The Embassy team worked on 109 shots for District 9, including the scorpion-like alien creature scenes and the sequences in which lead character Wikis is forced to use alien weaponry to blow up various objects. While all of the sequences required varied cameras and visual effects to drive home the authentic feel, the Exo-suit sequences stand out as a distinguishing use of vfx software to further the perceived reality of the film.



To start, CG Leads Matt Rouleau, Simon Van de Lagemaat and their team built and animated the Exo-suit in XSI and then rendered it in mental ray. The surfacing and texture painting was done in Zbrush and Modo, then it was composited and GenArts Sapphire plug-ins were added. Stephen Pepper, The Embassy's compositing supervisor for District 9 said details created with GenArts Sapphire were integral to achieving the film's convincing visual effects. Read more