Computer Graphics 2
Adobe Raytracing Experiment: Pixel Bender
Joe Pietruch
Pixel Bender is a shader language toolkit from Adobe. Using Pixel Bender one can write a kernel, which is a function run over all pixels in a given image or region. Pixel Bender uses the graphics card and/or a multicore processor to run multiple pixel calculations in parallel. Running pixels in parallel leads to impressive framerates - something not typically associated with raytracers. See the image below.
In about 4 hours I was able to go from being a complete Pixel Bender novice to creating the above image. My kernel maintains a solid 60 frames per second, and it is possible to manipulate the supporting parameters to move around the scene in real time!
Over the next few weeks, I plan to implement a full-scale distributed ray tracing algorithm within pixel bender, hopefully capable of rendering soft shadows and depth of field at similar speeds.