Is there any uncharted territory in Computer Graphics?

Question

It seems to me as if anything is now possible with computer graphics. Is seems as if we can depict cloth, water, skin, anything, completely convincingly.

Are there areas that are are still a challenge, or is the focus now on finding faster algorithms and cutting rendering times?

Answer 1

1. Water
2. Fire
3. People
4. Doing it all in realtime
5. Physics (somewhat related to the computer graphics field)

I haven't seen digital humans that are completely convincing. Same with water and fire on any significant scale.

Look at some of the recent developments in computer game physics as examples: destructible buildings in Red Faction: Guerilla, material-based destruction in Force Unleashed, etc. Much of computer graphics revolves around video games and film, where good enough is good enough. There's a lot of clever trickery involved. There's tons of room for improvement in efficiency, scalability, thoroughness, and realism.

Answer 2

Pretty much everything is still impossible in graphics, if you want to do it properly. Cloth, water and skin are all faked to hell and back in order to achieve realtime framerates. We're still unable to do what's probably the most fundamental effect of all: Proper lighting.