How I built a Ray Tracer in Pure Python
summary
Built a working ray tracer entirely in pure Python with no C extensions, outputting PNGs from a simple graphics library invoked from the terminal. It implements ray–sphere and plane intersections, reflections and soft shadows, basic texturing and gamma correction, and deals with floating‑point precision and large image memory by tiling. A single‑threaded run produces full‑resolution results in minutes rather than hours, showing Python is viable for small‑scale rendering prototypes.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (5)
- 0:00Introduction and motivation
- 10:41Ray tracing basics explained
- 20:34Pure Python implementation challenges
- 27:44Tips and lessons learned
- 31:52Summary and call to action
related talks
42mRaytracer in Python
34mBuilding a raytracing engine with JavaScript
05mLightning Talk: Programming is Fun in Cpp!
28mBuilding a ray tracing engine with JS
12mRay-tracing and special relativity: Rendering objects near the speed of light!
31mPainting With Light
49mTracing Rays in Real Time
50mIt's So Shiny! A Pure JavaScript Ray-Tracer