What does a medical animation cost?

Our projects start from €10,000 excluding VAT. An animation for one audience is usually around that amount. Stills and short versions can be included as options, up front or after the project. Once several audience variants or languages are added, the cost rises, but less steeply than you might think, because the models and anatomy are only built once.

How long does it take?

Six to ten weeks for a 3D animation of a minute and a half. The research and the specialist approval happen up front; bear in mind that the diary of a reviewing specialist is often the critical factor.

Does a medical animation need to be photorealistic?

No, and that surprises people. Specialists ask for correctness, not realism. Proportions, sequence and function must be right. Stylisation, simplified colour and omitted structures are fine, as long as what is shown is correct.

How do you make sure it is medically correct?

By not deciding it ourselves. We do our own research into the treatment and the anatomy, and then have a clinician approve the storyboard and the first movement test before we animate.

Can you make one animation for both doctors and patients?

Not one, but two from the same production. We make the content layer once; from it we edit versions with their own pace, length and tone. That is considerably cheaper than two separate productions and works better than a compromise.

How do you handle claims and regulations?

We ask early for the approved product claims and check the storyboard against them, so the imagery never suggests anything that is not substantiated. Those claims and the input from regulatory affairs come from your side, and you approve the scenario and storyboard on content. In addition, a clinician or medical expert reviews the storyboard and the first movement test. If you would like us to liaise with the regulatory department ourselves, that is possible too.

Our product hasn't been announced yet. Is that a problem?

No, that is the rule rather than the exception. We sign an NDA as standard, files are kept on secured storage that only the project team can access, and we publish nothing without your approval and never before the launch. Some of our work never makes it into the portfolio, and that is a normal agreement.

Can the animation be made in multiple languages?

Yes, and it helps a lot if we know from the start. We then keep on-screen text to a minimum and build room into the edit for longer voice-overs. For Springlife Medical we delivered several languages for international markets this way.

Do you also work for agencies in the medical sector?

Yes. We work under your name or as a named partner, whichever you prefer.

Medical animation production

Three audiences, three expectations, one production. This is how we solve it.

Illustratie van een kniegewricht met een rood pijnpunt en 3D-weergave van een oog met chirurgische instrumenten voor medische procedures.

3D animation for D.O.R.C.: eye with surgical instruments

One animation for clinician, procurement and patient doesn't exist

With almost every medical request there are three parties at the table, even if only one of them commissions the work.

The clinician wants to know whether it is correct. The procurement committee wants to know why this is better than what is in place now. The patient wants to know what will happen to them. Those three questions can't be answered in one film, because they differ in pace, level of detail and language. An animation that tries anyway becomes too superficial for the specialist and too technical for the rest.

What we do: build once, edit several times. The research, the concept and storyline, the design, and the models, anatomy and scenes are the expensive layer, and we make that once. From it we can create versions with their own pace, length and voice-over. You include those as options in the quote, or have them made later. For Springlife Medical we made two versions of the same content this way: a calm instruction version and a faster commercial variant.

That is why in the first conversation we ask who the animation is for. The answer determines what we build.

What we find out before we start designing

Research for a medical animation follows two tracks, and the second is almost always skipped.

The first track is the content. The product, the treatment, the anatomy around it, the technology behind it and the context in which it is used. For Orteq Actifit that meant following the clinical steps around a biodegradable meniscus implant until we could explain them step by step ourselves. For D.O.R.C. we sat down with leading eye surgeons before a single scene existed.

The second track is the audience. What does an eye surgeon already know, and what is actually new to them. Where does a procurement committee drop off. Which words make a patient anxious. That research shapes the edit more than the anatomy does.

There is one thing we have learned over the years that regularly surprises people. Specialists don't ask for photorealism. An animation can be stylised, even abstract, as long as the proportions are right. An instrument shown twice too large relative to the tissue is spotted by a surgeon immediately and costs you their trust for the rest of the film. A simplified colour scheme goes unnoticed. That is a very different bar from "as real as possible", and it is the reason our medical animations sometimes look less photographic than you might expect.

Medical 3D animation for VPI: shoulder and chest with muscles and blood vessels

What makes medical animation different from our other work

Clinicians review during the process, not afterwards. A mistake in the order of a procedure is not a cosmetic flaw. That is why we have a clinician approve the storyboard and the first movement test before anything is animated. For D.O.R.C. that went through their own team and through surgeons from their network.

Claims are fixed, on screen too. What you may claim about a medical product is set out in the product documentation, and imagery that suggests a claim falls under the same rules. A scene showing a result that is not substantiated is a problem for you, not for us. That is why we ask early for the approved claims and check the storyboard against them. You supply the input from regulatory affairs and approve the scenario and storyboard on content, and a clinician or medical expert reviews it. If you prefer, we can also liaise directly with your regulatory department.

We often work on something that doesn't exist yet. Products before launch, systems in development, technology that hasn't been announced. We sign an NDA as standard, files are kept on secured storage that only the project team can access, and nothing goes into our portfolio without your approval or before the launch.

Multiple languages are a design choice. If we know in advance that there are several markets, we keep on-screen text to a minimum and build the edit so that a longer voice-over fits. Adding a language later is always possible too. Choosing up front is often more cost-effective, because the animation is then set up for it from the start.

Illustration of a workspace with a desk, computer and red chair

Who does your animation need to convince?

Send us your question, even if the answer is "all three". You will hear from us within one working day, with a rough estimate or a proposal for a conversation. After that you receive a well-founded scope, including which variants you can get from one production.

Book a call

What a medical animation costs

Our projects start from €10,000 excluding VAT. A 3D animation of a minute and a half takes six to ten weeks, from briefing to delivery.

One animation, one audience: from €10,000, 6 to 10 weeks

One production, several audience variants and languages: €15,000 to €25,000, 10 to 14 weeks

Ongoing, new products based on existing anatomy and scenes: on request

A second audience variant from the same production costs a fraction of a new animation, because the expensive layer is already in place: the research, the concept, the design, the models and the anatomy. That is the strongest argument for deciding up front who you want to reach.

Want to see the prices of all types of animation side by side? Take a look at animation production.

Frequently asked questions about medical animation

Medical animation production

One animation for clinician, procurement and patient doesn't exist

What we find out before we start designing

What makes medical animation different from our other work

Who does your animation need to convince?

What each audience wants to know

Four medical animations
we made

What clients say about
working with us and the results

Where our medical animations end up

What a medical animation costs

How an enquiry works with us

How a medical animation
comes together at our studio

Briefing

Concept & storytelling

Kick-off

Storyboarding

Concept design

Production

Sound

Release

Frequently asked questions about medical animation

Medical animation production

One animation for clinician, procurement and patient doesn't exist

What we find out before we start designing

What makes medical animation different from our other work

Who does your animation need to convince?

What each audience wants to know

Four medical animationswe made

What clients say about working with us and the results

Where our medical animations end up

What a medical animation costs

How an enquiry works with us

How a medical animationcomes together at our studio

Briefing

Concept & storytelling

Kick-off

Storyboarding

Concept design

Production

Sound

Release

Frequently asked questions about medical animation

What does a medical animation cost?

How long does it take?

Does a medical animation need to be photorealistic?

How do you make sure it is medically correct?

Can you make one animation for both doctors and patients?

How do you handle claims and regulations?

Our product hasn't been announced yet. Is that a problem?

Can the animation be made in multiple languages?

Do you also work for agencies in the medical sector?

Four medical animations
we made

What clients say about
working with us and the results

How a medical animation
comes together at our studio