Philosophical Approach to TG2

[arisdemos]

As much as I like this software product and its capabilities i believe that CG is itself removed so far from the intuitive nature of say a one line drawing that the reality we achieve is mostly only a superficial reflection. I like to think I am pursuing the "Holy Grail" of achieving modern graphics mastery, but perhaps my wife may be right,.."I only do it to piss her off!."

[buzzzzz1]

As much as I like this software product and its capabilities i believe that CG is itself removed so far from the intuitive nature of say a one line drawing that the reality we achieve is mostly only a superficial reflection. I like to think I am pursuing the "Holy Grail" of achieving modern graphics mastery, but perhaps my wife may be right,.."I only do it to piss her off!."

LOL   

[Tangled-Universe]

Haha, brilliant lol

[nikita]

[...] the reality we achieve is mostly only a superficial reflection.

Yeah.. probably.
On the other hand.. if it's still close enough to reality to make the viewer believe it's a photo - then who cares?

Something else that came to my mind: The photographers are trying to make their photos resemble the way we see the world using DRI and panoramas. So.. an interesting question is:
Should we, as CG artists, strive to create images that are photorealistic? Should we try to imitate a camera?
OR
Should we try to picture the world as we actually see it? Should we try to imitate the human eye?

Photorealism includes features that we don't see in the real world like over/underexposed areas, depth of field, grain*. I think it's an issue similar to the issue of DRI. Sometimes, all those HDR tools can really create an amazing image - but HDR images frequently end up being too saturated and/or all the contrast has been removed by tone mapping.
It's difficult, I guess you have to find a balance.
Or use exposure etc. for art... to make the important parts of your image pop out.

*the eye "suffers" from all this too, but we rarely notice it.

[PorcupineFloyd]

Art does not copy the world - it rather makes us see it.

So I always loved jogging in the forest next to my home before I moved to a bigger city to study (and I no longer have a forest to jog). I have always experienced the beauty of rain, footsteps sound on the snow, darkness, the loneliness of a long distance runner, etc., but I was taking it as granted and thus it wasn't such a big deal to see, hear and feel.

Things changed after I touched Terragen and Vue. At first I focused on doing various test renders with volumetric lightning, godrays and all this "how does light paint in the air" and since then - I've never went past such natural phenomenon again. Every time when I see it I have to stand still for a moment and observe. It's delicious.

For me - CG not only makes a render, it also creates a point of view.

[mhaze]

well said

We put to much emphasis on photorealism, art should give us a deeper understanding of the world we live in by revealing it to us. Sometimes realism is the way at othertimes something more impressionistic or abstract describes our feelings, ideas emotions etc far more effectively.