Overview

This program reads a scene from an input file and renders the scene using a raytracer.

• Author: Christian Halvorson
• Date: 2/4/2022

Specifications

Make

This program comes with a Makefile that allows for easy compilation. Use the following commands to use the Makefile.

• make - Builds the program and creates and executable.
• make run - Builds the program if not up to date and runs the program with the input/input.txt file.
• make clean - Deletes binary and executable files.

Executable

You can run this program with other input files or with auto-generated input. Use the following commands to generate images with other inputs.

• ./build/ratracer.exe ./input/input.txt - Runs the program using the input file ./input/input.txt.
• ./build/ratracer.exe - Runs the program with the auto-generated input.

Input File

The input file requires specific syntax. Each command must be on its own line and there must not be any empty lines. Below are the accepted commands. Bolded items are keywords and italicized items are placeholders for numbers.

• eye pos_x pos_y pos_y - Sets the position of the camera.
• viewdir dir_x dir_y dir_z - Sets the view direction of the camera.
• updir dir_x dir_y dir_z - Sets the up direction of the camera.
• vfov fov_v - Sets the vertical field of view in degrees.
• imsize width height - Sets the image size in pixels. (Must be positive integers)
• bkgcolor red green blue - Sets the background color of the image. (Must be numbers in range 0-1)
• mtlcolor albedoRed albedoGreen albedoBlue specularRed specularGreen specularBlue ambientK diffuseK specularK specularExponent opacity indexOfRefraction - Sets the material of the next object. Every object after this command will have this material until another material is set. (Colors and Ks must be numbers in range 0-1)
• texture texture.ppm - Sets a textured material for the next objects.
• plane n_x n_y n_z pos_x pos_y pos_z - Creates a plane.
• sphere pos_x pos_y pos_z radius - Creates a sphere.
• v pos_x pos_y pos_z - Creates a triangle vertex.
• vn n_x n_y n_z - Creates a triangle normal.
• vt u v - Texture coordinates of a vertex.
• f v_1 v_2 v_3 - Creates a triangle from three vertices.
• f v_1//vn_1 v_2//vn_2 v_3//vn_3 - Creates a smooth shaded triangle from three vertices and normals.
• f v_1/vt_1 v_2/vt_2 v_3/vt_3 - Creates a textured triangle from three vertices and texture coordinates.
• f v_1/vt_1/vn_1 v_2/vt_2/vn_2 v_3/vt_3/vn_3 - Creates a smooth shaded, textured triangle from three vertices, textures, and normals.
• light source_x source_y source_z w red green blue - Creates a directional light source if w is 0. Creates a point light source if w is 1.
• attlight source_x source_y source_z w red green blue c1 c2 c3 - Creates an attenuation light.

Output File

The output file will be generated as output/input.ppm, where input is the name of the input file. Output files are of type PPM, which requires a speciel program to view.