Chapter Eighteen Retrospective and the Future

pbrt represents one single point in the space of rendering system designs. The basic decisions we made early on—that ray tracing would be the geometric visibility algorithm used, that physical correctness would be a cornerstone of the system, and that Monte Carlo would be the main approach used for numerical integration—all had pervasive implications for the system’s design. An entirely different set of trade-offs would have been made if pbrt were a renderer designed instead for real-time performance or for maximum flexibility for artistic expression. This chapter looks back at some of the details of the complete system, discusses some design alternatives, and also discusses some potential major ...

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