The year’s first YD x KeyShot competition comes to a close, with 3 winners securing the bag for their mind-bending photorealistic renders. The brief of the competition (announced in March) was to create renders that fool the eye into thinking it’s a photograph. Humans have slowly begun training their eyes to AI-generated images, trying to tell truth from fiction – but what about when you render something that looks just like a product photo? These winners stood apart for their use of real-world settings like caustics and transparency, coupled with KeyShot 2025’s latest Planar Lighting feature that makes setting up a scene quicker than saying the phrase “Photorealism Challenge!”
The winners get a free 1-year license to Studio Pro and will have their work featured on the startup page when the software loads. Other prizes also include free access to KeyShot Studio Web for the Gold winner, and a free masterclass from Will Gibbons for both Gold and Silver winners. The winners of this year are Spencer Livingstone (Gold), Ratan Pande (Silver), and Jay Bhosale (Bronze), with Spitsyna Yelyzaveta and Tyson Karl receiving an honorable mention from the judges.
Spencer Livingstone (Gold Winner)
Spencer’s render caused us to do a double-take. The gel capsules are immaculately rendered, with imperfections on the capsule skin as well as bubbles on the inside that all contribute to some phenomenal caustics. In true wellness-pharma fashion, the capsules are placed aesthetically on a textured surface, with trims of greenery beside, hinting at the natural composition of the medicine. The lighting is simple and effective – a single source of light, either shining onto the capsules or behind the capsule container, really does the trick, giving the render its gorgeous appeal. You can view Spencer’s (under the moniker of Presume Studio).
Ratan Pande (Silver Winner)
For Ratan Pande’s submission, the judges were impressed by the simple yet sophisticated execution of the scene. A plain bottle, some rocks, and powerful, dramatic lighting that causes a fusion of contrast and caustics. You can really see the different materials react individually to the light. The transparent bottle (with the golden liquid inside) absorbs and refracts light, the metallic cap creates dramatic highlights and shadows, and the rocks add wonderful texture, creating a scene that looks ‘whole’. View Ratan Pande’s .
Jay Bhosale (Bronze Winner)
Jay Bhosale rendered the Titan watch provided as a 3D asset for the challenge. Relying on the watch’s transparent band and case, Bhosale placed the fairly tech-aligned watch against an unusual backdrop of nature. This wasn’t just good rendering, it was good visual direction too, resulting in an image that captivated the eye. Plus, the use of caustics and DoF really sealed the deal. You can view Jay Bhosale’s .
Spitsyna Yelyzaveta (Honorable Mention)
Spitsyna’s work got our honorable mention for the sheer composition. The render looked like it was taken out of a page of an edition of Architectural Digest. A great scene, with real elements, rendered immaculately. Spitsyna understood that photorealism comes through both subject and background, paying as much attention to the space itself as the objects within it. You can view Spitsyna Yelyzaveta’s .
Tyson Karl (Honorable Mention)
Tyson, our next honorable mention, created a render with a mad-scientist quality to it. In the render, he decided to showcase a tape recorder mid-jam, just as the cassette inside began to get unwound – something that would freak out any audiophile! With its quirky, whimsical nature, Tyson’s renders felt photorealistic, and moderately scary given how wrecked the cassette tape looks! You can view Tyson Karl’s .
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