph them into visuals everyone can connect with. 

It's like translating dense scientific jargon into a universally understood visual language. You might be a geneticist deeply involved with CRISPR or an immunologist focusing on antibody therapies; a clear animation ensures both concepts are grasped with ease.

Visual explanations have this power of universality. Regardless of one's specific expertise, a well-crafted animation can be the bridge that links diverse knowledge levels, ensuring everyone feels included and enlightened.

5. Easy Collaboration with Expert Studios

Let's face it: diving into something new can be a tad nerve-wracking. You might be thinking, "I've never worked with a medical animation studio before. How does this even work?" Don't worry; studios like Microverse have got you covered.

Think of teaming up with Microverse like having a friendly guide on a hiking trail. You've got the vision (or destination), and we've got the map and tools to get you there. We don't just toss you a bunch of fancy tech jargon and send you on your way. 

No, we're right there with you, every step of the journey. 

Got feedback? We're all ears. Need a change? Consider it done. And if you're unsure about something, just ask. Our process is designed to be a back-and-forth chat, ensuring you're never left in the dark.

So, even if you're brand new to the world of medical animations, rest easy. With expert studios at your side, collaboration becomes a breeze, and your vision comes to life just the way you imagined.

6. Assurance of Quality & Expertise

Selecting a medical animation studio can feel a lot like shopping for a new car. Sure, any vehicle can get you from point A to B, but you're not just looking for 'any' car, are you? You want one that performs well, looks sleek, and offers a ride so smooth it feels like you're gliding. A car that feels tailor-made for you.

Choosing a renowned studio like Microverse is akin to opting for that top-of-the-line vehicle. It's not just about the prestige of the brand but the assurance of quality. 

It's the peace of mind, knowing every curve, every feature, every little detail has been meticulously crafted. With Microverse, you're not getting a standard, off-the-lot animation. You're getting a custom-built, high-performance masterpiece that aligns seamlessly with your company's vision.

So, why settle for the basic model when you can have the luxury edition? With Microverse's commitment to excellence, you're not just investing in an animation; you're investing in a top-class experience.

7. Flexibility & Customization

Think of animations like a Swiss Army knife - super versatile and ready for any situation. Need to explain how a drug works to prescribing physicians? Or maybe you've got a big pitch with investors? No sweat. Animations can be molded to fit the occasion just right. 

What's fantastic about animations, especially in the realm of medicine and biotech, is that they're not set in stone. Say you've got an animation that's been working wonders for investor outreach. 

But now, you've got updated data or a new angle to discuss. Instead of starting from scratch, animations can be tweaked and adjusted, ensuring they're always up-to-date. It's like having a wardrobe that magically adapts to any event. Formal dinner? Check. Casual brunch? Got it. 

With the flexibility and customization that animations offer, you're always ready to make a strong, clear, and impactful statement, no matter the audience or setting. It's all about making sure your message shines, loud and clear.

8. Enhancing Brand Reputation & Trust

Professional animations aren't just a fancy add-on; they're a significant boost to your company's image. Think about it: in an age where visuals are king, the way you present your data can make or break audience perception. 

When your animations are crisp, clear, and scientifically accurate, it instantly elevates your brand's reputation.

But beyond making a good first impression, there's a deeper value. Clear and precise animations signal that you value transparency and accuracy in your work. This clarity not only aids understanding but fosters trust. 

When stakeholders or potential partners see that you prioritize such quality in your presentations, it sets a precedent for what they can expect in all interactions with your brand.

In the vast sea of biotech and pharma companies, standing out and gaining trust can be challenging. By leveraging high-quality animations, you're not just educating your audience; you're showing them that your company is reliable, professional, and worthy of their trust

9. Facilitating Faster Decision-Making

Let's be real for a second: we all want to get to the point faster, right? No one likes sitting through long, drawn-out explanations. 

And in the fast-paced ecosphere of biotech and pharma, time is often of the essence. That's where animations come in as a real game-changer.

When you break down complex information into easily digestible visuals, you're making everyone's life a lot easier. Instead of pouring over pages of data or trying to decipher technical jargon, stakeholders can quickly grasp the core message with the help of an animation. 

This clarity can be a game-changer in scenarios like getting clinical approvals or winning over investors.

Imagine pitching to a room full of potential investors. If they are primed with the right animation before the meeting, they were already have a framework of understanding so that you can get your message across clearly, quickly, and persuasively, leading to faster nods of approval. 

Or consider the process of gaining the trust of a prescribing physician; they already might have a therapeutic approach in their comfort zone for your drug's indication– or maybe they can't even believe that treatment is possible. You have to quickly convince them that your drug is worth considering, you have to do it in a way that is unforgettable, and stands out in the noise. 

So, with animations in your toolkit, not only are you making things clear, but you're also paving the way for swift and informed decisions.

Schedule your animation consultation with Microverse Today!

Ready to Animate Your Ideas?

Remember when you first clicked on this article, wondering how animations could possibly solve those pressing challenges of conveying intricate scientific concepts? 

Well, together, we've unraveled the magic of medical animations and their numerous benefits – from simplifying complex ideas to boosting brand reputation and expediting decisions.

You're not just leaving with knowledge; you're now equipped with a transformative tool that can elevate your presentations, pitches, and patient interactions. And the best part? You don’t have to embark on this journey alone.

Microverse Studios is here to be your guiding hand. With years of expertise and a deep passion for merging science with art, we're poised to help bring your ideas to life. Let's make those challenges a thing of the past. 

Ready to get started? Schedule a consultation with us today and let's discuss the future of your animation project.

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How Much Does Medical Animation Cost and Why?

By Cameron Slayden, M.S.

If you're reading this article, you're probably struggling to find a fair answer to the question: How much does medical animation cost? The easy answer is that medical animation studios can be divided into three groups: budget-oriented studios that range from $2,000-$10,000 per minute, midrange medical animation studios that cost anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 per minute of finished animation, and full-service advertising agencies that charge $80,000 per minute or more. 

The typical animation project will usually range between one and three minutes in duration. This means the average project will be between $2,000 and $300,000 in total, depending on which studio you choose.

Obviously, that's the kind of response that raises more questions than it answers. Specifically, what could possibly cause two orders of magnitude of variation in rates? 

Without understanding what drives the budgetary structure, you could end up in continuous revisions, trying to explain complex science to artists with no scientific background. You could end up getting just the right kind of high-end animation you want, but paying double what you needed to. Worst case scenario: you could compromise on showcasing your story and brand in the best light. 

In this article, I’ll lay out the considerations that drive costs when producing scientific and medical animation. From there, you’ll better understand how to avoid choosing the wrong provider based on pricing alone, and have a strong sense of where to start when looking for a scientific animation studio. 

After you know how much you want to spend on animation, this article will help you see what each studio offers for the price.

To start, I’ve broken the price range into three pricing models. Let’s talk about what you get for your money when you spend $5-10,000 per minute, $20-50,000 per minute, or $80-100,000 per minute. 

3 Tiers of Medical Animation Price Points

Low Price-Point: Rapid Turnaround, Light on Science

The lowest price point will deliver animations designed to tell a story in an engaging way but not necessarily unpack complicated scientific concepts. 

These might be whiteboard-style videos, two-dimensional animated diagrams, or other highly stylized representations that are designed to convey overall concepts but not intended to stand up to rigorous scientific scrutiny. 

It’s important to note that the studios that charge the least will generally possess the least scientific expertise (scientific staff costs money, after all). That being said, they are perfectly suited for value proposition explainer videos and very short timelines. These studios are under economic pressure to create the highest volume of work in the shortest amount of time to remain profitable.

Often, this is useful to biotech startups during the earliest stages of generating investment. Education-focused groups with limited budgets also benefit, especially when they need to explain science without diving deep into cellular and molecular details.

Middle Price-Point: The Goldilocks Zone for High Production Value

This pricing model is generally used by boutique studios that make scientifically accurate animation their central service offering. While there is a lot of variation among studios concerning to style, production quality, customer service, and approach to storytelling, you can usually trust them to get basic scientific details right without endless rounds of revision.  

The middle price point is ideal when it’s time to enhance confidence in your brand while explaining your science in a way that will both engage and impress your audience. 

Microverse Studios operates at this price point. Our clients are typically looking for animation to add to a larger campaign or for biotech and pharmaceutical startups headed toward a Series B+ raise or drug commercialization. 

If this describes you, consider requesting a quote after reading this article.

Upper Price-Point: Part of a Larger Service Offering

The highest tier will generally yield the same animation quality as the middle tier studios, with the same variations in production quality and style. 

The key difference is that these agencies usually offer animation as a part of a much larger service package tailored to the needs of Big Pharma. As a result, numerous staff are dedicated to things other than animation that contribute to overhead.

Often they will have their own in-house animation staff. However, when needed, big agencies will frequently outsource to mid-tier studios. They know those studios have the scientific and production infrastructure to get the job done right, but at a budget that still has room for mark-up. Microverse Studios often works with such agencies.

Hopefully, by breaking out ways production infrastructure can impact cost, this article will give you a look under the hood at how a studio is run and help you choose the provider that best suits your needs.

My Medical Animation Pricing Methodology

Every scientific animation studio is structured differently, and some likely have different or combined versions of the roles listed here. I've done my best to include those most important cost contributors to producing high-quality scientific animation. 

A lot of these calculations rely on assumptions of how many minutes of animation a given creative will participate in per year. From there, they figure out how much of their salary goes into each minute of the animation they create. Studios have their own workplace cultures and, therefore, make different demands of their animators. 

More punishing workloads will push up profits and drive down prices, but this will also tend to drive staff turnover and reduce production quality. In an ideal world for both the animator and the client, a scientific animator will be able to produce ten to fifteen minutes of animation per year, if they focus on one project at a time. This is the approach Microverse Studios takes.

Additionally, because most scientific animation studios are relatively small (under 30 employees), I'm leaving out things like an IT department, mortgage or rent on a large facility, security, janitorial services, and so forth that come with managing a staff of hundreds. I'm also not including the costs associated with software, subscriptions, workstations, and so forth that as a whole contribute under $500 to the costs of any given project.

How Medical Animation Studios Resemble Cartoon Studios
I recently met with an old friend who is an Emmy award-winning casting director in Hollywood. He told me that the budget for a 3D animated cartoon series for Nickelodeon tops out at a million dollars for a 20-minute episode. 

That's $50,000 per minute of Ninja turtles fighting wacky enemies, and it has to cover all of the overhead from script to screen. Keep in mind that the animation is also all outsourced to India or South Korea. 

In the same way, medical animation budgets also need to support every aspect of the studio, not just the cost of the talent and hardware producing the animation. 

There are direct and indirect costs. For example, the fact that you’re even able to find a studio when you do a search is one of those indirect costs that the price of every animation has to fund.

Direct and Indirect Costs of Medical Animations

Direct cost: Medical Animators

The median salary for a medical animator in the United States with an advanced degree is $83K per year. Let's round that up to $95k in order to include payroll tax and benefits. After holidays and time off, that amounts to a cost of around $475 per day for actual production work or $9,140 per month. 

Given a standard schedule of about two months of solid work dedicated to a one-minute animation, if only one person were to work on it during that time, you'd be talking about $18k for the talent alone. 

Often, this price point can be achieved by using freelancers. However, multiple animators need to be involved with a project due to the complexity of the stories we tell and client timelines, especially if the project scope is on the large side and time is short.

Because it makes up such a large component of the cost, talent is a tempting area for studios to cut corners. Shortening the amount of time an animator will spend on any given project is one way. Doubling up an animator's workload is another. It cuts their time commitment to a project by half and significantly increases profit, potentially at the expense of both projects. 

Another way to cut costs is to hire non-scientific animators. A non-scientist animator's salary averages $62k in the US, while the average animator in India will be paid one-twentieth of that.

Regardless of the method, cutting costs via talent is a risky choice to make. The less scientific background an animator has, the more likely they are to introduce informational errors into the project that can undermine the customer brand and/or viewer confidence in the message. Therefore, they will require increased oversight, either from the studio's in-house scientific officer or from the client.

A combination of selecting low-cost talent and shortening the number of hours spent on any given project is the only way a studio can operate in the $10,000 per minute range and still remain solvent. That doesn't necessarily make them a terrible choice, but it will be important to remember that the burden will be on the client to educate the animators and make sure all of the science is correct.

Conversely, the more scientifically educated the creatives are, the more nuanced their work will be, and the less oversight and scrutiny needed to maximize a project's potential. If you're looking for a studio to simply hand out a few scientific papers before unleashing them, you'll want a place where everyone has a master's degree or above.

Schedule Your Animation Consultation With Microverse Today!
Case Study: “How do you get your animators to do accurate work?”
I had a conversation with a colleague who runs a small scientific animation studio in the UK, and he asked how we manage accuracy at Microverse Studios. In his experience, it could be very difficult to get an animator to create sufficient work. 

The constant corrections resulted in rounds of revision that were exhausting for him, for the animator, and for the client. Even simple concepts such as the difference in size between a protein and a cell or which direction DNA turns aren't common knowledge, and life sciences are packed with these kinds of tripping hazards. For a non-scientist to do the work, everything has to be explicitly laid out and micromanaged.

My answer was that, like some other medical animation studios, we only hire animators with graduate degrees and strong molecular and cellular biology backgrounds. Of course, that drastically reduces the talent pool we have to work with because animators with that combination of cinematic skill and scientific acumen are very rare. It's one of the reasons I chose to moonlight as medical animation faculty at two biomedical visualization graduate schools: the rate of scientific discovery is speeding up. The world needs all the high-end scientific animators it can get.

Direct Cost: Computing Resources

Every animation goes through a rendering process, in which the virtual camera in the virtual scene takes a virtual picture and saves it as a real image, a frame in the animation. 

This is very computationally intense, and all of the tricks we use to make our imagery beautiful only increases those requirements. Usually, the rendering process takes too much time to carry out on a single workstation unless a lot of corners have been cut. To get the best results, most studios employ what's called a "render farm," or a computing array dedicated only to the rendering process. 

For a long time, these dedicated computers were maintained on-site, often by an IT staff. Increasingly in recent years, however, rendering tasks are sent to off-site supercomputing resources such as Amazon's AWS or, what we use, Conductor by Coreweave. 

This does two things: 

  1. It reduces the render time from days or weeks to mere minutes, allowing much more iteration and improvement. 
  2. It eliminates the obsolescence and maintenance costs of a local render farm. 

Regardless of whether the farm costs consist of an upfront investment that is slowly being recouped or an on-demand, off-site, pay-as-you-go solution, the cost contributes to the animation budget. 

Depending on the computational requirements for each individual project and the animators' ability to optimize for rendering, computing costs can range from $500 to $3,000 per minute. 

Cutting corners on rendering to save costs is not advisable because it reduces production quality and, therefore, the overall value of the project to the client.

Direct Cost: Audio and Narration

Most of our animations are narrated by professional voice talent that we have developed relationships with over many years. They range from $500 to $1,500 per project, depending on the talent.

Case Study: Oscar Winners Cost More
A couple of years ago, a client desperately wanted us to secure J.K. Simmons as the voice for their animation. 

We reached out to his agent to explain the situation, and they came back with the rate of $75,000 for a 2-year license (he had just won his first Oscar). It broke our client's heart, but they had to decline. 

In the end, they used their own CEO's voice, who turned out to be shockingly good.

Indirect Costs: Non-Animation-Producing Staff 

Content Experts/Science Officers

Even with highly educated and experienced animators, sometimes a client will still want the studio to provide PhD-level oversight. 

The typical budget for a content expert is going to range from $3,000 to $5,000 for a project.

It's a good thing, too. A carefully chosen creative team with the right background can bring a lot of scientific insight. This often means experts only need to give small comments and quickly approve the work. 

We had one project where the content expert’s entire contribution was to change one word in the script we wrote.

Production Management

Most studios that produce a significant volume of animation have at least one person dedicated to making sure that all of the moving parts of the production process work together smoothly: the production manager. 

This person looks out for issues with the schedule, tracks down assets the animators need, and makes sure that the deliverables get to the client. If they are an especially high-quality person like our own Teal Quinn, they watch the animators to make sure they aren't working themselves to the point of burnout. 

The production manager doesn't directly create animation themselves, but their salary contributes around $1-5k to the budget of each project, depending on how many projects they oversee at once.

Creative Direction

The creative director's job is to make sure that all of the imagery stays cohesive and follows the planned vision for its look and feel. This is especially important in larger projects that require multiple animators. Often, they are also responsible for coming up with the creative vision for the story from the start.

They also double as a form of quality control, pushing the animators to do their best and making sure that no corners get cut. They will ensure that a studio's work maintains a consistent standard across projects, which works to the client’s advantage. 

Typically, creative directors are very experienced and have spent time in multiple production roles that give them the perspective and cinematic mastery they need to guide a project to its best possible outcome. 

While it is possible to create animation without this kind of oversight, the creative director's absence can be easily felt in the end quality of the video. Depending on how many projects they oversee, the creative director's salary contribution to a project's cost will generally be similar to the production manager’s, at around $2-5,000.

Account Executives

This person's primary function is to be a liaison to the clients to make sure that their needs are being met. Often, this role is also a sales role because they will nurture connections between projects and help to guarantee that clients will continue to come back again and again. 

Even if there is no formal account executive position in a company, somebody is putting the time in to do account executive work. A good account executive is worth their weight in gold because they help to sculpt the customer experience and drive new business. 

The account executive’s salary will contribute around $2,000 to a given animation's overall cost.

Sales and Marketing

Getting in front of clients is the most critical part of every business. No studio will survive if it doesn't make its presence known. While there are certain best practices in marketing, there are as many approaches to customer outreach as there are scientific animation studios. 

These could include direct outreach to customers via phone or email, website development, online ads, costs of attending conferences, salaries and commissions for sales staff, and so on. Every studio has its own secret sauce, and it all adds up to the cost of doing business. 

Conventional wisdom is that a sales budget should be between 5% and 25% of total revenue, but it could be a bit more. 

For example, an on-site, in-person, relationship-based sales team wooing clients with enormous budgets will generally be much more expensive than a sales strategy that targets clients looking for the cheapest possible solution. 

For a studio that specializes in the lowest-budget projects, investing in a strong sales apparatus is equally important because their profit depends on a high volume of work.

Additional Agency Staff

There are important differentiators between a big agency that offers in-house animation and a small, boutique studio that specializes in medical animation as its primary service. 

In order to serve the broader needs of large pharmaceutical clients, agencies need to have staff dedicated to branding and strategy development, media buying, public relations, social media management, regulatory compliance, and event management, among other specialty roles. 

Their personnel infrastructure is designed to make sure that every creative component, whether it’s animation, booth design, or social media posts, fits seamlessly into a unified strategy that maximizes campaign effectiveness. 

No part is separable from any other. This makes them a one-stop shop and extremely useful for big-budget clients but out of reach for smaller startups and clinical-stage companies.

Example of Medical Animation Pricing Breakdowns

Taking all of these components into consideration, the cost breakdown for a 1-minute animation might look something like this for a studio that prioritizes scientific accuracy and cinematic quality but doesn't have an expansive sales team or ancillary staff:

For another studio specializing in meeting extremely tight budgetary requirements, it might look like this:

And for a studio specializing in serving the needs of large pharmaceutical companies with all of the associated personnel of a large pharma advertising agency, it might look like this:

A Wrap-Up of Medical Animation Costs

Every one of these elements has its own range of costs. Most animation companies don't like to share their rates publicly unless they are confident that theirs is the very lowest because they're afraid that they will drive away potential clients if they aren’t able to give their pitch first. 

I contend that this is only true for clients prioritizing cheapness, and that those clients will leave even after hearing the pitch. Clients looking for the best value will view cost as just one of many factors worth considering. 

They will also take into account production quality, customer service, the studio's grasp of the science, and whether they like the look of the studio’s work.

Need a Quote for Your Medical Animation Project?

So now you’ve found your way to an article hosted by a top-tier medical animation company that produces work at a mid-tier price. I've been careful to be even-handed throughout this article, but there's a reason why we built Microverse Studios to serve this particular cost tier: it allows us to maximize the art and science of scientific and medical animation for the most discerning clients and audiences.

Our animators are carefully selected for their medical animation talent, each with graduate degrees and years of experience. Our support staff is streamlined and perfectly primed to make every project sail through production without a hitch. Over half of our work is repeat business because our clients love working with us. We're the known quantity that gets it right every time because we pay close attention to our clients' unique needs. Request a quote today and find out how we can bring your scientific story to life!

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The Top 6 Medical Animation Companies of 2023

By Olivia Slayden

So your biotech platform is finally at a point where you're ready to look for the next phase of investment. Your drug is approaching commercialization. Your device is ready to hit the market. Now is the time to use the most effective communications tool at your disposal: medical animation.

I love what we do, and I’m very proud of how well we do it, but our efforts are far from solitary. Over two decades in the industry, I've seen quite a few new medical animation companies pop up. Makes sense. Scientific discovery is not only accelerating, but is also becoming increasingly complex.

And if you've ever needed to explain a complex new technology, I suspect you've experienced first-hand how difficult it can be to bridge the gap between your lab and your audience.

I also understand that finding the right fit is critical when choosing a partner. With so much at stake, it’s important to choose a medical animation studio that will do a great job.

In the spirit of unity and shared admiration, I have created a list of my six favorite medical animation companies.

I do not recommend these studios to merely compare us to lesser companies in order to make ourselves look better. No, these are medical animation companies that I would trust to do a beautiful job of explaining complex scientific concepts. I have my reputation to think of, after all. 

But before we dive into my list, I believe it’s important to outline the criteria that set a top-tier medical animation company apart from the others. This will ensure you know what to look for when doing your own research.

What Makes a Medical Animation Company Stand Out?

In my experience, a top medical animation studio provides high production quality, scientific accuracy, a scientifically educated workforce, and personal attention to clients' needs.

Production Quality

Let’s get this one out of the way first. Like all products and services, medical animations come in varying levels of quality. The best medical animation companies will always create artwork that is visually exceptional. They do this with the use of cutting-edge technology, creativity, and a keen eye for what makes a stunning visual.

Before signing with a medical animation company, I invite you to look closely at the various medical animation styles out there. You will quickly notice that some are more cinematic while others are less visually developed.

Scientific Accuracy

You have likely heard the old adage, “Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.” Well, not in scientific animation. For a scientifically literate audience, even a minor oversight or error can be intolerable.

Top medical animation companies understand the value of upholding the highest standards. They know it's critical, in fact. You can’t let anything slip.

Scientifically Educated Artists

The best medical animation companies employ teams that not only have artistic skills but also have extensive knowledge of biological sciences and medicine. This blend of expertise allows for the creation of medical animations that are not only visually compelling but also scientifically accurate and nuanced.

Top medical animation studios specifically hire artists with master’s degrees in medical illustration and animation. This area of study not only focuses on the techniques used in medical art, but also includes anatomy, physiology, molecular and cellular biology, and even surgical classes taken alongside medical students.

Please trust me when I tell you that you will do far less hand-holding, and waste far less time and money, if you hire medically-trained artists from the beginning.

Personal Attention

Finally, I believe that a personalized approach towards the customer's needs is essential. This means maintaining regular communication and providing custom solutions for unique scientific concepts and brand identities.

Clients sometimes assume that finding a larger agency is an easy way to satisfy their requirements. While their numbers may create an illusion of greater experience or proficiency, I’ve observed that 100-person studios sometimes have difficulty maintaining a consistent standard of quality.

Simply put, you may get their A team… or you may not.

Look for a diversity of styles. These will show that they treat every project as its own adventure, including yours!

Now that I’ve outlined what I believe makes a top medical animation company, let's dive into the six medical animation companies that, in my opinion, provide exceptional value to their customers based on the above criteria.

Schedule Your Animation Consultation With Microverse Today!

The Best Medical Animation Studios

iSO-FORM

iSO-FORM specializes in creating engaging and scientifically accurate 3D animations, illustrations, and interactivity. They are well known for customer care and attention to detail.

The iSO-FORM team is composed of medical illustrators, animators, developers, and scientific advisors. This ensures a balanced combination of creativity and scientific accuracy.

Rad Science, a part of Real Chemistry, is known for its high production quality and attention to scientific accuracy.

Their skilled medical artists deliver animations that are visually captivating yet grounded in the latest scientific research. Many major pharmaceutical companies trust them to deliver unique branded experiences.

Vessel Studios is a medical animation company that values creativity and personal attention to their clients' needs, and have a reputation for pushing the envelope with new looks that stand out in the crowd.

Vessel's team of medical illustrators and animators make bold artistic decisions without sacrificing scientific accuracy, and 100% of their artists have advanced degrees.

MadMicrobe Studios stands out for its high, cinematic production value.

Their high production quality and commitment to scientific accuracy have made them a popular choice. MadMicrobe's focus on creating a cinematic experience for their audiences has led them to create work across a variety of industries, including pharmaceutical, device, and even broadcast media.

Hybrid Medical Animation excels at giving clients the personal attention they need, and pride themselves in being both technically accurate and visually dramatic.

Their medical animations are known for their high production quality and scientific accuracy, thanks to their educated workforce.

XVIVO is a well-known medical animation company that's been around for many years. They combine high production quality with an educated workforce.

The team at XVIVO can turn your scientific discoveries into clear and accurate medical animations, illustrations, and interactive programs.

Where to Go From Here

While each medical animation company I've listed is unique, they all share a commitment to providing quality medical animations that effectively communicate complex medical concepts.

I encourage you to reach out to them directly to determine if they’re a good fit for you.

Please keep in mind that a fully-developed medical animation can take months from storyboard to final delivery. Simpler stories may take less. Either way, it’s best to reach out as early as possible to meet your deadlines.

And in the same spirit of innovation and storytelling, our team is also ready and eager to help bring your scientific and brand narratives to life. We're not just creators. We're collaborators that gleefully discuss breakthroughs in science and 3D technology in our spare time. 

If you're curious about how we can enrich your scientific narrative with our unique skill set, get in touch. You may do so via our contact form to set up a brief 15-30 minute conversation.

Hopefully, you will give us the opportunity to turn your technology into a compelling medical animation. At the very least, perhaps you can teach us something new.

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Microverse Studios Wins Four Awards at the 2023 Association of Medical Illustrators Salon

Microverse was recognized with four honors at the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) annual conference this year. This recognition underscores the studio's commitment to delivering high-quality, scientifically accurate, and aesthetically compelling medical animations that provide value and contribute to advancements in the medical and scientific community.

Medical Animation Awards

Molecular Simulation for Novel Drug Discovery

Award of Excellence

Professional Motion and Interactive Media

Ventus Therapeutics

Stephen Boyd, one of the studio's talented medical animators, received two Awards of Excellence for his elegant work this year. The first animation, The "Molecular Simulation for Novel Drug Discovery" for Ventus Therapeutics, describes how they simulate how water interacts with the binding pockets on a protein's surface, and then use that data to identify the best possible binders for that pocket from a library of trillions of known molecules. This is the second medical animation commissioned by the Ventus team.

Ventus Therapeutics is focused on discovering and developing novel medicines by targeting protein homeostasis. Recognizing the challenges associated with targeting traditionally undruggable proteins, Ventus leverages proprietary structural biotechnology platforms to access these therapeutic targets. Their mission centers on tapping into the unexplored potential of these difficult-to-drug proteins, aiming to create innovative treatments for a wide range of diseases.

Discover ResolvOME: The Next Step in Cancer Research

Award of Excellence

Professional Motion and Interactive Media

BioSkryb Genomics

Stephen received his second Award of Excellence for "Discover ResolveOME: The Next Step in Cancer Research" for BioSkryb Genomics. This multi-award-winning medical animation showcases what Microverse Studios can do for the Contract Research Organization community. "Discover ResolvOME" describes their integrated discovery package that analyzes not only genome, but transcriptome of each individual cell in a sample. By doing so, they can gain deep insights about how cancers respond to therapies. This is the third of three animations BioSkryb has awarded to Microverse Studios.

BioSkryb Genomics is a biotechnology company that focuses on advancing genomic research and healthcare. With its proprietary Primary Template-directed Amplification (PTA) technology, the company seeks to generate high fidelity, high-resolution genomic data. This technology enables more accurate single-cell DNA sequencing and better characterization of the vast genomic diversity across different samples. Their mission revolves around ensuring that researchers and clinicians can access accurate genomic information to propel advances in disease understanding and treatment.

Optics-Free Cell Imaging at Scale

Award of Excellence

Professional Motion and Interactive Media

CytoTronics

Molly Huttner, another pivotal member of the Microverse Studios team, received an Award of Excellence for her biotech animation "Optics-Free Cell Imaging at Scale" for CytoTronics. This is the second CytroTronics production entrusted to Microverse. The animation explains their use of an ultra-high resolution nano-scale CMOS chip to read cell activity, and outlines their plans to do so at large scale in order to allow massively multiplexed data collection, enabling never-before-possible insights that will drive the next wave of drug discovery.

CytoTronics is at the forefront of bioelectronic medicine, aiming to provide novel therapeutic solutions. Their advanced bioelectronic devices and systems are tailored for real-time monitoring and modulation of cellular functions in a controlled manner. By delivering precise electrical signals to cells, they gather multiple types of data and can influence cellular behaviors and functions. The company's vision encompasses a future where bioelectronics plays a pivotal role in treating diseases, rehabilitating patients, and advancing the overall quality of life.

Programming the Pharmacophore

Award of Merit

Professional Motion and Interactive Media

Metaphore Biotechnologies

Finally, Cameron Slayden was honored with an Award of Merit for "Programming the Pharmacore" created for Metaphore Biothechnologies. This biotech animation describes how their new MIMiC™ platform predicts and defines the entire pharmacophore, or pocket-binder interface of a target interaction. Using this information, they then use AI and machine learning to design new binding peptides with more desirable features.

Metaphore Biotechnologies is a pioneering company in the realm of computational biology that blends machine learning and AI-guided molecular design with wet-lab gene expression and analysis. Their MIMiC™ platform drives unprecedented insights into molecular interactions to design new molecules precisely tuned for therapeutic benefit.

Schedule Your Animation Consultation With Microverse Today!

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How Medical Animations Can Help You Raise Investment For Your Clinical Stage Pharmaceutical Company

The journey to bring a new drug to the market is a long and arduous one for any clinical stage pharmaceutical company. It requires substantial investments at various stages of development.

As an executive or founder, you constantly seek ways to effectively communicate the value of your product, especially when raising funds for research, clinical trials, and product distribution. One increasingly popular tool in this quest is the use of medical animations.

Understanding the Role of Medical Animations in the Clinical Stage

Medical animations bring scientific concepts and mechanisms of action to life, enabling your potential investors to better understand your pharmaceutical product. Here's how they do it:

Leveraging Medical Animations to Raise Investment

1. Distinctively Showcase Your Drug’s Mechanism of Action

For your clinical stage pharmaceutical company to raise investment, investors need to understand what makes your drug unique and valuable. Medical animations can illuminate the drug’s mechanism of action, showing how it interacts with the human body at the molecular level.

This visual explanation can help non-scientific investors understand the innovation your drug brings to the market, hence, making a compelling case for investment. Furthermore, these animations can also convey the potential health benefits and the overall impact of your drug on the medical field.

2. Demonstrate the Results of Preclinical and Clinical Trials

Medical animations can also be instrumental in communicating the results of your preclinical and clinical trials. These animations can illustrate changes in patients' health conditions and explain statistical data in an easily digestible format. They can be used to:

By doing so, you give potential investors a clear picture of your drug’s potential, thus helping your clinical stage pharmaceutical company raise investment.

3. Illustrate the Market Potential and Positioning of Your Drug

Medical animations can also help you highlight the market potential of your drug. By visually demonstrating the size of the affected population and the potential impact of your drug, you can effectively communicate the investment opportunity to prospective investors.

Animations can also illustrate how your drug is positioned against competitors and why it could be a preferred choice. This form of communication can significantly influence the decision-making process of investors.

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The Power of Medical Animations in Investor Presentations

Medical animations can be a powerful tool in investor presentations. When seeking to raise investment for your clinical stage pharmaceutical company, you want to leave a lasting impression. Here are a few ways animations can help:

Conclusion

The use of medical animations represents a strategic tool that clinical stage pharmaceutical companies can use to raise investment. By visually presenting complex biological processes, demonstrating trial results, and illustrating market potential, medical animations can effectively convey the value proposition of your drug to potential investors.

With the rise of visual content and its impact on audience engagement, it’s time for pharmaceutical companies to leverage medical animations in their fundraising efforts. By doing so, you not only convey complex information in a digestible format but also leave a lasting impression that could be the difference in securing that crucial investment.

Stephen Boyd Accepts Stevie Award for Pharmaceutical Video

Our very own Stephen Boyd accepted our gold Stevie for Pharmaceutical Video at the American Business Awards this June. His accepting this award was especially appropriate since he was one of two animators on the winning project we announced earlier this year.

Microverse Studios won the top award in the new category for a medical animation created for client Generate: Biosciences entitled AI Will Revolutionize Medicine.

Check out his gracious acceptance speech! He was accompanied by our partner, Michael Boasso.

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