We present a method for producing documentary-style content using real-time scientific visualization. We introduce molecumentaries, i. e., molecular documentaries featuring structural models from molecular biology, created through adaptable methods instead of the rigid traditional production pipeline. Our work is motivated by the rapid evolution of scientific visualization and it potential in science dissemination. Without some form of explanation or guidance, however, novices and lay-persons often find it difficult to gain insights from the visualization itself. We integrate such knowledge using the verbal channel and provide it along an engaging visual presentation. To realize the synthesis of a molecumentary, we provide technical solutions along two major production steps: (1) preparing a story structure and (2) turning the story into a concrete narrative. In the first step, we compile information about the model from heterogeneous sources into a story graph. We combine local knowledge with external sources to complete the story graph and enrich the final result. In the second step, we synthesize a narrative, i. e., story elements presented in sequence, using the story graph. We then traverse the story graph and generate a virtual tour, using automated camera and visualization transitions. We turn texts written by domain experts into verbal representations using text-to-speech functionality and provide them as a commentary. Using the described framework, we synthesize fly-throughs with descriptions: automatic ones that mimic a manually authored documentary or semi-automatic ones which guide the documentary narrative solely through curated textual input.

NucleusChromosomes Chromosomes with detail Nucleosomes Nucleotides Atoms Fibers Fig. 1. Steps along the voyage into the genomic detail as enabled by ScaleTrotter, showing the semantic scale levels. ScaleTrotter and its visual embedding allow us to seamlessly transition between independent representations and interactively explore them.Abstract-We present ScaleTrotter, a conceptual framework for an interactive, multi-scale visualization of biological mesoscale data and, specifically, genome data. ScaleTrotter allows viewers to smoothly transition from the nucleus of a cell to the atomistic composition of the DNA, while bridging several orders of magnitude in scale. The challenges in creating an interactive visualization of genome data are fundamentally different in several ways from those in other domains like astronomy that require a multi-scale representation as well. First, genome data has intertwined scale levels-the DNA is an extremely long, connected molecule that manifests itself at all scale levels. Second, elements of the DNA do not disappear as one zooms out-instead the scale levels at which they are observed group these elements differently. Third, we have detailed information and thus geometry for the entire dataset and for all scale levels, posing a challenge for interactive visual exploration. Finally, the conceptual scale levels for genome data are close in scale space, requiring us to find ways to visually embed a smaller scale into a coarser one. We address these challenges by creating a new multi-scale visualization concept. We use a scale-dependent camera model that controls the visual embedding of the scales into their respective parents, the rendering of a subset of the scale hierarchy, and the location, size, and scope of the view. In traversing the scales, ScaleTrotter is roaming between 2D and 3D visual representations that are depicted in integrated visuals. We discuss, specifically, how this form of multi-scale visualization follows from the specific characteristics of the genome data and describe its implementation. Finally, we discuss the implications of our work to the general illustrative depiction of multi-scale data.

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We present a method for producing documentary-style content using real-time scientific visualization. We produce molecumentaries, i. e., molecular documentaries featuring structural models from molecular biology. We employ scalable methods instead of the rigid traditional production pipeline. Our method is motivated by the rapid evolution of interactive scientific visualization, which shows great potential in science dissemination. Without some form of explanation or guidance, however, novices and lay-persons often find it difficult to gain insights from the visualization itself. We integrate such knowledge using the verbal channel and provide it along an engaging visual presentation. To realize the synthesis of a molecumentary, we provide technical solutions along two major production steps: 1) preparing a story structure and 2) turning the story into a concrete narrative. In the first step, information about the model from heterogeneous sources is compiled into a story graph. Local knowledge is combined with remote sources to complete the story graph and enrich the final result. In the second step, a narrative, i. e., story elements presented in sequence, is synthesized using the story graph. We present a method for traversing the story graph and generating a virtual tour, using automated camera and visualization transitions. Texts written by domain experts are turned into verbal representations using text-to-speech functionality and provided as a commentary. Using the described framework we synthesize automatic fly-throughs with descriptions that mimic a manually authored documentary. Furthermore, we demonstrate a second scenario: guiding the documentary narrative by a textual input.