Ray Tracing: A Tool for All (eBook)

Foreword I 5
Foreword II 7
Acknowledgements 9
Contents 11
List of Figures 16
List of Tables 26
1 Preface 27
Abstract 27
1.1 About the Cover 29
1.2 Terminology and Definitions 30
2 Introduction 32
Abstract 32
2.1 Who Needs It? 33
2.2 Ray Tracing Isn’t New 34
2.3 A Little History 36
2.4 Ray Tracing not New 37
2.4.1 From Humble Beginnings 39
2.5 Realism, Accuracy, and Functionality 40
2.5.1 Three Types of Realism in Computer Graphics 41
2.5.1.1 Monte Carlo 43
2.5.2 Stylistic Versus Photorealistic 44
2.5.2.1 Sometimes You Can’t See It 45
2.5.2.2 The Payoff of Ray Tracing 46
2.5.2.3 The Need for Ray Tracing 46
2.6 Technical Papers and Books 48
2.7 Material Libraries Critical 49
2.8 Rendering Becomes a Function of Price 49
2.9 Shortcuts and Semiconductors—The Need for Speed 50
2.10 Challenges 52
References 52
3 The Rendering Industry 53
Abstract 53
3.1 Leading Companies Rendering in AEC and Product Design 54
3.2 The Future 55
4 The Continuum 56
Abstract 56
4.1 The Rendering Equation 58
4.2 Scanline Rendering 59
4.2.1 Z-Buffering 60
4.2.2 Painter’s Algorithm 61
4.3 Ray Tracing 62
4.3.1 Path Tracing 69
4.3.2 The Difference Between Path Tracing and Ray Tracing 70
4.3.3 Noise in Ray Tracing 70
4.3.4 Global Illumination 72
4.3.5 The Difference Between Ray Tracing and Ray Casting 72
4.3.6 Recursive Ray Tracing 75
4.4 Photon Mapping 76
4.5 Brute Force 78
4.6 Radiosity 79
4.7 Light-Field Rendering 80
4.7.1 Voxels 82
4.8 Problems Ray Tracing Doesn’t Solve 84
4.8.1 Photorealism 84
4.8.2 Surface Complexity 85
4.8.3 Scale 85
4.9 Summary 86
References 87
5 Work Flow and Material Standards 88
Abstract 88
5.1 Biased Versus Unbiased 88
5.1.1 Biased Versus Consistent 89
5.1.2 Radiosity 89
5.1.3 Rasterization 90
5.2 Importance of Material Library 90
5.2.1 Standards (USPs, OSL, Etc.) 92
5.2.2 Physically Based Rendering 94
5.2.2.1 Physically Accurate? 94
5.2.2.2 Free PBR Sources 94
5.2.2.3 CC0 Textures 94
5.2.2.4 Cgbookcase 95
5.2.2.5 Free PBR 95
5.2.2.6 Khronos 96
5.2.2.7 Textures.Com 96
5.2.3 Allegorithmic’s Substance Designer 96
5.2.4 Everyday Material Collection 98
5.2.5 MaterialX 99
5.2.6 Nvidia’s MDL 99
5.2.7 X-Rite’s AxF 102
5.3 Quality Issues 103
5.3.1 Skin and Subsurface Scattering 104
5.3.2 Variance-Based Adaptive Sampling 106
5.3.3 Hybrid 107
5.3.4 Summary 107
5.4 Importance of HDR Monitors 108
5.5 Importance of Full-Color Printers 112
References 113
6 Applications of Ray Tracing 114
Abstract 114
6.1 The Pipeline 115
6.1.1 Conception—STAGE ONE 116
6.1.1.1 Simulations of Things that Don’t Exist 116
6.1.1.2 Animation Games and Simulation 119
Ray Tracing in Games 119
Ray Tracing in Contemporary Games 121
The Exception 127
4A Games Metro Exodus 128
6.1.1.3 Architecture 129
Sun and Shadows 130
6.1.1.4 Film and TV 132
6.1.1.5 Medical and Scientific 133
6.1.1.6 Vehicles 133
6.1.1.7 Products in General 134
6.1.2 Design and Engineering—STAGE TWO 134
6.1.2.1 Photorealistic 134
Physically Accurate 135
6.1.2.2 Jewelry Design 135
6.1.2.3 Fashion Design 135
Virtual Simulation in the Fashion Industry 136
6.1.2.4 Mechanical Engineering 138
6.1.2.5 Molecular Modeling 139
6.1.2.6 Packaging Design 140
6.1.2.7 Geophysical 141
6.1.2.8 Optical Design 141
6.1.2.9 Audio 141
6.1.3 Manufacturing and Production—STAGE THREE 142
6.1.3.1 Fixture Design and Placement 143
6.1.3.2 Ray Tracing in Games’ Manufacturing 143
6.1.4 Marketing—STAGE FOUR 145
6.1.4.1 Advertising 146
6.1.4.2 Packaging 149
6.1.4.3 Projection Mapping 149
6.2 Summary 150
References 151
7 Ray-Tracing Hardware 152
Abstract 152
7.1 Shortcuts and Semiconductors—The Need for Speed 152
7.2 Local 155
7.2.1 CPU 155
7.2.2 GPU 158
7.2.2.1 Real-Time Ray Tracing 160
7.2.2.2 Vulkan API Extension 162
7.2.2.3 AMD 163
7.2.2.4 Nvidia 164
7.2.2.5 Denoising and Unbiased Ray Tracing 171
7.2.2.6 Deep Learning Super-Sampling 172
7.2.2.7 GPUs for Rendering 173
Local 173
Remote 174
Conclusion 175
7.2.3 Dedicated 176
7.2.4 RT on Mobiles 180
7.3 Remote 184
7.3.1 Cloud-Based Visualization 185
7.3.1.1 Cloud Rendering 186
7.3.1.2 Block-Chain Render Farms 187
CPUs in Visualization 188
7.3.2 Public Cloud Rendering Services 191
7.3.2.1 Assets 193
7.3.2.2 Render License 193
7.3.3 Private Rendering Services—Farms 194
7.3.4 Rendering Service Organizations 195
7.4 Benchmarking Ray Tracing 196
7.4.1 SPEC 196
7.4.2 Underwriter Labs Futuremark 199
7.4.3 Blender’s Open Data Benchmark 199
7.4.4 Chaos Group 201
7.4.5 Redshift Benchmark 202
7.4.6 Summary 202
References 203
8 Ray-Tracing Programs and Plug-ins 204
Abstract 204
8.1 Stand-Alone Ray-Tracing Programs 207
8.1.1 3Delight—Illumination Research 207
8.1.1.1 Summary 210
8.1.2 Appleseed 210
8.1.2.1 Summary 212
8.1.3 Arnold—Autodesk (Solid Angle) 212
8.1.3.1 Summary 216
8.1.4 Cero—PTC 217
8.1.4.1 Summary 218
8.1.5 Indigo Renderer—Glare Technologies 218
8.1.5.1 Summary 222
8.1.6 Cinema 4D—Maxon Computer 222
8.1.6.1 Summary 225
8.1.7 Corona Renderer—Render Legion 226
8.1.8 Iray—Nvidia 226
8.1.8.1 Practicing What They Preach 234
8.1.8.2 Summary 235
8.1.9 KeyShot—Luxion 236
8.1.9.1 Summary 239
8.1.10 Lumion 8 and Pro—Act-3D B.V 239
8.1.10.1 Summary 243
8.1.11 Maxwell Render—Next Limit 243
8.1.11.1 Summary 248
8.1.12 Mitsuba 248
8.1.12.1 Summary 250
8.1.13 Nebula Render 251
8.1.13.1 Summary 254
8.1.14 OctaneRender—Otoy 254
8.1.14.1 Summary 256
8.1.15 OSPRay—Intel 256
8.1.15.1 Summary 258
8.1.16 Pica—SEED/Electronics Arts 259
8.1.17 ProRender—AMD 260
8.1.17.1 Summary 262
8.1.18 POV-Ray 262
8.1.18.1 Summary 264
8.1.19 Redshift Renderer 265
8.1.19.1 Summary 268
8.1.20 RenderMan—Pixar 269
8.1.20.1 Summary 273
8.1.21 Rigid Gems—FerioWorks.LLC 274
8.1.22 Tachyon 275
8.1.23 V-Ray—Chaos Group 276
8.1.23.1 Summary 286
8.1.24 VRED—Autodesk 287
8.1.24.1 Summary 290
8.1.25 Other 290
8.1.26 Lightworks Design 290
8.1.26.1 Summary 292
8.1.27 Manuka—Weta 292
8.1.27.1 Summary 295
8.2 Integrated (Programs with Native Ray Tracers) 295
8.2.1 Cycles—Blender 295
8.2.1.1 Summary 298
8.2.2 Carrara—Daz 3D 299
8.2.2.1 Summary 302
8.2.3 Dimension CC—Adobe 302
8.2.3.1 Summary 305
8.2.4 Mantra—SideFX 305
8.2.4.1 Summary 309
8.2.5 ART (Autodesk Ray Tracer) 309
8.2.5.1 Summary 310
8.2.6 Unreal Studio—Epic Games 310
8.2.6.1 Summary 312
8.2.7 Visualize—Dassault Systèmes/SolidWorks 313
8.2.7.1 Summary 317
8.2.8 PhotoView 360—Dassault Systèmes/SolidWorks 318
8.3 Plug-in Programs 321
8.3.1 3Delight—Illumination Technologies 321
8.3.2 Arnold—Autodesk 321
8.3.3 Corona Renderer—Chaos Group (Legion Team) 321
8.3.3.1 Summary 325
8.3.4 Cycles—Blender 327
8.3.5 finalRender—Cebas 327
8.3.5.1 Summary 329
8.3.6 Iray—Nvidia 329
8.3.7 KeyShot—Luxion 329
8.3.8 Lumion 330
8.3.9 LuxCoreRender 330
8.3.9.1 Summary 330
8.3.10 Maxwell 332
8.3.11 ProRender 333
8.3.12 Redshift 333
8.3.13 V-Ray, Chaos Group 333
8.3.13.1 Summary 336
8.4 Middleware 336
8.4.1 Embree 337
8.4.1.1 Summary 338
8.4.2 OptiX—Nvidia 338
8.4.2.1 Summary 340
8.4.3 Radeon-Rays—AMD 340
8.4.3.1 Rendering Times: CPU Versus GPU 342
8.4.3.2 Summary 344
8.5 Cloud-Based 344
8.5.1 CL3VER—Cloud Rendering 345
8.5.2 OneRender—Prefixa 346
8.5.3 RealityServer—Migenius 346
8.5.3.1 Summary 347
8.6 Other 348
8.6.1 The Ray Tracer Challenge 348
8.6.2 Tiny Ray Tracer Fits in 64 Bytes 349
8.6.3 A Ray Tracer for Bare Metal x86 350
8.6.4 Tiny Metaball Ray Tracer in x86/x87 Assembly 351
References 352
Appendix A 354
Outline placeholder 1
A.1. Ray-Tracing Programs and Plug-Ins 354
A.2. Early Photorealism—Who Invented Ray Tracing 354
A.2.1. Young Hare 356
A.2.2. Varieties of Realism Geometries of Representational Art
A.2.2.1. More About Bunnies Than You Probably Wanted to Know 358
A.3. Biased Versus Unbiased Rendering 358
A.4. Technical Papers and Books on Ray Tracing 358
A.4.1. Books on ray tracing 360
Sec9 360
Glossary 362
Index 376