It’s a damn real good photo 
Are you sure?
(25…)
If it’s not it’s even more impressive! But yes, I think it’s a real photo.
Wow, that sounds great! I have to try this asap. Thank you for the recommendation!
That’s a render, there’s inconsistencies in the shadows and the base of the top part looks wrong there’s also a few other bits that just don’t feel right like how the light interacts with the surfaces.
If I saw this as a cover I wouldn’t click the model as I have given up looking at models with just a render for a cover as usually it’s an indicator of a model that doesn’t print or there’s something to hide.
Don’t take offence you guys make some nice renders and I imagine your models print too but I have skipped straight past them as a rendered cover with no thumbnail of a print to me is a red flag to something that doesn’t print well.
So these are pictures that have been edited under relatively poor or simple conditions.
I have a similar photo to show that white backgrounds, which are problematic, can be edited very well with filters:
It is important here that my bed sheet does not have too many folds, and if it does, then some that are very flat, so that there are no dark shadows that make editing more difficult. Firstly the background needs to be lightened. White is easy. Everything that has to do with white (brightness, bright lights …) can be increased until the background has (almost) completely disappeared. Shadows can be darkened. Then save. However, this also distorts the colours (yellow tint in red intensified etc.)
Play with the contrast of the previously saved image and add a black-white filter. Reduce the brightness a little again. Perhaps adjust a little here and there. And save.
Sometimes the shadows look a little strange. You can therefore add a soft focus (blur filter) for the background.
Just in case anyone is looking for the model, here it is, click!
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Wow, didn’t expect that! Gonna try it out as well
I just use my camera phone and try to have decent lighting and a good backdrop. Ironically one of my most successful models if a photo studio light box that has curved corners like a cyclorama. that coupled with an LED desk lamp provides nice professional looking photos on a white infinity background when I want that look. Most of the time though I just place the model in a natural setting where it will be used or displayed.
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I came across that one before, but I’m out of white filament, so can’t print it rn. But will safe it for later. (I love flick force btw )
Thanks! I’m demoing it at a game convention this weekend to see what kind of attention it gets.
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Just tried the method Hugo explained. This is my first result. Not even close to perfect, but I like it. Gonna try to make some better renders soon
I render my cover photos about 50% of the time, depending on the model. I don’t think using renders is inherently deceptive or distrustful unless the designer makes it that way.
For me, using a render is a great way to include lots of at-a-glance information that is more difficult to capture in a real photo. For instance, this corner organizer is a stackable, modular design with pull out drawers:
I used a render to show both the “open” and “closed” configurations of the drawers, and sort of float each component above the others to demonstrate how the design is stackable and interchangeable. My end goal is to portray as much info to the user as possible in a few seconds, while showing an accurate representation of the printable model.
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I also think that rendering is a useful thing if it is used correctly. As long as it’s not used to deceive, it’s basically okay. What I don’t like is when renderings are made that look so extremely real that you can no longer tell for sure whether it’s a photo. In such cases, I always look at the print profiles of other users or the pictures that others have taken of the printout. Then you can immediately see the difference.
It’s just the picture on the packaging, i.e. what’s in the shop window. And otherwise the real model should be visible. Why doesn’t Makerworld have a rule: Rendering as cover picture yes, otherwise not. And in addition to the cover picture, 3 more photos of the printed model to show it. That way, if you clicked on the model and looked at the pictures on the page, everyone would know that the printed model is shown. And not 10 rendered images showing the model with 10 different surfaces.
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Do you have someone in mind… I do XD
No, I just saw it. Can’t remember who it was. 
That’s the one I keep recommending to people, haha.
I don’t mess with renders really outside of my instructions sets, but I love photography so it’s part of the joy of creating, I suppose. It’s funny, for how much that was one aspect of 3d I focused on throughout my career. For stuff like this though, I want people to see exactly what they’re going to get, what to expect.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a mixed use though. There’s a number of designers that have used renders to help create a consistent look and brand for themselves. Like @michelem
Stemfie3d is another good example (Stemfie3D | Published - MakerWorld). Because let’s be honest with ourselves, for a project like that, it makes sense to do that consistent render look. It’s way more visually easy to digest compared to photos, for stuff like that.
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This is very similar to what I do! I just take a picture with my phone (white poster board is usually the background.) Then I edit the photo, increasing brightness and exposure. Sometimes I cut out edges if something got into the photo that I didn’t want.
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This model shows why Renders, particularly the ones that are used as the hero image (most important) should be discouraged.
Expectation
Reality
The hero image proposes a reality the print cannot and will never deliver on.
If the same amount of effort put into the renders were put into improving the model to get closer to the aim, maybe users would get a better model.
At least this designer didn’t provide a print profile pretending they printed a colour version of the model.
Important
I am not opposed to renders, I am opposed to the bait and switch they too often deliver.
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This particular kind of model page with an hyper realistic rendered image as thumbnail and a fairly poor end printed product are generally all AI generated.
Text to image for the thumbnail and image to 3d model for the object.
Funny thing in that case, the overly descriptive description is probably the prompt for the text to image too XD.
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Lighting is way way more important than camera quality for taking print photos. At the scale everything is shown on Makerworld, you can’t tell the difference between a DSLR or a phone. Having a nice camera only really matters if you’re trying to take shallow depth of field shots with that blurry background.
But lighting is so much more important. 3D prints are a bit reflective and they have a bumpy surface. That makes them a nightmare for throwing bright reflections from any sharp light source. If you put a 3D print under direct sunlight or directly in front of a bright lamp, you will get shiny reflections off the surface. It almost always looks bad. What you want is diffuse light. If you can’t use or make a lightbox to get that diffuse light, just wait for a cloudy day and take your photos outdoors midday without any direct sunlight around.
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