Remember that while models are an essential part of 3D projects, good models do not necessarily equal good 3D projects unless the other aspects of 3D are addressed as well. Once models are created, textures are applied. Textures are like a colored shrink-wrap or veneer applied to the surface of the model. Some textures allow the model to be clear like a sort of invisibility cape, while others make a model appear bumpy, sheeny, or coarse. Textures can be projected like a slide through a slide projector, laid over like a blanket, or shrink-wrapped around the model's geometry.
Textures take the same ball of geometry and change it from one object to another.
For instance, you can change a golf ball to a tennis ball then to a baseball or a basketball and finally to an earth ball or even to the actual earth. No matter how exquisite your models or textures are however, without light the 3D project is as visually appealing as radio. And even with light, if it's not done effectively, the viewer is left with a flat and uninteresting vision. Virtual 3D light, like everything else in digital space, is virtual. It is a set of algorithms that attempt to imitate light as it occurs in the real world.