How the Atlas was made
The bodies used for the DVD Atlas dissections are those of individuals who in life had bequeathed their bodies to the University of Louisville's Body Bequeathal Program. The terms of the bequest state that the bodies are to be used for the University's officially recognized medical education and research programs. We appreciate the selfless spirit in which our donors have acted, and we respect their desire for anonymity. No individual is depicted in the DVD Atlas in a way that reveals his or her identity.
We do not use traditional embalming on the bodies for the DVD Atlas, as it discolors and stiffens the tissues producing an unnatural appearance. Instead we use either no embalming, or an mild preservation technique that leaves the color and texture of the tisssues almost exactly as they are in the living body.
To keep the specimen in good condition the dissection and DVD recording are done in a laboratory that is refrigerated to 8°C (46°F). The dissections are done using fine surgical instruments, magnifying eyeglasses, and our best surgical and microsurgical skills. Sometimes two individuals work on a dissction, sometimes only one. The initial stages of a large dissection (such as the one seen at the opening of DVD 1) may take 6-8 hours. The specimen is constantly moistened, and parts not being worked on are wrapped in plastic to prevent darkening. The specimen is placed on a table that has a rotating top and is held in place by wires that connect it to an unseen support device. The images are made using a compact broadcast-quality 3-chip analog video camera mounted on an arm that can rotate about a horizontal axis. The images are recorded on SP-beta analog tape. Cool fluorescent studio lighting is used to create the best definition and modelling. The shots are recorded against a background of black velvet. The same material is used to cover the table and support devices so that they are not seen.
The dissection is done in planned stages. The shots needed at each stage are made, then the dissection progresses to the next stage. The order in which shots appear in the edited tape is often the reverse of the order in which they were made. We embark on a dissection with a script in hand that tells us not only what we are going to cover, but the exact words, actions, and shot sequence we will use. Creating the script is an intensive and time consuming process that involves several trial dissections and many days of writing.
We are often asked what computer program we use to create the rotation effects that give the DVD Atlas images their striking three dimensional quality. We don't use any computer program. When you see rotation about a vertical axis, it was produced by rotating the table top by hand while the shot was being recorded. Rotation about a horizontal axis is produced by rotating the camera arm, again by hand. Initially these movements were motorized, but we found that with hand control we were better able to make smooth, natural, precisely timed movements.
Each shot requires several rehearsals and often many live "takes" before we are satisfied. For each shot, we read the words of the prepared script into an audio recorder. The words provide exact timing cues for all the actions that happen in the course of the shot. Actions may include table and camera rotation, up-and-down camera moves, movements of parts of the specimen, and zoom adjustments of the camera lens. When we are ready to record the shot we play back the audio recording while the video recorder is running and the actions are being performed. The sound from the audio recorder is re-recorded onto the first of the videotape's two sound tracks, providing an accurately timed "scratch track". Later, the same words are re-spoken onto the second sound track to create the finished narratve.
The master tapes are edited at the U of L Medical School's I.T. Television Service. Editing is done in two stages. At the first stage the shots are assembled in sequence and digital features such as arrows are added to the picture. In the second stage the final sound track and he on-screen titles are added. Editing is done on SP-Beta analog equipment. Each finished volume of the DVD Atlas exists as a set of SP-Beta master tapes, one for each major section.
The Atlas was originally published as a series of VHS tapes, released individually between 1995 and 2003 as Acland's Video Atlas of Human Anatomy. The VHS tapes were produced from the SP-Beta master tapes. Because of the limitations of the format, the VHS tapes showed a noticeable loss of image quality compared to the SP-Beta masters.
By the time the series was completed, the DVD format was already overtaking VHS as the dominant video medium. The current DVD version of the Atlas was released in 2003. To make the DVDs the original SP-Beta master tapes were compressed to MPEG-2 format, fully maintaining the original image quality.
For the streaming version of the Atlas, released in 2004, the SP-Beta masters were divided into short segments and compressed to play in Windows Media Player format in a 360 x 240 pixel window, at a streaming rate of 200 Kb/sec.
Each minute of the finished product took twelve hours to produce: five in creating the script, five in making the shots, and two in post-production.
