Pre-Production

Concept & Scripting

This project kicked off with a minimal input: no script, no storyboard, and no visuals—just a logo, some general brand direction, and a few staff photos. That meant we had to build the concept from scratch, starting with a clean slate and a mandate to explain complex vascular procedures to a general audience in a way that felt clear, credible, and comforting.

We led with anatomical research. That meant looking at both patient-facing materials and clinical diagrams—studying the appearance of varicose veins, spider veins, and reticular patterns—so we could determine where we could simplify and where medical clarity had to stay intact. The script was shaped to emphasize ease, speed, and comfort of care. We steered clear of medical jargon and focused on phrases that reassure: “minimal downtime,” “short visits,” “no general anesthesia.” The visuals would follow suit—abstract catheter motion, veins that fade away, and a soft visual tone that leaned metaphorical, not clinical.

The narrative was structured around a straightforward patient journey: problem, intervention, and recovery. Each part would get its own visual language—vein visibility, tool-based treatment, and restored skin—and rely on minimal on-screen text to let the VO carry the message. The tone aimed for informed empathy—clear and supportive, without sounding promotional or cold. The focus was simple: make viewers feel confident that treatment is safe, fast, and effective—especially with VasCare.

Rapid Prototyping

Given the complexity of vein anatomy and camera framing in 3D, our RP phase prioritized spatial logic and scene clarity. We started with a full-scale 3D human leg model sourced from a commercial library, then stylized it to fit the clean design language. Vein placement was originally sculpted as displacement maps, but that didn’t offer enough control. So we shifted to spline-based vein structures—converted to geometry and art-directed for flow and prominence—placed along the medial and anterior areas, where visible vein issues are most common.

We also blocked out early environment concepts, including the Texas map. We took a flat SVG of the state, extruded it in Cinema 4D, and built a stylized platform for location pins. The design was kept modular, with clean camera angles and slow, clear movement to allow pins and city names to animate in time with the VO.

All RP renders were kept simple: flat grey, no GI, no lighting—just layout and motion. This let us focus on sequence timing, animation cues, and UI interaction without distraction. Overlay tests and type animation were done in After Effects and composited over RP shots to simulate the final timing and screen behavior.

For hand-treatment scenes, we imported rigged hand models and used proxy catheter geometry to plan the movement. We deliberately avoided anything resembling a needle or injection—these shots stayed wide, using gentle arcs and eased motion to suggest placement and precision, not contact or risk.

Early Visual Styles Explored

Initial look development leaned on a white-clay style for both hands and legs—consistent with healthcare explainer trends and past work. But when paired with white backgrounds and surgical-blue gloves, the overall look felt too clinical—clean, but cold.

Client feedback confirmed our instincts. The early visuals lacked warmth. In response, we adjusted skin tones toward soft peach, warmed the overall palette, and desaturated the glove color to reduce contrast. The stylized legs kept their simplified form, but the added warmth humanized the sequence and softened the tone. Lighting remained neutral, with subtle post-applied gradients separating subjects from background without adding shadow or visual tension.

During this phase, we also developed the graphic system—fonts, lower-thirds, and overlay templates. These were prototyped in AE, establishing timing and spacing logic that directly influenced 3D shot framing. The motion rhythm—when overlays appeared, how they moved, and how they coordinated with VO beats—was defined early and locked in before full production.

Prototyping Animation Concepts

We built several stylized animation systems during RP. The most important was the way diseased veins would animate on and off. We explored scale-downs, vertex morphing, and animated masks, but settled on a texture-driven fade paired with spline-based glow paths to suggest energy or flow. It kept the visual clean and metaphorical—no cutting, no shrinking—just a calm transition from visible to resolved.

The catheter tool required extra planning. The key was to imply procedural accuracy without showing any penetration or clinical risk. We used carefully tuned easing curves to keep motion steady and intentional. Hand rigs were kept simple, with slight wrist damping and limited joint rotation to avoid robotic movement.

Camera behavior was locked down early. Most shots used lateral or dolly-forward angles. No wide perspectives, no dramatic shifts. Just slow tilts and moves aligned with VO pacing. This ensured clean overlays and clear anatomy without distortion. Every shot was blocked with AE integration in mind—type placement, metric visuals, and logo animation all informed how scenes were framed.

Client Feedback Shaping Direction

Feedback started coming in after the first RP pass. The client’s clinical team asked that we move the vein layout from the back of the leg to the front—more typical for the patient cases they see. We reshaped the spline structures accordingly, redistributing weight and flow to better highlight the medial mid-leg region.

The catheter sequence also got a round of feedback. Our initial lateral approach—chosen for camera simplicity—was flagged as anatomically inaccurate. We flipped the layout to reflect a medial insertion, adjusting camera, hand rig, and spline direction accordingly. We also expanded the hand-frame slightly to make room for overlay type without overlap.

Full Production

Look Development

After finalizing direction during pre-production, we moved into Full Production with a clear mandate: warm, approachable anatomical abstraction. The visuals needed to walk a fine line—clear and medically accurate, but not clinical or intimidating. That meant stylization without losing recognizability, especially when depicting veins, catheter tools, and treatment points.

Skin surfaces were shaded in a soft peach tone using Cinema 4D’s native material tools. The aim was to give veins enough contrast to stay visible without introducing real-world skin textures, pores, or blemishes. We used a diffuse-only shader setup with minimal reflectance, keeping focus on veins and overlays. Veins were modeled as baked spline geometry with a matte purple finish—just enough saturation for visibility, but soft enough to read as subdermal without looking harsh.

Special attention went into the hands. These came from a commercial model library but were re-topologized to match the simplified leg geometry. We stripped out unnecessary anatomical details like knuckles and visible veins, keeping the silhouette clean. Gloves were colored in a muted, cool-neutral tone—lighter than the typical surgical blue—to contrast gently with the skin tone and keep the look less clinical.

The animation strategy aimed for believable motion without strict realism. All character action—mainly hand and arm animation—was done with keyframed IK rigs. It wasn’t about simulating precise procedural detail; it was about conveying calm, deliberate action that was easy to follow and didn’t introduce anxiety or risk.

One major design revision came with the catheter entry angle. Originally, it entered from the side—a choice driven by easy framing. But client feedback called for a medial approach, so we adjusted both the camera setup and catheter spline path to reflect real procedural technique. Animation was re-smoothed with f-curve layers to keep the motion clean and natural.

Style Choices and Reasoning

This was a project rooted in purposeful simplification. Where typical medical animation leans into photorealism, we leaned away—choosing stylization to reduce patient stress and increase visual clarity. Matte surfaces, soft lighting, and simplified geometry eliminated cues associated with pain or medical invasiveness. No blood, no shadows, no skin imperfections.

That visual clarity extended to everything on screen. Veins were color-isolated and spatially intuitive. Tools were reduced to essentials, colored for clarity. UI overlays and text were cleanly integrated thanks to the neutral lighting and absence of visual clutter.

Typography and motion graphics were handled in After Effects, but the planning started in 3D. Each text moment was built to land in sync with 3D animation beats, creating an infographic-style storytelling rhythm that delivered both message and motion in lockstep.

Technical Details

All modeling and animation happened in Cinema 4D. Vein structures were spline extrusions, deformed with custom paths. Character animation used FK/IK switching to control wrist and finger motion during catheter placement—no physics, no cloth, no simulation. That kept performance high and animation precise.

Lighting was driven by big area light and a flat dome with GI for even, soft illumination. Each shot was rendered in multiple passes—beauty, AO, shadows, and object buffers—giving the compositing team full control in After Effects.

Catheter paths were controlled using spline guides with null parenting to keep tools oriented correctly. Timing was polished in the graph editor, smoothing out any jerky moves or awkward pauses.

Framing was locked early to make room for overlays. Camera distances and angles were designed to provide enough negative space for typography without crowding the action. Each render included clean mattes for masking and labeling during compositing.

One challenge was balancing vein visibility with overall frame cleanliness. Early versions had purple veins blending into shadow or clashing with glove tones. We solved this by adjusting the lighting model—reducing AO intensity and refining vein thickness for maximum clarity without distraction.

Post-Production & Delivery

Final Compositing & Color Grading

Post-production centered on clarity and refinement, with a focus on weaving 2D overlays and callouts seamlessly into the 3D anatomical sequences. Renders came through with object buffers and clean alpha backgrounds, giving us precision control in After Effects—managing transparency, layer hierarchy, and targeted masking. Veins, catheter tools, and hands were often isolated using mattes so we could apply local grading or subtle glow treatments beneath labels without disturbing the base render.

Color grading leaned warm and soft. We adjusted leg and hand tones using curves and exposure tools to pull them away from the sterile white of the raw renders and give them a more natural look. A soft vignette was used sparingly to direct viewer attention, but overall contrast was kept low to preserve the calm, clinical tone. Vein purples were softened to avoid any unintended visual emphasis or medical misinterpretation. 

Transitions—like the treated vein fade-out or the animated Texas map pin—used layered gradient overlays and radial masks to maintain rhythm and ease between visual ideas. Nothing flashy. Just clean fades, directional wipes, and scale-ins with eased motion curves. The tone was instructional, and we kept it that way by avoiding anything overly animated or theatrical.

Typography and label animations used inertia-driven easing—captions and titles often landed with a soft overshoot, settling into place with a spring-like dampening. These touches gave energy to static text without compromising professionalism.

Infographics, UI Overlays, Data Visualization

All overlays were built from the ground up in After Effects using custom shape layers, icon sets, and typography designed around VasCare’s updated brand. During the vein treatment sequence, small circular callouts appeared near the procedure site, labeled with terms like “Minimally Invasive” or “Thermal Ablation,” all timed to the narration.

Text callouts were placed in clean negative space and anchored using tracked masks or Cineware nulls. Animated lines, glow arcs, and icons were composited to look like they flowed from anatomical features—but without requiring precise 3D interaction, which helped keep the pipeline fast and efficient.

In the Texas map scene, each clinic location was introduced with animated lower-thirds, rising in sync with on-screen markers. Fade-ins were slightly offset to build rhythm and avoid stacking too much content at once. All type treatments followed the VasCare brand guide to the letter—color, weight, spacing, and kerning stayed consistent from scene to scene.

Every shot stayed on brand. We double-checked all colors against VasCare’s approved swatches—both in light and dark scenes. Overlay fonts and elements were built using the correct typeface, with careful adjustments to spacing for maximum legibility. 

Late in the process, physician photos were added to the intro and outro title cards. These images were lightly color-corrected and masked into brand-compliant layouts, blending into the warm, professional tone of the animation without pulling attention away from the message.

Delivery

The final video was delivered as a single 1080p H.264 file, optimized for fast web performance. It was embedded directly on VasCare’s Vein Disease treatment page and prepped for use in display ad campaigns.

Transcript:

If you’re one of millions of Americans suffering from vein disease, there’s no reason to wait to get help with these very manageable conditions. 

From our outpatient clinics in Beaumont and Corpus Christi, VasCare treats spider veins, varicose veins, and other types of venous disease.  

Our minimally invasive treatments feature short office visits, little downtime, low risk, and less scarring. 

Our doctors, Dr. Llewellyn Lee and Dr. Charles Gutierez, have nearly half a century of combined experience treating venous disease, and have helped thousands of patients just like you find relief. 

To arrange your consultation, call or visit us today.