Realistic 3D Rendering

Some think that realistic 3D rendering depends mainly on the rendering software. Others consider rendering software secondary to skills. Some consider the very notion of realism to be subjective, while others refute any room for subjectivity.

Unsurprisingly, to the untrained eye even a very basic render done in Sketchup might appear realistic. But even a true professional might get fooled by a well-made render into thinking that he is looking at a photograph.

What is realistic 3D rendering?

Moreover, different 3D artists work in different styles. Initially, different styles might seem more realistic to different people. However, if we exclude stylistic preferences and base ourselves on concrete references – we can determine some objective criteria for realism.

In order to define realistic 3D rendering, let us first define the general notion of realism in the arts. According to?Encyclopedia Britannica, realism is the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favor of a close observation of outward appearances. As such, realism in its broad sense has comprised many artistic currents in different civilizations.

Likewise, according to?Wikipedia?realism, sometimes also called naturalism, is generally the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements. Realism has been prevalent in the arts at many periods and can be in large part a matter of technique and training, and the avoidance of stylization.

Finally, let us mention the notion of illusionistic realism, unavoidable for discussing realistic 3D rendering. In the visual arts, illusionistic realism is the accurate depiction of lifeforms, perspective, and the details of light and color. But realist or naturalist works of art may, as well or instead of illusionist realism, be “realist” in their subject matter, and emphasize the mundane, ugly or sordid.

What makes a realistic 3D rendering?

Without doubt lighting is the most crucial element in a realistic 3D rendering. Most professionals are aware of this dogma, but we find it a tad oversimplified. If we take some time to analyze the issue, we can conclude that each element plays its own important role. These elements include not just lighting, but also textures, and geometry. Obviously without good lighting even the most intricately modeled and textured scenes will look dull and boring.

Why are textures and geometry just as important? On the one hand, without good textures light cannot spread realistically. We need materials to produce those amazing highlights and reflections that make a CGI seem real. On the other hand, good textures cannot be realistically applied onto bad geometry. Objects that are too roughly modeled, with sharp and not rounded edges will look fake. In fact, in such a scene no textures or lighting would look convincingly realistic.

Lastly, in product catalogues there is usually no need for integrating characters. However necessary they might be to show the use of spaces – they are not so important for products. For now, 3D characters still look too fake to trick our eye. However, poorly integrated 2D characters are even worse because they just look like pasted stickers. Consequently, they do even less to maintain the illusion of reality we work so hard to achieve.

Importance of realistic 3D rendering

Since this is a lighting catalogue, the various lighting effects were even more important for realistic 3D rendering. By this we mean that every lighting fixture can contain different light sources or bulbs. These bulbs produce different intensities, colors, and spreads of light. In this project we did our best to ensure that all of them would cast realistic lighting when integrated in our scenes.

Do you like these 3D renderings? If so, go on to see this other?photorealistic 3D rendering?project we made with nofuss.

However, please also keep in mind that we do not just do such extremely realistic renderings. If you are tight on time or budget or if you just want a good price/quality ratio – we have a solution!

So regardless of your 3D visualization priorities – do not hesitate and get in touch with us to discuss them. We are sure that together with our teams of 3D artists we will manage to satisfy all your needs.

Curious to see who we are or how we work? Go ahead and read some more?about us?or about?our process.