Baby Development to Birth Animation

So i created this simple animation for a group of high school student's class project. They asked me to animate a baby from its conception to birth. It was challenging but i guess i need to do this coz i want to practice my animation skills. At first I thought this would be so difficult but they told me they just want a simple animation. So i created this simple masking animation and add a bit of animation with the text presentation, too. The time limit was 2minutes only that's why some text went so fast. Anyways, here's the video.



So here's my process for doing this. First, i looked for references online and i found these images and became my references for the shapes and colors.

I traced the basic shapes of the sperm and egg cells in Illustrator. Then, I imported the layers in AfterEffects and animated them. For the tail of the sperm cells i used the wave warp effect. I also used some 3d camera for the zoom. I duplicated the egg cells for the cell division then introduced a new layer for the cell with multiple divisions. Then a pink layer comes in which represents the uterus wall where the fertilized cell attaches. Then the little fetus slowly grows. I used one layer for the body during the entire animation that's why there are awkward parts like the part where the hands are deforming as it animates. I added a new layer for the right arm and leg add added some gradients to add a little depth.

For the stages of labor i transitioned the pink background into the reproductive system. This is the toughest part. I have to create a lot of keyframes so that the vagina (haha) layer will follow with the baby's shape as it is moving outwards. I also added a hand for the nurse/doctor to usher the baby as it goes out of the womb. ;) Well, basically that's it. I learned many things from this project, too. I realized that i don't need to trace the shapes in illustrator. I can do it directly in AfterEffects. It will also help reduce the number of layers. I'm looking forward for more Motion Graphic animation in the future.