   Ray Tracing Books
  I've been looking around for a good ray tracing book. I am doing an independent study next fall based on parallel processing on the Cell Processor (Using a PS3 without firmware updates). I intend to do several things including a basic ray tracer throughout the summer and the semester. The books I've found that seem the most valid: Ray Tracing from the Ground Up by Kevin G. SuffernPhysically Based Rendering: From Theory to Implementation (The Interactive 3d Technology Series) by Matt Pharr and Greg Humphreys And Possibly to compliment:Real-Time Rendering, Third Edition by Tomas Akenine-Moller, Eric Haines, and Naty HoffmanIf you have any other suggestions I would love to hear them, or if you have a comment on on of the above books, feel free to leave it.   
  I have Real-Time Rendering and love it. It's always the first book I go to when I need to look something up related to graphics programming.   ;  i am also interested in ray tracing books - and wanted to buy physically based rendering until i found out that a new revision will be out in august. So maybe you want to wait too, as the old one is pretty dated already (written in 2004)   ;Quote:Original post by mancubiti am also interested in ray tracing books - and wanted to buy physically based rendering until i found out that a new revision will be out in august. So maybe you want to wait too, as the old one is pretty dated already (written in 2004)AFAIK date doesn't mean much in ray-tracing (or in graphics theory). Most of the ideas come from 60's and 70's. Shaders/multithreading is new, but apart from that...This is "outdated too":http://www.sci.utah.edu/~wald/PhD/index.html;  AFAIK From the ground up is a nice introduction to the topic. I have Physically based rendering and it is an amazing book, but hard to read due to two main reasons:-everything is explained in its mathematical and physical foundations, so a lot of math.-The book does not build a raytracer every new chapter on the top pf the previous (i.e. a tutorial), but describes the PBRT system. This makes it not suitable for a first introduction to rt (IMHO), but very good as a reference thanks to the many topics.If you want to buy it, wait until the new version is out: they added several  very interesting features (I'm seriously considering buying it).EDIT:Quote:AFAIK date doesn't mean much in ray-tracing (or in graphics theory). Most of the ideas come from 60's and 70's. Shaders/multithreading is new, but apart from that...I don't agree: the rendering equation has been formulated in the 80's, Photon mapping and MLT are relatively new algorithms (end of 90's or even newer IIRC) and so is SSS, partecipating media and a few accelleration structures (i.e. BIH).Not to mention the fact that the whole pysically based rendering concept never reached the masses until recent times...   ;  I recently bought "Ray Tracing from the Ground" to have a reference on my shelf and I can recommend it. It's easy to read and has lots of illustrations. Though it shows an implementation in C++ I consider it more a mathematical foundation than a programming book. It can be read by a beginner but covers also some advanced topics. It does not cover acceleration schemes (e.g. BVH) or anything related to parallel or real-time rendering and some rendering schemes (e.g. HDR, sub-surface scattering, volumetric rendering, caustics, tonemapping) are missing.   ;  Thank you all for your replies. I think I shall get ray tracing from the ground up first and go from there.   