Chapter 1066: A CG Sweeps the Trending Charts
"Jarvis, start a new CG project. We're going to fleece some money." Chen Mo tapped the computer on his desk.
The computer screen lit up, and Jarvis said, "Understood. Still using real-time rendering?"
Chen Mo shook his head. "Base it on real-time rendering, but finish it with traditional methods. Package the relevant art assets and send them to a dedicated CG production team for the final work."
Jarvis: "The cost of traditional CG will be significantly higher, far exceeding real-time rendering."
"I know. But it doesn't matter. This will be Thunder Film Studio's last CG made with traditional methods. No expense spared."
Jarvis had no questions and diligently began creating real-time rendering assets based on the storyboards and materials Chen Mo provided, then handed them over to the specialized CG team to complete the post-production.
In fact, Chen Mo hadn't used traditional methods to make CG in a long time.
Because the art asset precision of next-gen VR had already reached a level that could fool the eye, players in games like GTA, Iron Man, and Bloodborne had to look closely to distinguish the game from reality.
So, trailers, promotional videos, and in-game cutscenes were almost entirely done with real-time rendering—using in-game models and actions to have the characters "act out" the desired scenes.
Traditional CG production required a large team to adjust and render frame by frame, keeping costs high. For high-quality CG, each second could cost tens of thousands of dollars. Imagine how much it would cost to make a three-to-five-minute CG.
Of course, saying it was made with traditional methods didn't mean it was purely traditional. Since next-gen VR art assets were already realistic enough, and Chen Mo could even manually tweak actions to achieve acting on par with Heath Ledger's, using real-time rendering for CG might leave players unable to tell which method was used.
Chen Mo wanted to combine real-time rendering with traditional methods—taking the already usable real-time CG output and refining it frame by frame to push the CG's quality to an unprecedented, unmatched level.
Even if traditional post-processing would drastically increase the CG's production cost... well, was Director Chen short on cash now?
As for what level this CG should reach?
In Chen Mo's own words: "Every frame can be used as a wallpaper."
...
...
The buzz around Bloodborne was still going, but it had been steadily slipping on Weibo's trending list and was about to drop off entirely.
That was normal, after all. Everyone knew how much water was in those trending lists.
Weibo trends had become a key entry point for many marketing companies to buy traffic, especially for naturally popular young idols, trending IP-adapted dramas, new songs from famous singers, and so on. Some made it on merit, some were boosted by marketing firms, and some were just bought outright.
It had long been rumored that the third and fifth spots on Weibo's trends were official paid slots. According to reports, a Weibo trend package cost 600,000 RMB for a two-day rotation, while third-party promotion companies charged 50,000 RMB per hour for the top three and 40,000 per hour for the top ten.
Some considerate trend-boosting companies even bundled the service of getting onto and maintaining the trends, refunding money if it dropped.
Weibo had also publicly condemned third-party trend-boosting, loudly promoting its new anti-boosting mechanism. The gist was: "Pay the money directly to us; don't cheap out and go to third-party scalpers. Trying to snatch money from my mouth? I'll make sure you're dealt with properly."
For a game like Bloodborne, its popularity was entirely driven by Chen Mo's reputation and the players' enthusiasm, pushing it to the top of the trends. It even held a top-three spot for several days before being squeezed out by boosted trends. That was already an incredible feat.
Many trend-boosting companies were also frustrated. Damn it, no matter how much they boosted, they couldn't push this thing down?
As Bloodborne's buzz finally began to fade, many marketing companies couldn't sit still anymore.
Two or three new dramas were relying on Weibo trends to stir up hype, several popular singers had released new songs, and there were plenty of young idols and actresses needing to maintain their visibility. All these marketing companies were eyeing the list.
So, a silent war quietly began. If some bored player kept refreshing Weibo, they'd notice that the trends changed owners every few minutes. Several trending topics were fiercely competing, chasing each other without giving an inch, with popularity soaring wildly.
It wasn't their fault that these trends clashed. Mainly, Bloodborne had been hogging the top spot for a while, and these marketing companies were getting antsy.
Strangely enough, Chen Mo's games trending wasn't anything new. Sometimes, Chen Mo himself would jump onto the trends for fun, like when he participated in Today's Current Affairs Debate, a topic that stayed in the top ten for a full five days.
Only reckless marketing companies would stubbornly try to grab the top spot right when Chen Mo released a new game. Experienced ones wisely held back, waiting for the wave to pass.
After all, Serent's fans were no joke—they were a bunch of ruthless people who didn't hesitate to spend money.
Several marketing companies were quietly competing.
"Hurry up, how did the top spot drop again? Push it back up!"
"Strange, we were all being friendly before, taking turns for a few hours. Why are we clashing this time?"
"The other side is panicking too! Probably the same as us—if we don't hit the time, we'll have to refund?"
"Heh, forget it for now. Keep boosting!"
"Damn, it dropped again? Keep boosting!"
"Boosting... it's not working anymore..."
"How can it not work again?!"
"Look, Chen Mo... posted on Weibo again!"
These marketing companies were baffled. How could they have boosted so hard for so long and still fallen to second place?!
Some sharper companies noticed early. While they were focused on trying to reach the top three, a trending topic shot into the Weibo list like a rocket.
With every refresh, it surged several spots, and now it had directly taken the top.
Trying to boost to first? Sorry, not happening.
Even the boosting speed of these marketing companies couldn't match the natural popularity of this topic...
Several marketing companies were dumbfounded.
"What's going on?! Didn't Chen Mo just release Bloodborne a few days ago? This topic was about to fall off the trends, and now it's back?!"
"It's not just Weibo trends... Look at the Q&A trends, search engine hot topics—they're all being swept!"
"This... this is even crazier than Bloodborne! It's just a promotional video, is it really worth this?!"