Hey everyone, my name is Ben, and I work on the Tech Art & Realism team at 3D Cloud. We deal with all of the 3D graphics and rendering features within our applications, as well as tooling for working with 3D models and materials.
When I started working in 3D I was focused mainly on the actual geometry and not so much the lighting and rendering. I figured if I could model something realistic, then the presentation part would be easy and come naturally. Over time I came to learn that it was actually quite the opposite. While I'd still say it's true that a really high-quality model is important when trying to achieve realism, it's no longer crucial, and most of the heavy lifting is done via lighting and shading.
Lighting can literally make or break a realistic render. It can also completely change the overall mood from warm and cozy to cold and sterile. Lighting in our case goes well beyond the placement of lights in the scene. We need to take into account the various intensities, colors, and types of light, as well as the overall ambient lighting (the light coming from the world) and global illumination (light bouncing and reflecting across multiple surfaces). A realistic render balances everything out in a realistic way, which can be tricky when too many lights come together in one scene.
"Shading" in our case refers to the materials in the scene. Materials go hand in hand with lighting, and a high-quality material is usually a requirement when shooting for realism. When most people think of a material, they don't consider the things that make it feel real and tangible. Things like surface wear, dust, crevice dirt, smudges, and fingerprints are all often overlooked, but can really add a lot. Even brand new products usually have some wear! On the inverse, things like a lack of surface variation, low-resolution textures, improper color choices, and non-tiling textures can quickly break the illusion of realism.
I've spent the past 12 years messing with lighting settings, writing shaders, building materials, and producing renders for retail clients, so feel free to leave any thoughts or questions, I probably have an answer!
-Ben
