RAYEX

RAYEX is a work-in-progress, cross-platform, cross-vendor, Vulkan-based, real-time path tracer.

It runs on both Linux (x64) and Windows (x64) using the Vulkan API. This software aims to provide a cross-platform, cross-vendor path tracer that is easy to integrate into existing projects. Vendor independence is achieved by using the new KHRONOS Vulkan ray tracing extension (first published on March 17, 2020, as an experimental version). It uses SDL2 for windowing and glm as its math library. RAYEX features native Dear ImGui support, enabling the user to create user interfaces without writing any API-related code.

Requirements

Install the latest NVIDIA driver. If you run into issues try the NVIDIA Vulkan beta drivers here, or check your GPU compatibility. AMD drivers can be downloaded here instead.

Deploy

To integrate RAYEX in an existing C++ / CMake project, please follow the steps below.

1. Download the latest release or build the library yourself.
2. Place the shared library objects, and the provided include folder somewhere inside your project.
3. Include the CMakeLists.txt inside the include folder to your CMakeLists.txt.
4. Link your target against the shared library objects and against SDL2.

Using CMake is not obligatory but recommended as RAYEX comes with its own CMakeLists.txt that will properly include all project headers. A release also comes with a fully functional example, including a complete CMakeLists.txt that can be used for reference.

Build

Linux

To build the entire library yourself follow the steps below. If you want to build the provided example, make sure to enable the RX_BUILD_EXAMPLES build option in CMake.

$ git clone https://github.com/chillpert/rayex
$ cd renderer 
$ mkdir build && cd build
$ cmake ..
$ make all

Execute the example. Depending on the build type you want to choose, replace [buildtype].

$ ./bin/[buildtype]/example

Windows

Generate a Visual Studio 2019 solution using CMake and build it or open the project folder using Visual Studio 2019, confirm the prompt to generate the CMake cache, and build it.

Usage

The following cope snippet renders a cube. For a proper example, take a look at the documentation or example/example.cpp.

#include "Rayex.hpp"
 
int main( )
{
    // Initialize the renderer.
    rx::Rayex renderer;
    renderer.init( );
    
    // Load some geometry and submit it to RAYEX.
    auto cube   = rx::loadObj( "models/cube.obj" );
    renderer.scene( ).submitGeometry( cube );
 
    // Create an instance of the geometry from above and submit it for rendering.
    auto cubeInstance = rx::instance( cube );
    renderer.scene( ).submitGeometryInstance( cubeInstance );
 
    // The main loop.
    while ( renderer.isRunning( ) )
    {
        renderer.run( );
    }
}

Issues

• [x] Update to latest SDK and official release version of VK_RAY_TRACING_KHR
• [x] Fix any hit shader
• [ ] Remove unnecessary documentation and add missing documentation
• [ ] Fix upload storage buffers to GPU issues

Planned Features

• [x] Global illumination
• [x] Environment mapping
• [x] A post processing pass
• [x] Diffuse and glossy reflections
• [x] Dielectrics
• [ ] An efficient way of building and updating acceleration structures based on a scene's requirements
• [ ] Multiple importance sampling
• [ ] HDR skymaps and skyboxes as light sources
• [ ] Denoising
• [ ] Next event estimation

Download

You can find the GitHub repository here.