Adding realism through plugins or alternate rendering engines

[anishthakkar]

Hello

I am wondering what plugins or rendering options there are which could add to the realism of our team's animation.

Last year our animation group used reactor, a hair plugin, a cloth simulator and 3dsmax's morphing system for lip sync and charactor studio for body movements to create our best looking animatoin yet. However, in review of our 2003 entry I am wondering what we can do to create a more realistic look.

For instance, though our charactor moved fluidly and his lip movements were believable, he looked almost made of plastic.

I've seen very impressive results with Miya, but Im not sure if we are ready for a total software suite change.

Without a very high learning curve, what plugins, rendering engines or other options exist to improve realism?

Thank you!