So I was facing some problems with Maya’s fur rendering, through batch renders. Tried what not and all that with Custom Equalization maps and all, finally got it.

The problem was, when a single shot was rendered, everything was fine. As soon as I did a batch render, for some reason the fur in this scene shifted by a couple of hundred coordinates on the Y axis.

This is a WIP and should be finished in at most two days time.

Top class graphical detailing, utmost sense of realism and options to adjust it for the weak of the heart, more resilient physics rendering engine and potentially infinite customization options and yet Need For Speed fails to impress, and terribly so. It’s like a beautiful Aston Martin tricked out, modded, tweaked and given a whole new personality only to find a little later on that the rig is missing an engine and everything else that makes it work. A hollow system.

But the news is not all bad. Here are some really strong points of the game:
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In case you don’t already know or haven’t played Need For Speed: Pro Street yet, let me tell you one thing - This game is a “piece of work”. Near perfect realism in car control response and feel. Really impressive graphic styling to the game with heavy usage of neo-urban design trends used to define the entire interface menu and game environment.

I just got it yesterday afternoon, and I must say, I was overwhelmed by the game by all means. But I have to admit that the game just isn’t as fun without the “freedom” we’ve had in the previous 4 versions from the series. Now, I haven’t beaten the game so I’m not going to write a detailed rant about it (yea, a rant and not a praise because as I see the game, other than the artistic work involved there are absolutely no chances for it to earn a good word) but I can tell you this - On artistic scales and realism, this game is a shocker and anyone will be astounded by the feel it gives. Judging by gameplay however, it is as interesting as skeletons fucking inside a tin can. So there ya have it, direct and concise.

Anyway, this post is more about my personal rant than Need For Speed, at least for the moment anyway, because - I have been procrastinating in front of the computer. And I’ve been doing so on purpose. Because all this past month and the previous month and the one before it, I have been working non stop on anywhere between 3-6 hours of sleep, two half and semi-decent meals and a bowl of soup with some junk food that is greasing me up on the inside, driving around the city due to the most obscure of reasons like a maniac handling everything being thrown at me and then finishing up on design work for clients through the night. I needed a break! And at least a 48-72 hour long break because my entire system is tired and I can’t even seem to focus on what I do anymore.

So all friends and clients and you, who is reading this ass-heated rant of mine - I am not going to work on anything no matter what means you pursue to make me do otherwise. I need a break too. And it’s high time I did exactly that.

So while everything remains in a stagnant state for a while, I’m gonna go and play some more Pro Street and beat it just so I can say I’ve beaten all versions in the NFS series and then I’m going to watch and enjoy The Grudge 2, just like I enjoyed The Island and Scarlette Johanson in white skimpy clothes in there.
Stay tuned and keep watching - The “PhoeniX Can Obliterate Your Existence With A Fart” Show! We’ll be right back.

Wondering who that cute fella is? That’s Dewbie! And he looks fuckin retarded when he smiles like that. “Oh, but he looks like a square Pokemon!” Yea, that’s what I meant by retarded. But hey, I made it and I love it. I hate these dogs barking through a cold winter night though. Someone hand me a gun so I can blow their pee brains out! Grrr…

Anyway, I realize Dewbie looks like a simple ding-a-ling, but it’s just a rough example of a recent facial rig I created complete with curve based slider controls and control surfaces. And it looks cool with all the fur so shup!
I would have made a simple video of the face model changing through various expressions but I am seriously deprived of sleep. And that is something I must get, lest I die a horrible tripped out death. The past few days, I’ve been working and driving around the city due to some obscure and senseless reason or the other and I am hell tired.

The near future seems to be clearing of clouds for a while with fresh new ideas and creative juices flowing through my head again. And yea, winter season holidays. Gotta love the sound of that, aye?

Yea, I’ll write more about what’s currently going on with me later. As I said, I need to crash and crash hard. So, peep through your granny’s backdoor keyhole while I snooze off dreaming about Scarlett Johanson… In da n00dz!
So ya see ya!