{"id":1341,"date":"2016-06-22T14:10:43","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T21:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/NX-Design-Blog\/Photorealistic-Rendering-with-a-CAD-System-That-s-how-we-see-it\/ba-p\/352323"},"modified":"2026-03-26T04:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:24:00","slug":"photorealistic-rendering-with-a-cad-system-thats-how-we-see-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/nx-design\/photorealistic-rendering-with-a-cad-system-thats-how-we-see-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Photorealistic Rendering with a CAD System: That\u2019s how we see it."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheGeneral.png\"<\/span>I have to admit, I\u2019m a nut for classic films: black & white, made before 1950, even silent films. I stumbled on to Buster Keaton\u2019s silent classic, \u201cThe General\u201d, at the Los Angeles Conservancy\u2019s \u201cLast Remaining Seats\u201d<\/A> program, a film series helping to preserve historic movie palaces in downtown Los Angeles.  I was skeptical.  Silent film, even to a classic film buff, seemed like it would be a chance to eat some popcorn then take a little nap.  On the contrary; not only was it really sentimental and sweet, as you might expect with a 1926 movie, but it was funny and even downright exciting, especially if you consider there were basically no special effects in it. That\u2019s Buster jumping around on a train.  That\u2019s the train doing its own stunts. <\/P>
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But more than just a fun evening at The Orpheum\u2014the community of the audience, the live orchestra to accompany the movie\u2014my experience with \u201cThe General\u201d piqued my interest in the history of films and filmmaking. How amazing it must have been to see the significant strides in movie technology, from still photographs to moving pictures at the turn of the 20th<\/SUP> century<\/A>; from silent movies to \u201ctalkies\u201d in the late 1920s, at the time of \u201cThe General.\u201d   Color processing techniques like film tinting have been around from the inception, but were extremely expensive to produce.  The transition from black & white to color film as the standard form was much slower, taking place over 50 years.  <\/P>
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And now today, you and I are seeing the move to digital cinematography and the next transition: from 2D to 3D film.   3D techniques, like color, have been around since the start.   In the 1950\u2019s, 3D films gained popularity with the introduction of new 3D techniques.  Films tended to be gimmicky: Lions leaping out at you.  Newer cinematic techniques competing for TV eyes caused the trend to fade. The resurgence of 3D films in the 1980\u2019s was not without its critics.  2D film techniques already produce depth effects through lighting and shadows, resolution, color. Why bother?<\/P>
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\"HugoMovieImage.png\"<\/span>In the last decade movies in which depth is an integral cinematic component are changing the 3D landscape. My favorite of these is \u201cHugo\u201d, a film based on the 550 page picture book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret<\/EM>, by Brian Selznick about a boy, automata and Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s, the filmmaker considered to be the father of special effects. \u201cHugo\u201d seems to be a strange combination of technology and film history.  But in the end, \u201cHugo\u201d honors the book\u2019s visual storytelling.  \u201cHugo\u201d was designed to be filmed in 3D, uncharacteristically directed by Martin Scorsese, better known for his gangster movies. As Scorsese explains his decision to use 3D,<\/P>
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\u201cWe are in 3D. We see in 3D. So why not?” <\/A><\/P>
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\u201cI want to use 3D as another storytelling element<\/A>.\u201d<\/P>
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Nothing is thrown at you in \u201cHugo\u201d (OK, maybe one train). 3D is employed as a subtle contribution to scene composition, focus on characters, and balance.<\/P>
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\"CADGreenOnBlackDisplay.png\"<\/span>So what the heck do 3D filmmaking, classic films, and great directors from the silent and modern eras have to do with NX rendering? Of course, just as with filmmaking, we\u2019re witnessing technological advances, in this case advances that impact CAD display. But consider the parallel between the continued pursuit of realism in films and that of realistic CAD display.   In 40 years, CAD visualization<\/A> has moved past the green wireframe on black displays to\u2026<\/P>
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