Ray Tracer

A high-performance C++ ray tracing engine that renders photorealistic 3D images using ray casting algorithms.

Features

• Ray Tracing: Accurate lighting simulation using recursive ray tracing
• Material System: Support for multiple material types:
  • Lambertian (diffuse) materials
  • Metal with configurable fuzz
  • Dielectric (glass/transparent) materials
• Depth of Field: Camera depth of field effect with configurable defocus angle
• Anti-aliasing: Multi-sample per pixel for smooth edgescna
• Scene Generation: Procedurally generated random scenes with various objects

Building

Prerequisites

• C++17 or later compiler
• CMake 3.10+

Build Instructions

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .

Usage

Run the ray tracer to generate a PPM image:

./build/ray-tracer > output.ppm

The output is a PPM format image that can be viewed with any image viewer or converted to other formats.

Configuration

Edit the camera settings in main.cpp to customize the rendering:

cam.aspect_ratio = 16.0 / 9.0;      // Image aspect ratio
cam.image_width = 1200;              // Output width in pixels
cam.samples_per_pixel = 500;         // Samples per pixel (higher = less noise)
cam.max_depth = 50;                  // Maximum ray bounce depth

cam.vfov = 20;                       // Vertical field of view
cam.lookfrom = point3(13, 2, 3);    // Camera position
cam.lookat = point3(0, 0, 0);       // Look-at point
cam.vup = vec3(0, 1, 0);            // Camera up vector

cam.defocus_angle = 0.6;             // Depth of field effect
cam.focus_dist = 10.0;               // Focus distance

Architecture

Core Components

• vec3.h: 3D vector math utilities
• ray.h: Ray representation and operations
• hittable.h: Base interface for scene objects
• sphere.h: Sphere primitive implementation
• material.h: Material definitions and scatter calculations
• camera.h: Camera and rendering engine
• color.h: Color representation and conversion

Performance Tips

• Reduce samples_per_pixel for faster preview renders
• Lower image_width for faster iteration
• Reduce max_depth for simpler scenes
• Increase image_width and samples_per_pixel for final high-quality renders

Output Format

The renderer outputs PPM (Portable Pixmap) format images. To convert to other formats:

# Convert PPM to PNG (requires ImageMagick)
convert output.ppm output.png

# Convert PPM to JPG
convert output.ppm output.jpg

Generated Images

Sample renders demonstrating the ray tracer's capabilities:

Low Quality (10 samples per pixel)

Quick preview render with 10 samples per pixel - fast iteration

High Quality (500 samples per pixel)

Final quality render with 500 samples per pixel - significantly reduced noise

Inspiration

This project is inspired by Ray Tracing in a Weekend by Peter Shirley. The book provides an excellent introduction to ray tracing concepts and serves as a great guide for understanding how light rendering works. It's a fantastic resource for anyone interested in computer graphics and rendering algorithms.

License

This project is open source. Feel free to modify and use it for educational or personal purposes.