Quote - It doesn't matter whether the goal is realism or illustration, or even what the media is, the problem/goal is exactly the same. When I look at an image with V4 I and start thinking things like 'wow, nice morph' or 'that temple looks chilly, she'll catch cold dressed like that' then it may be a technically good image but it's missing something, and that's where I'd place everything I've done with Poser. So the question that I should really ask would be -

How do you take [polygons on a screen/lines on a page/paint on a palette - delete as appropriate] and arrange them in such a way as to evoke an emotional response in a viewer?

 

I understand where you are coming from and it is always my intention to evoke a response with my renders, something I strive for and rarely achieve.  On the other hand the OP referred to 97% of renders and from that I assume, rightly or wrongly, that he is referring to those seen in galleries.  I doubt from what have seen that this was the goal for a large number of renders.   For a start a large proportion could be classed as 'pin-ups' which from their very nature are not often aiming for reality.

This is where I have a problem with the whole reality goal.  Since reading this thread I have been paying extra attention to news readers and the like and looking to see where their faces are not symetrical.  With very few exceptions, I can't see this, that is not to say that their faces are symetrical and if I got close enough I could propably tell.  In the real world we do not get close enough, or study faces to the degree that this can be seen.  So it is not only a question of defining reality but also a question of how much is percieved reality.

 

 

I use Poser 13 on Windows 11 - For Scene set up I use a Geekcom A5 -  Ryzen 9 5900HX, with 64 gig ram and 3 TB  storage, mini PC with final rendering done on normal sized desktop using an AMD Ryzen Threadipper 1950X CPU, Corsair Hydro H100i CPU cooler, 3XS EVGA GTX 1080i SC with 11g Ram, 4 X 16gig Corsair DDR4 Ram and a Corsair RM 100 PSU .   The desktop is in a remote location with rendering done via Queue Manager which gives me a clearer desktop and quieter computer room.