Ray Tracing in C++

Implementation of a ray tracer in C++ for CS 6620 at the University of Utah, Fall 2013.

Explore the directory of projects here.

Compiling and Running

The main file (ray-tracer.cpp) must be compiled using C++11, since it uses threading. There is a run script developed for Mac to assist with compiling.

When run, the program will create binary PPM image files in the images/ folder, which can then be converted to other image formats.

The provided script takes an integer parameter to compile, run, and convert images for the user.

./run 0    # cleanup
./run 1    # compile
./run 2    # compile & package
./run 3    # compile & run
./run 4    # compile & run & convert
./run 5    # compile & run & convert & open
./run 6    # compile & run & convert & open & cleanup

Disclaimer

This project is being provided as-is, and I know there are bugs in the ray-tracer. For example, Monte Carlo global illumination broke when I added in photon mapping. Occasionally, some scenes provide errors at particular pixels, which causes an entire thread to fail. I just hope the ideas buried in these files may be of use to others.

Credit

Cem Yuksel for both his cyCodeBase library and a bulk of the original code that inspired and guided the inner workings of the ray tracer.