3D Animation Workshop: Lesson 17: Photorealism 101 | 3 Lesson 17
- Photorealism 101 - Part 3 How important are shadows in selling
reality? Let's take them out and see. Compare this to the
original image to really understand the difference. I apologize
for the scrolling required, but these images become hard to
analyze when rendered any smaller. The most striking aspect of
this shadowless world is that the objects no longer appear to be
sitting on the table. They seem to be pasted on top of the
scene, just as 2-D bitmaps are composited in Photoshop. The
bottom of the beaker simply disappears, which is even worse than
merely floating. The shadows, therefore, establish that the
objects are in contact with the table. In the case of the spoon,
the shadow comes right up to kiss the contact points with the
table. With the fruit, the shadowed portions of the objects
themselves blend directly into the shadows on the counter. And
in the case of the beaker, the shadow reveals the contact
between the flat, transparent bo