LevitasBio LeviCell EOS · 3D launch films · life-science instruments

Reveal an instrument.
Explain a new kind of physics.

LevitasBio, a Stanford spin-out, separates living cells without labels by levitating them in a magnetic field. For the first look at its new LeviCell EOS system, Motionfarm created a full 3D explainer and a teaser series that revealed the instrument step by step: first as a sketch, then a wireframe, then a silhouette, and finally in full light.

The LeviCell EOS instrument, teal door and royal blue body with the embossed LevitasBio mark, in soft studio light — The LeviCell EOS, lit for this case study.AI visualisation based on the instrument’s product photography.

The challenge

Build anticipation for a machine no one had seen yet.

The audience was scientists heading to AACR 2022. The product was a new benchtop instrument, and the idea behind it was unfamiliar: sorting cells by how they float, not by what they are tagged with. The launch needed curiosity before the reveal, then a clear explanation once people could see the machine.

AI product film made for this case study

The science

Live cells rise. Dead cells sink.

Inside the cartridge’s clear separation channel, cells float in a paramagnetic solution between magnets. Viable cells keep the solution out and levitate higher, in a tight band. Dead and dying cells let it in and settle lower, in a looser haze. The instrument images the channel and collects each band into its own outlet well.

The explainer’s imaged channel: live cells in an upper band, dead cells lower, with counts for each — Full explainer · 0:56–1:03, excerpt

The approach

Show a little more every week.

The teasers moved from pencil to light. A hand-drawn sketch hinted at the shape, a glowing wireframe showed its inner structure, a silhouette caught the curves in shadow, and the final film revealed the LeviCell EOS in full. The explainer then walked through the system, the four-channel cartridge, parallel processing and the software, in the brand’s teal and royal blue.

01Sketch
02Wireframe
03Silhouette
04Reveal

The explainer, frame by frame

One explainer, eight moments.

0:13 The mark

The mark: The embossed three-dot mark on the instrument’s side. — **0:13 · The mark**The embossed three-dot mark on the instrument’s side.

LeviCell EOS: A new era in sample processing and characterization. — **0:18 · LeviCell EOS**A new era in sample processing and characterization.

The cartridge: Four channels for scalable levitation. — **0:27 · The cartridge**Four channels for scalable levitation.

One system: Instrument and software, ready to expand. — **0:31 · One system**Instrument and software, ready to expand.

In parallel: Several systems running side by side for higher throughput. — **0:36 · In parallel**Several systems running side by side for higher throughput.

Temperature: Adjustable controls for ideal sample conditions. — **0:40 · Temperature**Adjustable controls for ideal sample conditions.

Characterize: The levitation image, split into fractions. — **0:58 · Characterize**The levitation image, split into fractions.

Insights: Counts for each band, ready for downstream work. — **1:03 · Insights**Counts for each band, ready for downstream work.

The films

One explainer. Four teasers.

Each excerpt plays silently. The explainer comes first; the teasers follow in the order they were released.

Full explainer, silent excerpt — **01 · Full explainer**1:17
The LeviCell EOS system, cartridge, throughput and software, in one film.

Teaser 1 · Sketch, silent excerpt — **02 · Teaser 1 · Sketch**0:24
Pencil lines on paper hint at the shape. “Stay tuned.”

Teaser 2 · Wireframe, silent excerpt — **03 · Teaser 2 · Wireframe**0:24
A glowing wireframe shows the structure inside.

Teaser 3 · Silhouette, silent excerpt — **04 · Teaser 3 · Silhouette**0:24
Curves and details caught in shadow, one week before the reveal.

Teaser 4 · Reveal, silent excerpt — **05 · Teaser 4 · Reveal**0:33
The LeviCell EOS in full light, with the invitation to AACR 2022.

Visualisation of the clear cartridge channel clamped between the instrument's upper and lower magnets, a teal band of live cells above scattered grey dead cells — Visualisation made for this case study, not to scale. Based on LevitasBio’s published diagrams.

Behind the work

From storyboard to screen.

The explainer was planned as boards first: framing, camera moves and where each line of copy lands. Drag each panel to move from the pencil board to the final frame.