Graphics Journey Update #1
Personal reflections on diving deep into graphics programming, ray tracing, and creative exploration
Computer Graphics
Graphics Programming
Exploring the intersection of mathematics, art, and code through ray tracing, shaders, and visual programming.
Featured Projects
Software Ray Tracer
Built from scratch following Peter Shirley's tutorial, implementing ray-sphere and ray-plane intersection, multiple materials, and anti-aliasing.
First Ray Trace
My first successful ray traced scene - a simple smiley face that tested ray generation, intersection testing, and basic shading.
Environment Art
3D environments created in Blender and Unreal Engine 5, exploring artistic and technical aspects of computer graphics.
Graphics Gallery
Shaders
Real-time shader experiments written on Shadertoy, where mathematics turns into motion on the GPU. Each tile links out to the live shader on Shadertoy.
View all shaders on Shadertoy →Chaos Theory Has Nothing On Me
An exploration of mathematical chaos and complexity through recursive patterns and dynamic color transformations.
Almost Fractally
Fractal-inspired geometry and patterns generated in real-time using mathematical functions and iterative processes. This one looks amazing in fullscreen.
Writing
Building a Ray Tracer from Scratch: A Journey into 3D Rendering
Implementing ray tracing algorithms from first principles and lessons learned from building a software renderer
My Journey into Graphics Programming: From WebGL to Shaders
Exploring computer graphics, shader development, and the intersection of math and visual art
Learning Resources
Essential Reading
- Ray Tracing in One Weekend Series - Peter Shirley's excellent tutorial series
- Physically Based Rendering - The comprehensive textbook by Pharr, Jakob, and Humphreys
- Learn OpenGL - Comprehensive OpenGL tutorial
- Tinyrenderer - Build a software rasterizer from scratch in 500 lines, no graphics API
Tools & Frameworks
- Ray Tracing: Custom C++ implementation, OptiX
- Real-time Graphics: OpenGL, Vulkan, WebGL
- 3D Software: Blender, Unreal Engine 5
- Shaders: GLSL, HLSL
Mathematics
- Linear Algebra - Vector operations, matrices, transformations
- Trigonometry - Essential for rotations and wave functions
- Calculus - Used in lighting models and optimization
- Statistics - Monte Carlo methods for global illumination