The Ray Tracer Challenge

Now available from pragprog.com/book/jbtracer/th...
Brace yourself for a fun challenge: build a photorealistic 3D renderer from scratch! It’s easier than you think. In just a couple of weeks, build a ray tracer that renders beautiful scenes with shadows, reflections, brilliant refraction effects, and subjects composed of various graphics primitives: spheres, cubes, cylinders, triangles, and more. With each chapter, implement another piece of the puzzle and move the renderer that much further forward. Do all of this in whichever language and environment you prefer, and do it entirely test-first, so you know it’s correct. Recharge yourself with this project’s immense potential for personal exploration, experimentation, and discovery.
The renderer is a ray tracer, which means it simulates the physics of light by tracing the path of light rays around your scene. Each exciting chapter presents a bite-sized piece of the puzzle, building on earlier chapters and setting the stage for later ones. Requirements are given language-agnostically; it’s up to you to translate them into tests and code using whatever language you prefer. When the project is complete, you’ll look back and realize you’ve built an entire system test-first!
There’s no research necessary-all the necessary formulas and algorithms are presented and illustrated right here. Dive into intriguing topics from fundamental concepts such as vectors and matrices; to the algorithms that simulate the intersection of light rays with spheres, planes, cubes, cylinders, and triangles; to geometric patterns such as checkers and rings. Lighting and shading effects, such as shadows and reflections, make your scenes come to life, and constructive solid geometry (CSG) enables you to combine your graphics primitives in simple ways to produce complex shapes.
Play and experiment as you discover the fun of writing a ray tracer. Accept the challenge today!

[@cholmakai2625]

better than Game Of Thrones intro, haha. Bravo!

[@GeorgeLecakes]

Taking the ray tracer challenge now. Just finished chapter 6.

[@ericbailey8539]

I had a great time with the book. Finished it, and now I'm adding several new features.

[@trejkaz]

What are you adding? I am going down the rabbit hole of polarised light.

[@inancgumus4125]

It's a really excellent narration, exciting!

[@gnz1337]

Amazing

[@thomasdeniffel2122]

Take my money!

[@Petsublak]

Brilliant video !!! I've been into Ray Tracing software since '89, or there about. It all began on the Amiga, been addicted ever since. Any programming language you can recommend, truth is I don't program. But for this I am more than keen to start.

[@tokyospliff]

Looks great. Can anybody who has completed both this and Ray Tracing In A Weekend comment on the differences?

[@trejkaz]

When can we expect the sequel?
He says, even though it's clear from the comment section that comments don't get read on this channel. 😂

[@0xssff]

What's the music m

[@snurffff]

This is a ray marcher, correct?

[@tomwhitcombe7621]

It's a ray tracing renderer, but I think he uses ray marching to create the object at the end that started as a cube and was cut away. I could be wrong though ;)

[@trejkaz]

@@tomwhitcombe7621 I'm pretty sure that was just CSG.

[@FPChris]

The book will make you want to straggle someone.