Ray Tracer in Python

This project is a simple ray tracer implemented in Python. It demonstrates the basics of ray tracing, including ray-sphere intersection, lighting, shadows, and reflections. The ray tracer generates an image of a scene containing spheres with different materials and lighting.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Usage
• Project Structure
• Contributing
• License

Features

• Ray-Sphere Intersection: Determines where rays intersect with spheres in the scene.
• Lighting: Supports ambient, point, and directional lights.
• Shadows: Computes shadows cast by objects in the scene.
• Reflections: Implements reflective surfaces with configurable reflectivity.
• Rendering: Generates an image of the scene using ray tracing.

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• Pillow library (for image manipulation)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/raytracer.git
   cd raytracer

2. Set up a virtual environment (optional but recommended):

   python -m venv myenv
   source myenv/bin/activate  # On Windows: myenv\Scripts\activate

3. Install the required dependencies:

   pip install pillow

Usage

1. Run the ray tracer:

   python main.py

2. View the output: The ray tracer will generate an image named output.png in the project directory. Open this file to view the rendered scene.

Project Structure

The project is organized into several files, each with a specific responsibility:

• main.py: The entry point of the application. Initializes the scene and starts the rendering process.
• scene.py: Contains the Scene class, which holds all the objects (spheres, lights, etc.) in the scene.
• vector.py: Contains the Vector3 class, which represents 3D vectors and provides vector operations.
• sphere.py: Contains the Sphere class, which represents a sphere in the scene.
• light.py: Contains the Light class, which represents different types of lights (ambient, point, directional).
• renderer.py: Contains the Renderer class, which handles the rendering logic, including ray tracing, intersection tests, and lighting calculations.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you have any suggestions, bug reports, or feature requests, please open an issue or submit a pull request.

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bugfix.
3. Commit your changes and push them to your fork.
4. Submit a pull request to the main repository.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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Steps to Run the Program

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/raytracer.git
   cd raytracer

2. Set Up a Virtual Environment (optional but recommended):

   python -m venv myenv
   source myenv/bin/activate  # On Windows: myenv\Scripts\activate

3. Install Dependencies:

   pip install pillow

4. Run the Ray Tracer:

   python main.py

5. View the Output: The ray tracer will generate an image named output.png in the project directory. Open this file to view the rendered scene.

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Example Scene

The default scene includes the following objects and lights:

• Spheres:

  • A red sphere at (0, -1, 3) with a radius of 1.
  • A blue sphere at (2, 0, 4) with a radius of 1.
  • A green sphere at (-2, 0, 4) with a radius of 1.
  • A large yellow sphere at (0, -5001, 0) with a radius of 5000.

• Lights:

  • An ambient light with intensity 0.2.
  • A point light at (2, 1, 0) with intensity 0.6.
  • A directional light with direction (1, 4, 4) and intensity 0.2.

You can modify the scene by editing the main.py file.

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