Project:

Seahorses are an elusive animal that use camouflage to blend into their surroundings. Their short lifespan and delicate larval offspring make them difficult to keep in captivity. This project was designed to make it easier to study these animals in a classroom setting without capturing and removing animal specimens from their natural environment. The project was commissioned by Dr. Stephen Nimrod for the Marine Biology course at St. George’s University.

This animation was entered into the salon at the 2022 Association of Medical Illustrators Conference and received the Member’s Choice Award. 

Maxon Zbrush and Cinema 4D were used to develop  and animate realistic 3D models of a male and female Lined Seahorse (Hippocampus erectus). In addition to the animation, the 3D models were used to generate still images with a unified look and feel for labeling anatomical features of the fish.

The project was presented in the form of a Directed Learning Activity (DLA), which is provided to students for self-paced learning before their in person lecture as part of the flipped classroom model. You can learn more about the flipped classroom model here: flipped classrooms