Ray Tracing
Ray tracing is a technique used in geometrical optics to model how light travels and interacts with surfaces. Imagine drawing straight lines, or "rays," to represent light as it moves from a source to objects and then to our eyes. These rays help us understand reflections, refractions, and shadows by predicting how light bends or bounces off surfaces. In computer graphics, ray tracing simulates realistic lighting by calculating how light would travel in a scene, creating detailed images with depth and texture. Essentially, it’s a mathematical approach to visualize how we perceive light in the world around us.
Additional Insights
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Ray tracing is a computer graphics technique that simulates how light interacts with objects to create realistic images. It traces the path of rays of light as they travel through a scene, calculating reflections, refractions, and shadows. By following the rays from the camera to the light sources, it produces high-quality visuals with accurate details, like how glass looks transparent or how shadows fall. While it requires more processing power than other methods, it excels in rendering lifelike images, making it popular in movies, video games, and architectural visualizations.