Easter Eggs Live – data visualisation


A series of visualisations we produced for Windfall Films’ show “Easter Eggs Live”, which aired on Channel 4 this Easter weekend. We were given MRI and CT scans of various species’ eggs, and asked to visualise and animate these data to produce informative and clear visualisations to be used in the live tv programme. We’ve shown four of the final shots below, along with a description of the data handling and visualisations we created.
SHOT 1) We took MRI scans of a chick inside its egg, traced out the chick and recreated it in 3D.  We then animated the chick to show its first break where it breaks through a membrane into the air pocked inside the egg to take its first breath.  It then starts pecking at the shell using a strong muscle on the back of its neck and its egg tooth.  By pecking and shuffling, it can break around the circumference of the egg, and then push its way out.
SHOT 2) We were given CT data of praying mantis eggs, from which we were able to segment the regions and produce this volume render, which fades and reveals the egg structure inside.
SHOT 3/4) We produced these two sequences using surface data (OBJs up to 3GB in size), and you can see the caterpillar, which has a digestive tract and network of breathing tubes along its length.  As the transformation progresses, you can see increasing internal complexity as the butterfly’s internal organs and external structures form.