Ray Tracer

This project is a CPU-based ray tracer written in C++ with a focus on physical correctness, clean architecture, and performance optimization.

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Features

• Perspective camera with configurable field of view
• Ray–sphere intersection
• Material models:
  • Lambertian (diffuse)
  • Metal (specular with fuzz)
  • Dielectric (refraction / glass)
• Recursive ray tracing with depth limiting
• Stochastic sampling for anti-aliasing
• Image output in PPM format
• Spatial acceleration using AABB and BVH

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Rendering & Performance

A complex test scene consisting of ~500 spheres was rendered before and after introducing acceleration structures.

Performance Comparison (Same Scene ~500 Spheres)

Configuration	Acceleration	Build Type	Render Time
Brute Force	None	Release	~1h 10m
AABB + BVH	Enabled	Release	~12m 33s

This confirms overall render time was reduced by approximately 82% after introducing AABB and BVH, while producing identical visual output.

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Render Output

Pre-BVH (Brute Force)

Post-BVH (Accelerated)

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Requirements

• CMake (version 3.10 or higher)
• C++17-compatible compiler (e.g., g++, clang, MSVC)

Build & Run

Windows (MSVC / Visual Studio)

cmake -B build
cmake --build build --config Debug
./build/Debug/rayTracer.exe > image.ppm

For optimized builds:

cmake --build build --config Release
./build/Release/rayTracer.exe > image.ppm

Linux / macOS (GCC or Clang)

cmake -B build
cmake --build build
./build/rayTracer > image.ppm

For optimized builds:

cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build
./build/rayTracer > image.ppm

Output

The program writes a PPM image to stdout.
Redirect the output to a file and open it using any image viewer that supports PPM.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidelines and suggested areas of improvement.