Image source: Cgtrader.com
Making hyper-realistic art is tough. Or, to phrase it more precisely, making hyper-realistic art is hyper-tough. You have to spend an absolutely incredible amount of time focusing on the tiny details and you have virtually no room for error whatsoever. It is an incredibly unforgiving art style, but on the bright side it has one of the biggest payoffs. Truly great hyper-realistic art is jaw-dropping.
Artists are getting better and better at creating hyper-realistic art with every passing day, but there’s still one hurdle that’s giving artists a hard time: people.
Image source: Cgtrader.com
You can fool people into thinking that your hyper-realistic art is actually a real photograph no matter what your subject matter — cars, landscapes, computers, still life, and pets can transcend digital art and perfectly resemble real-life scenes. As soon as you try to create a hyper-realistic render of a person, however, all bets are off. It goes back to the uncanny valley. A 99.9% accurate hyper-realistic render is adequate in any other situation, but with humans it just isn’t going to cut it.
For example, can you tell that the picture below is a computer-generated landscape and not a real picture? If it weren’t for the fact that you’re viewing this picture on a visual effects blog, you’d probably assume that it was a photograph.
Image soruce: Cgtrader.com
But now take a look at this picture. The clothing, the bed, the shadows, and the hospital equipment all look pretty convincing. If you take one look at the mother and child it is immediately apparent that this is a work of art.
Image source: Cgsociety.org
Pursuing hyper-realistic art is a noble goal, but for the most part you’re just not going to be able to fool people with hyper-realistic models of humans. That restriction only applies to humans, luckily, so you can still tackle other living creatures without tripping over the uncanny valley. This digital bird looks like it’s out of the pages of a National Geographic magazine.
Image source: Cgtrader.com
If you’re trying to break into the world of photo-realism, then I recommend that you start off with easier subjects like landscapes and still life scenes. Your artwork will be incredibly demanding, but it won’t be so difficult that a photo-realistic end result is utterly impossible. Besides, programmers are working on creating new software that can help you bridge the uncanny valley, so obsessing over pores and individual hairs might become somewhat unnecessary once breakthrough technology gets to the point where it can take care of that for you.
Hopefully, these pictures will get you fired up to work on improving your 3D art skills. Unless you can perfectly replicate every photograph you come across, you still have a long way to go as a visual effects artist. Remember: sometimes the best motivation is to be completely humbled by a true veteran. If these hyper-realistic images don’t make you want to whip out your favorite art program and hone your skills, then you’re in the wrong profession!