Realism

Softimage_Graphic_Artist

How does my rendering look.

Softimage_Graphic_Artist

Some times I wonder, do I need a new computer to make my models look more realistic when rendering my final result look fake.

Any advise out there.

Masterstroke

Softimage_Graphic_Artist said:

Some times I wonder, do I need a new computer to make my models look more realistic when rendering my final result look fake.

Any advise out there.

Maybe if your own renders start to look fake to you, then maybe just because, you've progressed.
All the best to you, in this frustrating stage, of your artistic development.

Torquinox

How does your rendering look? Got a gallery somewhere?

ainm.sloinneadh

Realism is an aesthetic, a style and a set of techniques. Better hardware will only render more quickly.

Things that work for me when chasing realism as I perceive it. 

Render settings : lower saturation by half; increase ISO (and balance the rest of the film settings); turn off denoiser; render for less time/don't chase perfection.

Lighting: lots of weak lighting with a few strategically placed stronger lights to simulate natural lighting accented with artificial lighting;

Camera: use them; play around with focus - depth of field on and focal length and f-stop adjustments;

Characters: mix in several HD character morphs at low levels to simulate facial interest; if I use beautiful morphs, be careful not to let them become idealised; mix body morphs to please no one, not even the mirror, learn to appreciate the beauty of askew, floppy and lived in; use asymmetry; perhaps even dForce simulate an entire character for a cycle or two.

Clothing: simulae in an external tool.

I used to shop at a music shop that used the following quote on their bags:

Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don't have any surface noise. I said, 'Listen, mate, life has surface noise."

Thats my angle on it. Scratch things up a bit.

paulawp (marahzen)

Masterstroke said:

Softimage_Graphic_Artist said:

Some times I wonder, do I need a new computer to make my models look more realistic when rendering my final result look fake.

Any advise out there.

Maybe if your own renders start to look fake to you, then maybe just because, you've progressed.
All the best to you, in this frustrating stage, of your artistic development.

This is totally a thing, and at least for some of us, I don't think it ever goes away. I remember when I first started playing with Daz, I was often having "Wow!" moments, as I learned how to use it. But the more time I spent (and, I would hope, the better my work got) the less happy I was with it. 

OrangeFalcon

Softimage_Graphic_Artist said:

Some times I wonder, do I need a new computer to make my models look more realistic when rendering my final result look fake.

Any advise out there.

Good hardware helps (especially with time and reducing frustration), but it's really about the assets you're using, combined with lighting, camerawork and how you put it together.  Imperfections are what look the most real, and having high quality textures (that themselves are humanlike and imperfect) will also help sell the realism you're trying to achieve.

NylonGirl

I think the DAZ characters can only get so realistic. Like, it would be impossible to make a very realistic image with just DAZ Studio and DAZ figures. They just have certain parts of them that aren't very realistic.

Wonderland

Postwork and good photo filters help a lot. I don't think I've ever seen a straight render that looks realistic. And you should post an image if you want a specific critique. 

OrangeFalcon

Agree with both @NylonGirl and @Wonderland.  The realism (at least right now) is prety good, but has its limits.  And I'm okay with it because that gives the figures a style beyond just trying to look like a picture.  And yeah, let's see an image for what you're referencing, too.

McGyver

Reality is a construct of the human mind's interpretation of its limited perception of the universe and therefore realism is a construct of the interpretation of a mind expressing that interpretation of its limited perception in a medium limited by the manipulation of that medium's ability to fully match that perception.

In mathematics it's expressed as: Q x D/5 over Pineapple ÷ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ x E=2.718 + ® 

The application of the formula can be enhanced by the consumption of either copious quantities of caffeine, alcohol or pudding.

It is worthwhile to note that most humans are perfectly willing to ignore the reality presented to them by their optical and audio input organs in favor of the musings and suggestions of input sources they have deemed comfortable with accepting input from, therefore reality on its most basic level can be circumvented by following certain common popular output formulas.

One can access a sample of this venue by saying "Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse" out loud and then petitioning the entity that appears for a bowl of chocolate pudding.

If no entity appears, your perception of time, space and pudding delivery is asynchronous with the simulation methods of your current version and your bulk data is not being compressed by the OddleData jigglemahoozits.

There is no remedy for that because this entire post is a figment of your imagination due to the unwitting consumption of too much pudding at a free sample table at the grocery store, so it is best you ignore your organic input organs and imagine a more pleasanter answer.

I hope this was helpful.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

DustRider

McGyver - Thanks for that, I needed a good laugh. I'm also really glad you stopped by and took the time to post.

SilverGirl

paulawp (marahzen) said:

Masterstroke said:

Softimage_Graphic_Artist said:

Some times I wonder, do I need a new computer to make my models look more realistic when rendering my final result look fake.

Any advise out there.

Maybe if your own renders start to look fake to you, then maybe just because, you've progressed.
All the best to you, in this frustrating stage, of your artistic development.

This is totally a thing, and at least for some of us, I don't think it ever goes away. I remember when I first started playing with Daz, I was often having "Wow!" moments, as I learned how to use it. But the more time I spent (and, I would hope, the better my work got) the less happy I was with it. 

Yeah, it's definitely a mindset thing, and I think it happens with all forms of art as you grow.

What's helped me is to realize that absolute realism probably isn't possible with the available assets. So that's fine. What's "close-enough" realism? It's different for everyone. But for me it's that the poses look as natural (not-stiff) as possible, and that the assets & characters in the scene all have an equivalent level of quality, so nothing clashes. Beyond that, I take a deep breath, enjoy what I like from each render, see what I might want to improve on (sometimes it's waiting for a better asset to be created or go on sale), and revisit it when I've leveled up.

OrangeFalcon

SilverGirl said:

paulawp (marahzen) said:

Masterstroke said:

Softimage_Graphic_Artist said:

Some times I wonder, do I need a new computer to make my models look more realistic when rendering my final result look fake.

Any advise out there.

Maybe if your own renders start to look fake to you, then maybe just because, you've progressed.
All the best to you, in this frustrating stage, of your artistic development.

This is totally a thing, and at least for some of us, I don't think it ever goes away. I remember when I first started playing with Daz, I was often having "Wow!" moments, as I learned how to use it. But the more time I spent (and, I would hope, the better my work got) the less happy I was with it. 

Yeah, it's definitely a mindset thing, and I think it happens with all forms of art as you grow.

What's helped me is to realize that absolute realism probably isn't possible with the available assets. So that's fine. What's "close-enough" realism? It's different for everyone. But for me it's that the poses look as natural (not-stiff) as possible, and that the assets & characters in the scene all have an equivalent level of quality, so nothing clashes. Beyond that, I take a deep breath, enjoy what I like from each render, see what I might want to improve on (sometimes it's waiting for a better asset to be created or go on sale), and revisit it when I've leveled up.

 

The "close enough"'realism is an interesting thing. Personally, I like the idea that we may never get to the point where its easily distinguishable from pictures-and that's a good, good thing. Even figures that go for realism are still obvious works of art, and I think with the time and effort we put into our renders, it should be acknowledged that they aren't photos (or AI). 
 

Of course we'll get more and more advanced and realistic assets, but I hope they never become too realistic. I take pride in the time and effort of my renders, and enjoy them being acknowledged as realistic, but still not photos or AI. 

SilverGirl

OrangeFalcon said:

SilverGirl said:

What's helped me is to realize that absolute realism probably isn't possible with the available assets. So that's fine. What's "close-enough" realism? It's different for everyone. But for me it's that the poses look as natural (not-stiff) as possible, and that the assets & characters in the scene all have an equivalent level of quality, so nothing clashes. Beyond that, I take a deep breath, enjoy what I like from each render, see what I might want to improve on (sometimes it's waiting for a better asset to be created or go on sale), and revisit it when I've leveled up.

 

The "close enough"'realism is an interesting thing. Personally, I like the idea that we may never get to the point where its easily distinguishable from pictures-and that's a good, good thing. Even figures that go for realism are still obvious works of art, and I think with the time and effort we put into our renders, it should be acknowledged that they aren't photos (or AI). 
 

Of course we'll get more and more advanced and realistic assets, but I hope they never become too realistic. I take pride in the time and effort of my renders, and enjoy them being acknowledged as realistic, but still not photos or AI. 

It also probably depends on what you're trying to do with your pictures, but mine are mostly very slice-of-life. So a lot of times it's the little touches... the magnets on the fridge, the knick-nacks around the house, the set of oven mitts on the wall that I hit with a shader because absolutely she'd  have crazy cat print oven mits. The cord that dangles down behind the end table and goes into the wall instead of just having the lamp sitting there lighting itself. The fact that the room looks like a house where somebody lives definitely helps sell the rest of the picture.

OrangeFalcon

SilverGirl said:

OrangeFalcon said:

SilverGirl said:

What's helped me is to realize that absolute realism probably isn't possible with the available assets. So that's fine. What's "close-enough" realism? It's different for everyone. But for me it's that the poses look as natural (not-stiff) as possible, and that the assets & characters in the scene all have an equivalent level of quality, so nothing clashes. Beyond that, I take a deep breath, enjoy what I like from each render, see what I might want to improve on (sometimes it's waiting for a better asset to be created or go on sale), and revisit it when I've leveled up.

 

The "close enough"'realism is an interesting thing. Personally, I like the idea that we may never get to the point where its easily distinguishable from pictures-and that's a good, good thing. Even figures that go for realism are still obvious works of art, and I think with the time and effort we put into our renders, it should be acknowledged that they aren't photos (or AI). 
 

Of course we'll get more and more advanced and realistic assets, but I hope they never become too realistic. I take pride in the time and effort of my renders, and enjoy them being acknowledged as realistic, but still not photos or AI. 

It also probably depends on what you're trying to do with your pictures, but mine are mostly very slice-of-life. So a lot of times it's the little touches... the magnets on the fridge, the knick-nacks around the house, the set of oven mitts on the wall that I hit with a shader because absolutely she'd  have crazy cat print oven mits. The cord that dangles down behind the end table and goes into the wall instead of just having the lamp sitting there lighting itself. The fact that the room looks like a house where somebody lives definitely helps sell the rest of the picture.

Yeah, that's also an important aspect.  I was referring to the photorealism of the assets, but details in the scene really matter to sell it overall.  The little things you mention turn out to be pretty big things when one starts noticing them in the scene, too.