"I have a ball that my dog plays with. It's red. No textures. No bumps. No color patterns. No surface variations at all (well...except for teeth marks." That can't be. Everything has textures and bumps and variations in color and variations in the way light reflects from it. You just haven't looked closely enough. No, pros don't have any special rendering engines. What they do have is extreme skill at texturing, using grungs maps to 'dirty' textures up and to break up specularity after having created custom specularity maps. They know how to create wear on objects. They focus on details your eye sees but your brain doesn't normally recognize. But without those details, things just don't look right. There are teams that do nothing but texture the models other teams have built, and then pass those onto teams that do nothing but lighting. It's not impossible to get realistic renders. You just have to take the time necessary to learn. The one bit of advice I can pass on is a bit of advice that was given to me by a high level 3D guy. Pay attention to real life details. Study objects in real life. Get a magnifying glass if you need it to see the details. The problem with 3D is that objects are too perfect. Nothing is perfect in real life. Everything has dents and bumps and dirt and wear and imperfections.

Talent is God's gift to you. Using it is your gift to God.