*Source: PC Perspective (
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=506)*
*______________*
This article is intended to be a follow up article to one released about a year ago through PC Perspective (
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=334). A lot of things have changed since then. Real-time ray tracing for desktop machines is just around the corner.
Ray tracing is a rendering technique that generates a 2D image out of a given 3D scene. This is done by simulating the physics of light propagation using rays. The algorithm shoots, for every pixel on the screen, a so-called "primary ray" from the perspective of the eye of the viewer. The ray tracing algorithm then determines which object is hit first on the path of the ray.
More...