Tag: photo

Your level of design skill is going to be the determining factor in creating photo-realism in your renders. Modern software can do a lot to add extra details, but in the end, it is your designing and creative skill that makes something look photo realistic. If you have given it all you’ve got and things are still looking a little fake, then try out a few of the methods in this article.

1 – Test and Re-Test Using a Good Rendering Service

You should really be testing and re-testing your changes and your designs. If you don’t have a lot of computing power, then use a company that will render your designs for you. Using a company like https://rebusfarm.net/  is often faster than trying to do it all yourself, especially if rendering means it ties up some of your computers or systems for a while. 

2 – Add Realistic Light Dead Last

You can test a bit of realistic lighting before you are finished, if you wish, but it doesn’t add the sort of value you may have hoped for. Add realistic lighting very last and don’t go overboard with your efforts. You should start with the larger elements first and then add detail as you go. With that in mind, adding realistic light too early will skew the way in which you create and add details. Get the details and everything else right first, and then start playing around with the light.

3 – Use Depth of Field

Traditional animators have trouble with depth of field. Luckily, there are many varieties of software out there that make depth of field very easy to handle. In some cases, it is just a case of altering a few settings on the camera before you set your render running.

4 – Beware of Adding Too Much Light

This is discussed a little more in point six on this article, but one of the big giveaways with renders is when lamps and lights emit too much light. Look at photos and you will see there are many occasions where two of the same types of light will shine in very different ways and with different intensities simply because of where they are located.

5 – Try to Avoid Super Sharp Edges

It is weird, but the further away you are from something, the less sharp the points and edges should be. If you create a building using perfect measurements and angles, and it has very pointy edges, then it looks faker the further away you pull the camera. In many cases, you are better off using the bevel technique on the end of pointy and very sharp edges and points. 

6 – Use IES Light Profiles

Sometimes, the way light interacts with your designs is what gives them away as fake. Light is able to do different things in rendered images than it is in real life. When you use IES light profiles, you reset the balance a little so that lights act a little more naturally.

7 – Use Specular Maps For Glossy Areas

You can use your artistic skills to create some lovely looking glossy areas, from shiny paint to glass tables. However, if people interact with the design, then the illusion may be lost. If you use specular maps, then you allow the computer’s AI to figure out how the glossy areas should interact with light sources. 

8 – Add The Tiniest Bit of Dirt

If you were creating designs for TV shows and movies, then you would add imperfections and dirt. However, if you are creating a product or a building, then you don’t want to add dirt and imperfections. Therefore, you should add the tiniest bit of dirt in the unavoidable places, such as where the grass meets your walls, or on the bottom of tires on a car.