Request for Honest Critique – Realism Assessment on Octane Product Render

lastsky

Hi everyone,

I’d really appreciate some fresh eyes on this render that was done in Octane. I’ve been staring at it for too long and have hit that point of familiarity fatigue and tunnel vision -- I can tell something feels off, but I can’t pinpoint exactly why.

When I compare it to other beautiful, moody, and realistic-looking product shots, it still reads as CG/fake, but I can’t tell if the issue lies mostly in the lighting setup and the camera angle/DOF, or if there are deeper problems with modeling, materials, colors, contrast, reflections, ... etc.

Any objective critique would be hugely helpful, thank you.

Noren

Some things I noticed:

The angle is really odd.
Your lighting mainly seems to rely on an HDRI environment (of an empty office/industrial space?) rather than a studio setup. And if you did set lights, then the HDRI works against that.
Some of the reflections seem to have little or no Fresnel falloff when facing the camera.
The geometry might have too low resolution in some areas like at the bottom, but that might be due to other things.
The rectangular grey shape/inset at the bottom looks odd and too rounded (the shading bends across the whole surface). Also, are the indexes of refraction and reflection correct? 
The containers are overfilled and the honey(?) only seems to tint rather than absorb or scatter light. Does apply less if it's a thinner fluid.

Overall, I'd go for a less busy environment and for lights and reflected elements that are set deliberately. Additionally, some minor imperfections in the glass and honey might give it a more realistic feel. Also, if you show two variants of the product, you also have the chance to show off two angles of the packaging.

lastsky

Noren said:

Some things I noticed:

The angle is really odd.
Your lighting mainly seems to rely on an HDRI environment (of an empty office/industrial space?) rather than a studio setup. And if you did set lights, then the HDRI works against that.
Some of the reflections seem to have little or no Fresnel falloff when facing the camera.
The geometry might have too low resolution in some areas like at the bottom, but that might be due to other things.
The rectangular grey shape/inset at the bottom looks odd and too rounded (the shading bends across the whole surface). Also, are the indexes of refraction and reflection correct? 
The containers are overfilled and the honey(?) only seems to tint rather than absorb or scatter light. Does apply less if it's a thinner fluid.

Overall, I'd go for a less busy environment and for lights and reflected elements that are set deliberately. Additionally, some minor imperfections in the glass and honey might give it a more realistic feel. Also, if you show two variants of the product, you also have the chance to show off two angles of the packaging.

Thank you for a detailed answer. The angle might look more natural with a camera without such a high focal length (under 100mm), and you're right about the HDRI/light setup. I think the fresnel falloff is what will make a huge difference in the reflections, because they are currently too sharp and fake because everything else like IRs of the glass / liquid are correct.

Thanks again for your valuable critique!