C++20 Raytracer with Progress Spinner

This project is a modern C++20 raytracer that generates a 3D scene with spheres, reflections, and lighting. It includes a progress spinner to show rendering progress and estimated time remaining.

Sample

Features

Implemented in C++20
Ray tracing with reflections and specular highlights
Soft shadows for more realistic lighting
Checkerboard ground plane
Multiple spheres and light sources
Progress spinner with completion percentage, elapsed time, and ETA
Multithreaded rendering using OpenMP

Prerequisites

To build and run this project, you need:

A C++20 compliant compiler (e.g., GCC 10+, Clang 10+, or MSVC 2019+)
OpenMP for parallel processing
stb_image_write.h (included in the project)

Getting Dependencies

Compiler:
- On Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install g++-10
- On macOS with Homebrew: brew install gcc
- On Windows: Install the latest Visual Studio with C++ support
OpenMP:
- On Ubuntu/Debian: It's usually included with GCC
- On macOS: It's included with GCC from Homebrew
- On Windows: It's included with Visual Studio
stb_image_write.h: This single-file library is already included in the project. However, if you want to update it to the latest version, you can run:
```
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nothings/stb/master/stb_image_write.h
```
Run this command in your project directory to download the latest version of the header file.

Building the Project

All dependencies, including stb_image_write.h, are already in your project directory.

Compile the project using the following command:

For GCC:

g++-10 -std=c++20 -O3 -fopenmp raytracer.cpp -o raytracer

For Clang:

clang++ -std=c++20 -O3 -fopenmp raytracer.cpp -o raytracer

For MSVC (in Developer Command Prompt):

cl /std:c++20 /O2 /openmp raytracer.cpp

Usage

Run the compiled program:

./raytracer [max_bounces]

max_bounces (optional): Maximum number of light bounces for reflections (default: 10)

The program will start rendering the scene and display a progress spinner in the console. Once complete, it will save the rendered image as output.png in the same directory.

Customization

You can customize the scene by modifying the main function in raytracer.cpp:

Adjust the width and height variables to change the image resolution
Modify the camera position and field of view
Add, remove, or modify spheres in the spheres vector
Adjust lighting by modifying the lights vector

Contributing

Contributions to improve the raytracer or add new features are welcome. Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues for bugs and feature requests.

License

This project is open-source and available under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.

Acknowledgments

stb for the stb_image_write.h library
The raytracing community for providing educational resources on the topic

cschladetsch/CppTracer