Foundations of Graphics & Compute: Volume 5: Ray-Tracing

The art and science of rendering realistic images have fascinated computer graphics enthusiasts for decades. At the heart of this journey lies ray-tracing, a powerful technique that simulates the behavior of light to create stunningly lifelike visuals. Whether you're rendering photorealistic scenes, exploring procedural textures, or diving into fractal geometries, the principles of ray tracing offer a foundation for creativity and technical excellence. This book is your guide to understanding and mastering these principles, with a practical focus on WebGPU, a modern graphics API that unlocks the power of GPU computation for the web. The chapters ahead take you on a step-by-step journey, starting with the fundamentals of ray-tracing, path-tracing, and ray-marching. From building your first ``Hello-World'' ray-tracer to implementing advanced features like shadows, reflections, and procedural textures, the book is designed to be approachable for beginners while offering depth for experienced developers seeking to refine their skills. Each chapter is crafted with two goals in mind: to deepen your understanding of ray tracing concepts and to provide hands-on coding experience. WebGPU serves as the backbone for all examples, making it possible to run powerful, interactive graphics applications directly in modern web browsers. By the time you complete this book, you'll not only have a solid grasp of ray tracing but also a toolkit of techniques for creating visually compelling and performant applications. This book covers a wide range of topics, including: