The world is not perfect. The subtle imperfections around us add realism to any image.
When creating a world that is pristine, from pure white buildings to airplanes that are devoid of any ripples down the side, not only produces a false expectation, but is just not believable.
CGI imperfection, blemishes, defects and deficiencies need to be championed.
Whilst software can help achieve quicker results with overlays and textures, this needs to be encouraged not detracted. Everything created has to produce a lifelike effect.
When helping sell new properties, it is a work of fiction. The environment in most cases does not exist. The sophisticated imperfections of life have to be considered and embraced, whilst still making the subject matter look alluring.
For instance, a Georgian style home, can look more like a photo when layers of reality are added. This could be the use of ivy climbing a wall, through to leaves that have fallen on a driveway.
Imperfections such as slightly overgrown grass and chips in wooden panels are just as important as the structure we are focusing on. This is where the balance is achieved between reality and the animated world that we are responsible for.
In the words of 19th century writer, Edgar Allan Poe, “there is no exquisite beauty…without some strangeness in the proportion.”
What the CGI artist does is a step-by-step process. We add overlays and put them in the right place that looks the most accurate. For instance, rain drops on windows, not brickwork. We bring into Photoshop the original layer and add overlays to make a subject look weathered. The reason we do this on many objects is to acquire a warm patina with age. Seeing models of straight walls, flat floors and clean materials, need to have inconsistencies and even those elements of roughness.
Never would an object be built that looks ugly. The whole purpose is to create a favourable perception in the mind of someone else, so they can relate to it.
It is the subtle defects that occur in reality that are just as important within the virtual world. This is why it is getting harder to tell the difference today between what is animated and what is real.
The biggest issue is that the final image has to be seen as perfect by others.
Any person or company that is looking to sell a product from a property to a boat, they want it to be presented in the best possible way. This is completely understandable.
However, it is the subtle imperfections that can picked up to be addressed and altered, when they intended to create character and realism. Everything around us is not perfect, by making an image look too perfect, can make it look too simulated. This is what the human eye can pick up. It is used to seeing an imperfect world, so if we something looking too perfect, it naturally tells you that something doesn’t look right.
Every image that is created represents a style centred on creating a distinct atmosphere.
The tools that are available to create a virtual world that is realistic but accentuates the little idiosyncrasies of everyday life, has to be promoted. To achieve buy in from someone else, there has to be a connection to the place that is inviting him or her in.
