Quote - A trick of the lighting, perhaps.

I think you may have hit the nail on the head... it is not the figures.... ONLY. It is a combination of factors. You can have the best rigged figure, the best Photoreal Texture, with the best possible displacement map or normal map in the best available software with all the best tools and features in the best possible Render Engine and I am sure that the output would have issues for those users that have not learned how to use all the tools available.

Someone said that they had seen Poser 4 female figure that was pretty realistic. I am not sure who may have done that image, but I suspect they could also do the same with most any of the newer figures. I remember a person here at Rendo that use to do Portraits of Photoreal human faces using Poser. It was Poser and the Figures used that allowed him to do those images, but he did those images in Poser with the Figures avaiable.

I also want to say a little something on the comments about the Figure itself. Everyone is right, but they also are wrong. I have seen these discussions about elbows in the wrong place, wrists too thick, (and though I like the work Vilters did) breasts too high.

For my evidence, I recommend everyone that thinks they know what a real woman looks like and where a real breast should fall to check out the SiteMap link at Reference Photos.

http://www.3d.sk/index.php

Warning: Nude Image Reference (I apologize beforehand if this violates the TOS and also am including a search Reference)

Human Photo Reference for 3D Artist

Set the search of the SiteMap to Sets, Images only and in Gender set to Woman, in Poses set to Modeling Reference and in Clothes Type set to Nude. You will see a similar point of view of the female form in every image.  Some with breasts starting at the armpit, some higher, some lower. You will see round navels, oval navels, flat navels, innies, outies, etc...  You will see elbows that are at the navel, above the navel, at the bottom of the rib cage and others between the hip and the bottom of the rib cage. You will see all body types and all breast sizes and shapes. The only thing all these will have in common is they are women. The Human Form in all its glory, sort of like snowflakes, no two alike.

None of these woman are deformed, they are just woman, each unique, different from the next and all are normal and all are beautiful, just as every human is unique, normal and beautiful.

ratscloset
aka John