3D Human Heart Model & Video
Audience: MedScape/WebMD, anatomy students, medical illustrators
Medium: Blender, Photoshop, AfterEffects
Purpose: To serve as a reference for 2D illustration for anatomical education
Step 1: Reference
I was tasked with developing an anatomically correct 3D human heart model to be used by the illustrators at MedScape/WebMD. This model will be used as an in-house resource, and will be updated with functionality that will allow it to be sectioned in whatever way a given user desires, enabling visualization of rare and unusual views inside the heart. As such, I would need to model both the exterior and interior surfaces of the heart.
To that end, I gathered a broad variety of reference material (not pictured here), including photographs of physical reference models, images from a variety of anatomy textbooks, digital images taken from the Complete Anatomy app, and photographs found via Google Images. No cadaveric material was referenced for this model, as the client didn’t require it.
Step 2: Ideation
I began in my sketchbook, and quickly jumped over to Blender. Using sketches I had made as orthotic references, I modeled the basic structures of the heart.
Step 3: Initial Renders
Once I had client approval to move forward with the mesh I had made, I moved on to color and texture. I UV unwrapped the model and jumped back and forth between Blender and Photoshop to update my image textures. I used some procedural nodes for color and texture, but primarily relied on image/bump maps to achieve the look the client was after.
Step 4: Rendering
For the turntable animation I exported a series of .pngs from Blender and took them into AfterEffects, where I added the annotations and other imagery.