How do you show a device whose most important part is software?
A device whose real strength lies in its software, explained without a single day of filming — out of photographs, screens and animation. Natus still runs the film on its product page.
The brief
The Madsen Zodiac measures how well the eardrum and middle ear are working — immittance testing, in the trade. The launch introduced a second generation of probes. Natus needed a full package for it: brochure, website copy, a launch email to customers, a newsletter, social media posts — and a product film that explains the lot.
What a camera cannot capture
Most of what the Zodiac does happens on screen: measurement curves, values, steps in the software. Film that and you get a reflective display with small type. Then there was time. The new probe only existed from December, and the launch date was fixed. A shoot with device, performers and a clinic would have been tight.
What we did
- Developed the storyboard from Natus’s key messages. The first version carried a lot of text — together we turned it into a film with a voiceover that tells rather than lists.
- The new probe was posted to us in Regau. We photographed it all the way round, retouched 65 individual frames and built a 360° view from them.
- Rather than filming the software, we set it in as screen images — sharp, legible, with the readings building up in frame.
- Line drawings and motion wherever a photograph would show too much: probe, cable, workflow, reduced to what matters.
- A long and a short cut. English voiceover, with subtitles in German, French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.
- Around the film, the rest of the launch package: brochure, website copy, launch email, newsletter and social media from the same hands.
The outcome
A product film in two lengths and six languages, made without a single day of filming. Natus published it on its own channel and still shows it on the Madsen Zodiac product page.
Why images can do more than a camera here
A film built from images is not a stopgap. It shows software the way it is meant to be seen, rather than as a reflection on a display. And it stays flexible: when an interface changes or a language is added, you swap an image or a line — you do not reshoot.
More Case Stories for Natus
What else we do for Natus is on the Natus page. The service behind it: Film & Photography.
Which of these do you actually need?
A conversation settles that faster than a quote. And we will tell you when something is no use to you.
Every enquiry is welcome — including the ones that never turn into a job. We learn something from every conversation. Tell us the problem, we will listen and think it through with you. That is the least anyone should expect.