Animations for the Field Museum, Chicago’s SUE galleries

Atlantic Productions and Zoo VFX have produced cutting-edge animations for the Field Museum, Chicago’s SUE, the most complete, best-preserved, and largest T.rex ever discovered in a new 5,100 square feet experience that opened to the public on 21st December 2018. After the year-long project, SUE the T.rex has been updated to reflect the latest in 21st century T. rex research. SUE is now in a “private suite” that educates museum visitors about SUE’s world. The animations bring to life how the T. rex would have interacted with other dinosaurs and what the landscape looked like in the Hell Creek Formation in the Late Cretaceous.

Atlantic Productions and Zoo VFX worked side-by-side with Field Museum palaeontologists Dr. Peter Makovicky, William Simpson, and Dr. Thomas Cullen to ensure every detail of the animations represents current scientific knowledge about the creatures and environment depicted. For example, the textures of the skin are modelled on fossilised dinosaur skin, and the 3D model for SUE was built up from a scan of the mounted fossil itself.

“The animations look so real, and scientists checked every detail—if you want to know how T. rex really looked and behaved in its habitat, this is probably the best way in the world to learn” Jaap Hoogstraten, Director of Exhibitions, The Field Museum, Chicago

The scenes include the dramatic clash between SUE and a Triceratops, SUE stalking a herd of Edmontosaurus as well as depicting SUE having a poop.

Large format: Displayed on six rear-projection screens, each measuring 49 by 106 inches and resulting in an awesome total width of 24 feet 6 inches

Ultra-high Resolution: Rendered at 6000 by 2160 pixels resulting in a bespoke widescreen format

Cinematic sound: Cinematic sound Custom soundscapes featuring the environmental noises of the landscapes

The scenes (approx. 5 mins each) run in a loop in the Galleries