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