I am completely new to animation software, but what kind of animation software would I need to use to make animations that are hyper-realistic, akin to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjHiC0mt4Ts
In the description, he says he used multiple types of software, but I don't quite understand how that works.
Any pointers are very much appreciated. Thank you!
Any software these days is capable of doing this.
Blender can do this, Maya can do this, Cinema 4D can probably do this. And even Poser and Daz can do this, I think.
Clearly you've made the error in thinking it's the software that makes the incredible visuals rather than the skills of the artist using them. That's a mistake even the older animators around 1979 made when computers were starting to be able to do 3D digital effects. Some things can be automatic and create amazing results. But hyper-realism is still something that must be created by hand: using proper texture, proper lighting and skin dynamics, bounce lighting, ambient occlusion, and very very long render times.
Meaning HOURS for a single frame.
Simply put, if you are new to animation, conservatively it will take you between 1-3 years of diligent study and practice before you can create something, from scratch, that looks like what you showed in your post. Although I have no doubt that a combination of softwares and specially designed plugins for those softwares is what allowed this person to create the human figure there. If that person was aiming for a very particular result, then they likely played around quite a while before finding the right programs to mix and match.
Have you practiced with modeling human forms yet? Or are you aiming to use a pre-built and pre-rigged model? If so, then a model that has this quality of hyper-realistic facial rigging will cost you a pretty penny, I would assume. Because the hyper realism comes not just from how it's rendered and lit, but from how the muscles and skin roll over a physical bone structure. So if you built this from scratch, you would have to mold the bones, then the muscles, and then the skin and hair. Quite a lot of work when all is said and done.
