# How to explain a bioprocess step in a 90-second animation To explain a bioprocess step in 90 seconds, pick one step, such as the seed train, perfusion or TFF concentration and diafiltration, and answer one buyer question. The script has four parts. The problem, what happens inside the equipment, what the system controls and what changes for the customer. Engineering reviews it before anything gets animated. [Web version](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/bioprocess-animation-90-seconds/) By David Monje, crida studio · Published 2026-01-22 · Updated 2026-01-22 ## A 90-second animation explains one step Ninety seconds is enough for one process step. Try to cover everything from the cell vial to the purified product and each stage gets a few seconds, so the buyer remembers none of them. Three short pieces work better than one long video that nobody watches to the end. Choose the step from the questions that keep coming up in sales meetings. The person watching is often not a process engineer. It may be someone in procurement or finance, or the founder of a startup with a biology background. They need to understand what the equipment does and what it changes in their project. The membrane details can wait for the engineer. ## A four-part script, from problem to outcome A script that works with non-specialist buyers usually has four parts. Each one answers a single question, and the timings below are a guide. Before anything is animated, read the script aloud with a stopwatch. If it runs past 90 seconds, cut sentences, because every extra second of animation is extra work too. - Seconds 0 to 15, the problem. For example, the product is diluted in a large volume and sits in a buffer that is not the final one. - Seconds 15 to 45, what happens inside. Liquid flows across the membrane, the product is retained and water and small molecules pass through. - Seconds 45 to 75, what the system controls. Pressure, flow and the sensors that watch the step, without equations. - Seconds 75 to 90, what changes for the customer. Less volume, the buffer exchanged and the product ready for the next step. ### Should we use 3D animation or film the real process? It depends on what you need to show. What happens inside a closed bioreactor or a membrane cannot be filmed, and animation makes it visible. Filmed footage proves the equipment exists and shows how an operator uses it. A mix often works best, with animation to explain and real footage to build trust. ## Three bioprocess steps that animate well Some steps are very hard to explain with photos and click straight away in animation. They are the ones that happen inside closed equipment or that change scale. These three come up again and again in conversations with biopharma customers, and each one fills a 90-second piece. - Seed train. Cells move from the vial into ever larger volumes until they inoculate the production bioreactor. The animation shows each jump in scale. - Perfusion. Fresh medium flows in and spent medium flows out while a cell retention device keeps the cells inside the bioreactor. Both flows are visible at once. - TFF concentration and diafiltration. The product stays in the retentate, the volume comes down and then fresh buffer is added at the same rate as permeate leaves. ## Who should review the script before animation starts The process engineer reviews the script and the storyboard before any final frame is produced. An arrow pointing the wrong way or a sensor in the wrong place is easy to fix in a sketch. Once the animation is finished, every change goes back through modelling, animation and rendering. Someone from quality or regulatory should read the text as well. Lines like GMP compliant or Part 11 ready depend on how the customer installs, validates and runs the equipment. If the system is built to order, the screen should say that it shows an example configuration. ### If the step takes hours, how do you show it in 90 seconds? The animation compresses time and should say so. A small time-lapse label or a clock in the corner stops buyers thinking diafiltration takes a minute. What matters is the order of the stages and what the equipment does at each point, more than how long it really takes. ## Plan captions and languages from day one A sales animation has to work with the sound off, because it is often watched at a trade show or in an open office. If it has a voiceover, the W3C says the audio needed to understand the video should be captioned. It also warns that automatic captions do not meet that need unless someone confirms they are accurate. Words like diafiltration, perfusion or retentate are easy for automatic captions to get wrong. Keep on-screen text out of the animated layers and in a separate file. A German, Spanish or French version then means translating and checking text, with no new animation work. ### Can we reuse the 3D model from our product renders? Yes, if there is a CAD model or the one built for the renders. It usually needs simplifying so the animation runs smoothly, plus additions a still render does not show, such as flows, bubbles or the impeller turning. Engineering should sign off those additions just like the script. ## Where the animation is used and how Google finds it The same animation works in the sales deck, on the product page, on the booth screen and on LinkedIn. To appear in video results, Google recommends a dedicated page for each video where the video is the main content, plus a thumbnail at a stable URL. A product page with the video embedded helps buyers, but Google does not treat it as a watch page. David Monje, founder of crida studio, led marketing at TECNIC Bioprocess Solutions for four and a half years. He took the company's technical content into 3D renders, animation and interactive tools, and acted as the bridge between engineering, product and sales. The video below is a TECNIC piece on scaling TFF systems. [Scaling TFF without performance loss - TECNIC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV70ffNwjhE) — TECNIC Bioprocess Solutions, YouTube, 2025-10-24 TECNIC video on scaling TFF systems without losing performance. It dates from the period when David Monje was leading TECNIC's marketing. ## References - [Google Search Central, video SEO best practices](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/video) - [W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, captions and subtitles](https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/captions/) ## The crida perspective We are a marketing, brand and technology studio based in Girona. We bring identity, content and development together so a digital experience makes sense from beginning to end. crida studio, Caldes de Malavella (Girona, Spain). David Monje, founder and director. ## Got a process step that is hard to explain? Tell us which step you want to show, who the animation is for and what material you already have. We will suggest how to structure the script and what to review with engineering first. [Talk to us](https://www.crida.studio/en/#contact) ## More on web design - [Marketing for biotech, bioprocess and pharma companies](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/biotech-bioprocess-pharma-marketing/) - [3D render or photography to show equipment inside a cleanroom](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/cleanroom-render-or-photography/) - [What a 3D render shows about process equipment that a photo cannot](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/3d-render-process-equipment/) - [Motion graphics and video for businesses from Girona](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/motion-graphics-business-video/) - [How to brief an explainer video for an industrial product](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/industrial-product-explainer-video/) - [3D and rendering](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/services/3d-renders/) - [Product renders or photography for your catalogue](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/product-render-or-photography/)