Ray Tracing

GPU-accelerated ray tracer built with C++ using the Walnut application framework.

Overview

A high-performance ray tracing implementation built on the Walnut App Template, featuring real-time rendering capabilities with plans for CUDA GPU acceleration. This project implements physically-based ray tracing algorithms for rendering realistic 3D scenes with support for materials, lighting, and advanced rendering techniques.

Features

Current Features

• 🎨 Ray Tracing Engine - Core ray tracing implementation with ray-sphere intersection
• 🖼️ Walnut Framework - Modern C++ application framework for windowing and UI
• 🔧 Premake Build System - Cross-platform build configuration with Lua scripts
• 📦 Submodule Architecture - Walnut framework integrated as a Git submodule
• 🎯 Material System - Support for different material types (metals, dielectrics)

Planned Features

• 🚀 CUDA GPU Acceleration - Move ray tracing computation to GPU for massive performance gains
• 🖼️ Texture Loading - Support for texture mapping on surfaces
• 🔷 Extended Shapes - Additional primitives (cylinders, boxes, triangles, etc.)
• 🔍 BVH Acceleration - Bounding Volume Hierarchy for faster ray-object intersection
• 🎨 Advanced Materials - Glass, metals, dielectrics with proper refraction
• 📊 Monte Carlo Path Tracing - Advanced global illumination techniques
• ⚡ Performance Optimization - Profiling and optimization of critical paths

Project Structure

RayTracing/
├── Walnut/              # Walnut framework (Git submodule)
│   └── ...              # Application framework and windowing
├── Halide/              # Halide integration (if used)
│   └── ...              # Image processing library
├── scripts/             # Build and setup scripts
│   └── Setup.bat        # Windows setup script for Visual Studio
├── WalnutApp/           # Main application directory
│   └── src/
│       └── WalnutApp.cpp # Main application entry point
├── premake5.lua         # Premake build configuration
├── .gitignore          # Git ignore rules
├── LICENSE.txt         # MIT License
└── README.md           # This file

Requirements

Essential

• Visual Studio 2022 (Windows) or compatible C++ compiler
• Premake5 - Build system generator (Download)
• C++17 or later - Modern C++ standard required
• Git - For submodule management

Optional (for GPU acceleration)

• CUDA Toolkit 11.0+ - For GPU acceleration (Download)
• NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support - Required for CUDA features

Building

Windows (Visual Studio)

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/AakashR13/RayTracing.git
   cd RayTracing

2. Initialize and update submodules:

   git submodule update --init --recursive

   This will download the Walnut framework and any other dependencies.

3. Generate Visual Studio solution:

   scripts/Setup.bat

   This runs Premake5 to generate the Visual Studio solution and project files.

4. Build the project:

   • Open the generated WalnutApp.sln (or similar) in Visual Studio 2022
   • Select your desired configuration (Debug/Release)
   • Build the solution (Ctrl+Shift+B) or press F5 to build and run

Alternative: Manual Premake

If the setup script doesn't work, you can run Premake manually:

# Download premake5.exe and place it in your PATH or project root
premake5 vs2022

Usage

Running the Application

After building, run the executable from Visual Studio or navigate to the output directory:

• Debug builds: Typically in WalnutApp/bin/Debug-windows-x86_64/WalnutApp/
• Release builds: Typically in WalnutApp/bin/Release-windows-x86_64/WalnutApp/

Customization

The main application code is located in WalnutApp/src/WalnutApp.cpp. This is where you can:

• Modify scene setup (objects, materials, lighting)
• Adjust rendering parameters
• Add new features to the ray tracer
• Integrate CUDA kernels for GPU acceleration

Development Workflow

1. Modify code in WalnutApp/src/WalnutApp.cpp
2. Rebuild the project in Visual Studio
3. Run to see changes
4. Iterate on features and optimizations

Development Status

🚧 Active Development - In Progress

Current Work Items

• Separating Walnut submodule
• Fixing refraction implementation
• Adding texture loading support
• Adding additional shapes
• Implementing CUDA GPU acceleration

Completed

• ✅ Basic ray tracing setup with Walnut framework
• ✅ Project structure initialized
• ✅ Premake build system configured
• ✅ Ray-sphere intersection implemented
• ✅ Basic material system

Architecture

Technology Stack

• C++ (94.0%) - Core ray tracing engine and application logic
• Lua (4.8%) - Premake build scripts for cross-platform configuration
• Other (1.2%) - Configuration files, licenses, documentation

Key Components

1. Ray Tracing Engine

   • Ray generation and intersection tests
   • Material calculations (diffuse, metal, dielectric)
   • Lighting and shading

2. Walnut Framework

   • Window management
   • Input handling
   • Rendering context

3. Build System

   • Premake5 for project generation
   • Cross-platform support (Windows, Linux, macOS)

Performance Considerations

• CPU Ray Tracing - Current implementation runs on CPU
• GPU Acceleration - CUDA integration planned for 10-100x speedup
• Optimization Targets - BVH, SIMD, multi-threading

References

Learning Resources

• Ray Tracing in One Weekend - Excellent introduction to ray tracing
• Ray Tracing: The Next Week - Advanced techniques
• Ray Tracing: The Rest of Your Life - Monte Carlo methods

Framework & Tools

• Walnut Framework - Application framework
• Walnut App Template - Template this project is based on
• Premake - Build system generator
• CUDA Programming Guide - GPU programming

Roadmap

Short Term

• Fix refraction bugs
• Separate Walnut submodule properly
• Basic texture loading

Medium Term

• CUDA GPU acceleration
• Additional shape primitives
• BVH acceleration structure

Long Term

• Monte Carlo path tracing
• Advanced material system
• Real-time interactive rendering
• Scene file format support

License

MIT License - See LICENSE.txt for details.

This project is based on the Walnut App Template, which is also MIT licensed.

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Author: AakashR13
Repository: https://github.com/AakashR13/RayTracing
Status: 🚧 Active Development