nsilvestri / cpp-raytracer

A simple object-oriented C++ raytracer

cpp-raytracer: a simple C++ ray tracer

This program is an object-oriented ray tracer written in C++ with SDL2. It can parse simple scenes made of spheres, planes, and point lights from a file and render them with Blinn-Phong shading.

Features

• Spheres and Planes
• Meshes
• Point lights
• Area lights
• Shadows
• Blinn-Phong shading
• Mirror reflections
• Dielectrics
• Multi-core rendering
• Real-time rendering

Installation

git clone https://github.com/nsilvestri/cpp-raytracer
cd cpp-raytracer
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

SDL2 is required to run this program and display the images.

Ubuntu (apt)

sudo apt install libsdl2-dev

WSL Ubuntu(s)

In order to display the window sudo apt install x11-apps, and get an X server such as Xming running. In order to display to the X server, do export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0. After that the image should display in the X server window.

Arch (pacman)

sudo pacman -S sdl2

Execution

./raytrace scene_file output_file

Example

./raytrace ../scenes/myscene.ppm render.ppm

Usage

While running the program:

• RETURN writes the current render to the file specified at the command line.

Testing

There are some Catch2 tests in the test/ directory. Compile them with the makefile provided. Unit tests are not complete, at all, but they are there.

Notes

I started doxygen/Javadoc style comments for some of it. To be updated later.

Known Bugs

Occasional self-intersection issue. Mitigate mostly with a self-intersection offset, but that itself has some side effects.