MiniRayTracer(miniRT)

miniRT is a simplified 3D raytracer project from the 42 curriculum. The program reads a scene description from a file, parses objects, lights, and camera information, and renders a 3D image using ray tracing. It supports spheres, planes, cylinders, lights, shadows, reflections, and basic camera controls.

Features

• Scene parsing with validation for objects, lights, and camera
• Ray tracing with shadows and lighting
• Support for spheres, planes, and cylinders
• Simple rendering with MiniLibX
• Keyboard controls for camera movement and window updates
• Memory-safe and robust against invalid input

Program Rules

• Scene files must define at least one camera, one light, and one object
• Only valid coordinates, directions, and colors are accepted
• The program opens a window and renders the scene in real time
• Actions and updates are handled via keyboard input

Build & Run

1. Navigate to the project directory:

git clone https://github.com/Yuxin29/MiniRayTracer.git miniRT
cd miniRT

2. Compile using the provided Makefile:

make    #Generates the executable miniRT

Available make commands:

make clean   # Remove object files
make fclean  # Remove object files and executable
make re      # Recompile everything from scratch

3. Running the Program

./miniRT [scene.rt]
Example:
./miniRT scenes/test_scene.rt    # This reads the scene description and opens a window rendering the 3D scene.

Scene File Format (.rt)

• Contains definitions for:
  • Camera: C x,y,z dirX,dirY,dirZ fov
  • Light: L x,y,z brightness r,g,b
  • Sphere: sp x,y,z diameter r,g,b
  • Plane: pl x,y,z normalX,normalY,normalZ r,g,b
  • Cylinder: cy x,y,z dirX,dirY,dirZ diameter height r,g,b
• All coordinates, directions, and colors must be valid numbers.
• The program will ignore malformed lines and print errors if necessary.