Sue, Tyrannosaurus Rex

Produced for The Field Museum, Chicago, state-of-the-art animations of their iconic T.rex fossil have completed a stunning new 5,100 square foot exhibit experience.

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

Displayed on six rear-projection screens, each measuring 49 by 106 inches and resulting in an awesome total width of 24 feet 6 inches. Rendered at 6000 by 2160 pixels resulting in a bespoke widescreen format. Cinematic sound Custom soundscapes featuring the environmental noises of the landscapes. The scenes (approx. 5 mins each) run in a loop in the Galleries.

Snap AR Filter

The 3D model was also transferred to a Snapchat filter, which was produced with the Field Museum and Snapchat. The filter automatically detects when the user points their camera at Sue and then overlays a full animated CGI version of Sue on top. 

“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

“SUE’s new home is simply stunning.”
Third Coast Review

“This is the biggest, scariest and most impressive SUE’s ever looked”
Block Club Chicago