Photorealism: An Eye for Detail

Photorealism: An Eye for Detail

BSc (Hons) Animation Technology and Visual Effects

Photorealism is an artistic style characterized by the highly detailed depiction of ordinary life with
the impersonality of a photograph; creating an accurate representation using traditional art
practices such as painting or using computer visual effects.

Throughout this research project I plan to analyse and document a variety of design techniques
that aid the development of computer generated images that appear photorealistic to the human
eye.

Evolving from the pop-art and art movements of the 1960’s and 70’s in east coast America,
photorealism has expanded into a variety of different sub-genres such as hyper and super
realism and with the advance of computer technology and media production, photorealism has
become a focal area within visual effects.

Fig 1.1 - The Door To… - Aleks Braz (2007)

To understand the advanced techniques used to compose a photorealistic scene a basic

understanding of colour, light and physical form must be developed as they are the base
attributes when creating a computer generated environment.

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Photorealism: An Eye for Detail

Colour

Colour is a characteristic of light; the difference between light and other types of radiation is
defined by their wavelength, energy and frequency. Radiation is energy that travels and
dissipates as it moves, whether it is x-ray or light waves, together they all form the
electromagnetic spectrum.

Fig 2.1 - Electromagnetic Spectrum, NASA (300 BC)

The visible section of the spectrum consists of violet, blue, green,

yellow, orange and red before encountering infrared that we
interpret as heat. Humans have the ability to see objects
surrounding them by light being emitted from a source, these
waves are absorbed by the object and the remaining waves are
reflected into the viewer’s eyes and processed by our brain to
construct an image, this is a known subtractive colour.

It is not practical to digitally reproduce ‘nature’s way’ of creating

colours instead we use the additive colour method, a process
using the primary colours of light consisting of red, green and blue
Fig 2.2 - The Additive Colour System
and when mixed together they make white, similar to the reverse (Circa 1860)
of a light hitting a prism.

In the 19th century, physicist Lord William Thompson Kelvin discovered the Kelvin scale of
precise temperature measurement; carbon would emit different colours depending on the heat
applied to it. Based on this research the modern day colour temperature scale was established
which is often used in real world lighting architecture.

Source °K
Fig 2.3 -
Candle Flame 1,900 Common Colour
Sunlight: Sunset or Sunrise 2,000 Temperature Scale
100-Watt Household Bulb 2,865 (1848)
Tungsten Lamp (500W – 1k) 3,200
Fluorescent Lights 3,200 – 7,500
Tungsten Lamp (2k – 10k) 3,275 – 3,400
Sunlight: Early Morning / Late Afternoon 4,300
Sunlight: Noon 5,000
Daylight 5,600
Overcast Sky 6,000 – 7,000
Summer Sunlight 6,500
Skylight 12,000 – 20,000

Colour temperatures applied to different lights are not the actual physical temperature of the
source but the description of the light’s colour when being compared to the heated carbon.

The Kelvin Colour Temperature scale is very beneficial to the development of photorealistic
image as it allows digital artists to illuminate a scene with accurate real-world lighting colours and
alter the effect with detailed precision.

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Photorealism: An Eye for Detail

Light

Light is as essential to computer graphics as it is to reality. We are accustomed to light and the
ambient properties that help illuminate our environment but it controls many atmospheric
conditions with the ability to adjust our mood and alter how we observe world.

The exact physical description of the interaction of light with an object is very complicated and
physicists have spent centuries studying the topic. A lot of the real-world physics do not apply in
a digital scene but they are still important to understand how light behaves.

As computers do not use subtractive lighting, arrays of mathematical equations are used to
substitute the properties of natural light.
Fig 3.1 - Digital Lighting Model

1. Diffuse Light represents the colour of any light that is cast after leaving an illuminated object;
this property controls parameters like tint, intensity and texture of the model’s surface.

2. Specular Light refers to how “shiny” the surface is, often perceived by a white highlight.
Specularity in real-world physics explains how reflective a surface is but in computer imagery
specularity only characterises brightness.

3. Reflectivity in the digital scene specifically handles reflection of the surrounding environment
in the object’s surface.

As well as being one of the major aesthetic considerations, shadows are considered one of the
most important technical aspects of lighting. Many people perceive shadows as space for objects
to get lost in, but they provide cues for such attributes as location of the light source, how far
away an object is positioned and an assurance that objects share the same space.

There are two main categories when discussing lighting algorithms; direct illumination and global
illumination.

Direct Illumination is best defined as a scene

composed of lights and objects. It calculates the light
cast directly onto the objects from the primary light
source and not the light that bounces off the floor and
other surfaces in the scene. If a secondary object is
present then algorithm will cast shadows, but these will
be solid black shadows as there is no ambient light.

Global Illumination models the direct light produced

but also attempts to interpret the indirect light emitted
from the objects in a scene. It processes this information
from the ambient and diffuse light components, adding
colour and depth to shadows by calculating the bounces
of light around the scene from the different light sources
but does not affect the intensity of light within the scene.
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Photorealism: An Eye for Detail

Physical Form

Around 300 BC, Greek mathematician Euclid studied the relationships between distances and
angles documenting the notion of “Euclidean Space” or “Cartesian Space”, the theory that
defines the geometry occupied by an object via calculating the flatness of its mesh; this is the
basis of polygon modelling and the x, y and z values in found in 3D design applications.

In modern day mathematics and computer graphics, this poses some disadvantages. If all
objects are constructed of straight lines then it becomes impossible to precisely represent a
curve, meaning a large number of polygons are needed to calculate these shapes in an
appealing aesthetic manner, this process in return increases the rendering time and reduces
real-time speed within the engine.

Fig 4.1 - Polygon Modelling - “The Da Vinci Code” - The Senate VFX (May 2006)

To create a computer generated scene, extremeley powerful software is used known as a

graphics engine such as 3D Studio Max, an industry standard software package used in games
development, film and television. Within these engines artists and designers have the ability to
construct detailed scenes and perform advanced calculations with minimal effort.

One of the preferred methods of creating objects within a graphics engine is known as polygon
modelling. A polygon is a n-sided shape constructed of vertices, a vertex is a independent co-
ordinate that defines a three-dimensional point within the evironment. This is a preferred method
as it is faster to implement and render than other techniques, a benefit for real-time computer
graphics.

Although there is a lot of mathematics involved with photorealism

in computer arts, traditional art practices are still important. Rules
such as, an average mature human is the equivalent height to 7
½ heads and the distance from head to toe is equivalent to the
space between fingertip to fingertip. These ratios are very
important when attempting to imitate a real-world subject, as
humans have an extraordinary ability to notice if something is
incorrect although unaware of what specific element is absent.

Fig 4.2 - Da Vinci, The Vitruvian Man

(Circa 1492)

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Uncanny Valley

The Uncanny Valley is the hypothesis referring to the emotional response between humans and
non-human entities, originally conceived by Ernst Jentsch, a German Psychologist in the early
1900’s.

“Among all the psychical uncertainties that can become an original cause of the uncanny feeling,
there is one in particular that is able to develop a fairly regular, powerful and very general effect:
namely, doubt as to whether an apparently living being is animate and, conversely, doubt as to
whether a lifeless object may not in fact be animate - and more precisely, when this doubt only
makes itself felt obscurely in one's consciousness. The mood lasts until these doubts are
resolved and then usually makes way for another kind of feeling.”
Ernst Jentsch, On the Psychology of the Uncanny (1906)

This theory was interpreted for modern day application by Japanese Roboticist Masahiro Mori in
1970. Mori states that the more human looking an object becomes; the more recognition and
empathy will be portrayed by a human, up to a certain point where the response becomes
negative, this dip of familiarity is the property that gives the uncanny valley its name.

These premises are based on the idea that non-human entities’ movements and characteristics
will be easily noticed and appear correct as they are not imitating the real-world subjects, but the
more “almost human” or “photorealistic” an entity becomes the feeling of doubt arises, unless the
audience does not realize that the scene is artificial.

Fig 5.1 - Familiarity vs. Appearance Graph - Uncanny Valley - Masahiro Mori (1970)
Computer generated characters that portray humans or living beings are extremely hard to
create and convince an audience as realistic.

Conversely environments and digital landscapes have a greater verisimilitude. Due to

environments being virtually static and defining characteristics can be reproduced using
computer applications, they are predominately used as backgrounds. As an audience is focused
on the lead character they are less likely to spend time speculating the authenticity of the scene.

The composite of real-life video footage combined with digital environments is a good technique
for creating the perception of the actual existence of an artificial scene. This is beneficial for
visual effects in films as it provides the ability to create a realistic scene which can be
constructed and altered at anytime with minimal cost.

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Photorealism: An Eye for Detail

Rendering

Rendering is the final process in the computer graphics pipeline. Using a dedicated graphics
engine it is the catalyst that generates the final composition of all the elements within the scene.

Fig 6.1 - The Rendering Equation, Pat Hanrahan, Stanford University, USA (2000)

This extremely complicated formula is a mathematical representation of the calculations made

during the rendering process, developed by Pat Hanrahan at Stanford University. Although it
looks very complex it can be translated into a simple explanation.

The equation calculates the energy leaving a light source in correlation with light being
processed by the camera or point-of-view, this combined energy must be equal to the light being
absorbed and emitted from the geometry of the object. (See fig 3.1 - Digital Lighting Model)

A rendering engine is computer software that calculates detailed algorithms specifying

information about light, geometry and many more advanced mathematical equations. These
engines can be split into 3 categories: Scanline, Radiosity and Raytracing.

Scanline or Rasterisation is the technique of generating an image from a collection of primitives

pixel-by-pixel. Rasterisation is similar and uses pixel-by-pixel representation. It also uses a
technique similar to back face cull, by ignoring polygons and primitives that are not in view of the
camera and calculating specific objects within the environment. This reduces render and
production time, making it a popular method for real-time applications like computer games and
motion capture.

Radiosity is a rendering technique that replicates global illumination and is often linked with the
Scanline renderer to produce indirect illumination. The radiosity equation calculates the geometry
and light within the scene, using this information it computes the equivalent of light bouncing
around the scene producing artificial ambient light.

Raytracing is an algorithm that simulates the

optical properties of light as it bounces around a
scene. It processes this information by tracking
individual rays of lights from the original source
being reflected or refracted off objects and finally
entering the perspective point-of-view e.g. a
camera. This technique is known as Photon
Mapping, photon meaning a small particle of
light. This equation was designed to re-create
principles of physical lighting and achieve
Fig 6.2 - Realistic Rendering with Mental Ray
unsurpassed realism. It is a popular rendering
solution as it is remarkably efficient at representing real-world light and also has a vast array of
variables such as caustics, shaders and sub-surface scatter allowing an artist to fine-tune their
design to the smallest detail.

There are a variety of different companies who have published raytracing render engines, one of
the most common is a product developed by Autodesk called mental ray®, a high-performance
rendering engine that is used throughout the digital art industry in areas like movies, advertising,
architectural design and is also incorporated into many of the top 3D design applications.

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mental ray®
As mentioned previously mental ray® is a high-performance rendering engine used to generate
realistic digital imagery by calculating the individual rays of light used to illuminate the scene.
There is a combination of procedures allowing designers to create detailed realistic images within
mental ray®. They consist of:
• Global Illumination
• Caustics
• Shaders
• Sub Surface Scatter
• Final Gather
Global Illumination is the process of calculating indirect light within a 3-dimensional
environment. (See Pg. 3 - Light)
Caustics are the result of specular light being reflected or refracted off a curved surface,
processing caustics via a user-defined light source and geometry. This effect is too complicated
for a standard engine and the Scanline renderer does not even support this characteristic. This
property is represented physically in the real-world by the intense white highlight from a
magnifying glass when focused with the sun or the shimmering ripple effect seen projected in
swimming pools and on the sea floor.
Shaders are small computer programs that process a specific property within the scene and
mental ray® is extremely flexible at managing a range of different shaders at once. These
individual applications can be applied to many different objects within the scene from geometry to
lights and cameras and are usually applied via the material channel. If you imagine when a
standard raytraced image is rendered the photon is cast onto the objects mesh and then directed
to the camera, on the initial collision the shader becomes active and defines the characteristics of
the object before completing the render.
Sub Surface Scatter is an advanced shader associated with the geometry section of mental
ray®, this process emulates the interaction of light penetrating geometry and being scattered by
materials composed of many layers throughout the object and finally emitted out at a variety of
different angles. This technique is extremely useful for representing light passing through
materials like skin and wax.
Final Gather is the reverse method of photon mapping and raytracing; they all have the same
underlying equations but when final gather is active the rays are mapped first from the 3-
dimensional mesh and then the angles are calculated for the light source and point-of-view. This
technique is beneficial when used in conjunction with global illumination as the latter is ideal for
providing depth and detail to shadows and atmospheric conditions whereas final gather renders
small incremental details, smoothing shadows and eliminating any unwanted artefacts.

Fig7.1 – mental ray®, is a perfect way of producing global illumination (left) but when final
gather (right) is active the scene becomes a lot clearer and balanced. (2006)

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Photorealism: An Eye for Detail

Conclusion

This research has looked at a number of technical theories that contribute affects which enhance
the production of a photorealistic image developed with 3D graphics applications.

When designing an image that appears photorealistic and achieves the resemblance of real life,
two properties must be accounted for, render-time and final application.

If the artwork is used in a pre-rendered application, for example a motion picture or a still render,
then factors such as level of detail and poly count do not need to be restricted. Equally if the
product is used in a real-time application then these aspects need to be controlled because the
graphics engine must render each frame of the scene instantly.

When it comes to technology and the implementation of a photorealistic image the most
authentic way to replicate these characteristics is a single frame render of an environment or
scene.

Keeping the render as a single frame removes the problem of characters movements appearing
artificial and allows detailed effects such as raytrace rendering, volumetric effects and post
production to be incorporated to enhance the realism of the image.

To overcome this issue the composition of real-life characters combined with digital
environments provides the illusion that a scene actually exists, a process already used in many
visual effects films and goes virtually unnoticed.

Using a raytracing render algorithm, like Autodesk’s mental ray®, adds a significant amount of
realism to a scene, accurately re-producing the physical properties of light. This provides a
detailed atmospheric effect like Global Illumination and caustics that cannot be represented in
real-time applications and pixel-by-pixel representation.

However, if the technical theories are considered in the context of Jentsch’s and Mori’s
hypothesis of the uncanny valley with respect to the psychology of human perception, where
subjects only appear acceptable when not trying to emulate human’s movements and actions it
may be relevant to address the vital relationship between artistic input alongside the technical
developments when producing photorealistic images.

Auguste Rodin known for his life work of studying the figure and its movements in space
forewarned from the beginning of the previous century:

“If the artist only reproduces superficial features as photography does, if he copies the
lineaments of a face exactly, without reference to character, he deserves no admiration. The
resemblance which he ought to obtain is that of the soul.”

Auguste Rodin, Artist & Sculptor (1840 – 1917)

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References

Fig 1.1 - The Door To… - Aleks Braz (2007)

CG Society
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4321

Fig 2.1 - Electromagnetic Spectrum - 300 BC

http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/waves3.html

Fig 2.2 - The Additive Colour System (Circa 1860)

3D Graphics: A Visual Approach - R.J. Wolfe

Fig 2.3 - Common Colour Temperatures - Kelvin Scale (1848)

CG Lighting Techniques - Darren Brooker - Focal Press

Fig 3.1 - Digital Lighting Model (September 1999)

3D Graphics: A Visual Approach - R.J. Wolfe

Fig 3.2 & 3.3 - Direct & Global Illumination (April 2006)
Rendering with Mental Ray - Joop Van Der Steen - Focal Press

Fig 4.1 - Polygon Modelling

Courtesy of Sony Pictures - The Da Vinci Code - The Senate VFX - (19th May 2006)
http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/gen/default_film_production.aspx

Fig 4.2 - The Vitruvian Man, Leonardo Da Vinci (Circa 1492)

Fig 5.1 - Psychology of the Uncanny (1906)

Ernst Jentsch - Zur Psychologie der Unheimlichen
Translated By: Roy Sellars (1995)

Fig 5.2 - The Uncanny Valley Thesis – Masahiro Mori (1970)

Simplified version of the Familiarity vs. Appearance Graph
Energy, Pg 33 - 35
Translated By: Karl F. MacDorman and Takeshi Minato
http://www.androidscience.com/theuncannyvalley/proceedings2005/uncannyvalley.htm

Fig 6.1 - The Rendering Equation, Pat Hanrahan, Stanford University, USA (Spring 2000)
https://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs348b-00/lectures/lecture12/walk001.html

Fig 6.2 - Realistic Rendering with mental ray®, Chen Qingfeng, INDOOR (2005)
http://www.chen3d.com/environment/large.asp?id=128

Fig 7.1 - Demonstration of Global Illumination and Final Gather within mental ray®,
Autodesk’s Media and Entertainment, 3D Studio Max 9 (October 2006)
Help Guide, Topic: Final Gathering (mental ray® renderer)

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Bibliography

3D Graphics: A Visual Approach (20th September 1999)

Publisher: Oxford University Press, Author: R.J. Wolfe
ISBN: 0-19-511395-0

Computer Graphics and Virtual Environments: Realism to Real-Time (8th October 2001)
Publisher: Addison Wesley, Author: Mel Slater, Anthony Steed, Yiorgos Chrysanthou,
ISBN: 0-201- 62420-6

3DS Max Lighting (25th January 2005)

Publisher: Wordware Publishing Inc, Author: Nicholas Boughen
ISBN: 1-55622-401-X

Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist (8th February 1982)

Publisher: Oxford University Press, Author: Stephen Rogers Peck
ISBN: 0-19-503095-8

Essential CG Lighting Techniques with 3DS Max (18th April 2006)

Publisher: Focal Press, Autodesk Media & Entertainment, Author: Darren Brooker
ISBN: 0-240-52022-X

Digital Lighting & Rendering - Second Edition (11th May 2006)

Publisher: New Riders Publications, Author: Jeremy Birn
ISBN: 0-321-31631-2

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