Renderers
KTracer has three different algorithm that can be used for rendering images. Each one has its pros and cons, let's get a deeper insight of it.
On-off¶
This is the most basic (and fast!) algorithm of all. It is mostly use for debug purpose, indeed it only can show 2 colors, distinguishing from pixels where a shape has been hit and point where this did not happen.
Flat¶
The flat renderer is more realistic than the on-off one still being very fast.
It does not let reflections occur, so specular surfaces cannot be rendered.
Without reflecting rays, it also does not show any kind of shades, making the image appear
a little plain, but it's always bright!
Moreover, thanks to its velocity, it's an extremely important tool for having a glance of how
the image will be, before launching a lots-of-hour code run for a perfect ray-tracing.
Path Tracer¶
It's the most sophisticated renderer of all. It uses a recursive algorithm to compute the
radiance of each pixel following the rendering equation. For this reason, mirrors and shades
can be appreciated, but the price to pay is in terms of compute-time.
Of course your better images will be performed by this algorithm. So prepare your input file
with the other 2 renderers and generate your perfect image with Path Tracer!
