Creation of an Instructional Animation Showing the Development of the Human

Placenta from Implantation to Term

James Scott Montgomery, BS, BA

Lewis E. Calver, MS, CMI, FAMI

Barbara L. Hoffman, MD

Angela M. Diehl, MA

The Animation•Present an extensive overview of placental development

•Directed to a medical student and resident audience

•Includes narration and three-dimensional representation of a placenta villous tree

Placental Development Complexity and Importance

• Process of continuous change

• Most methods of study are two dimensional in nature

• Understanding can help a student understand how different pathologies affect the placenta

Currently Available Resources

Penn Medicine “Placenta formation”

•Excellent foundational information

•Attractively rendered

•Dated

•Too general

•No three-dimensional component component

Currently Available Resources

• Valuable content

• Well drawn

• Content is too general

• No sound or narration

• No three-dimensional component

Lucinda Foundation “Placental Formation”

Currently Available Resources

Simbryo

•Excellent information

•Great depth and detail

•Lacks narration

•Monetary cost

•No three-dimensional component

Methodology

Story Boarding

Methodology

Pre-production Animatic

Compositing in Adobe AffterEffects

QuicktimePro temporaryAudio Editing

Methodology3D Asset Building

Autodesk Maya 2012 and MEL Scripting

Methodology2D Asset Building

2D Assets created in Adobe Photoshop

Methodology

Final Audio, Animation, and Compositing

Final compositing and animation in Adobe AfterEffects

Final Audio Editing in Adobe Audition

MethodologyEvaluationHow visually appealing is the animation?

How clear is the information in the animation?

How likely are you to recommend this animation to others?

How likely are you to use this animation?

Did you find the three dimensional quality of the animation helpful in understanding the architecture of a villous tree?

Results

Feedback• “It’s great”

• “This is an excellent animation and I plan to replay and study from it.”

• “Overall I think it’s great and clearly depicts formation of the placenta.”

• “The video is great and it has a lot of potential, thanks.”

Conclusion• Results were overwhelmingly positive and show that

my audience felt that this animation was helpful

• Limitations: Only 7 of the 23 people watched the animation and took the survey

• Future investigation should include – Larger sample size– Pre and post test evaluation to evaluate information retention

Roll the Animation

Thank You

Thanks everyone for coming,

Special thanks to my thesis committee

Angela Diehl

Lew Calver

and Barbara Hoffman for all the great feedback throughout the entirety of this project

Questions?