What is Ray Tracing?
Ray tracing is a way the graphics card makes light in games look like real life. It makes shadows, reflections, and lighting look more natural.
How It Works (Simple Steps):
The graphics card sends out pretend light beams from the camera (which is like your eyes in the game).
These beams hit objects in the game, like walls, water, or glass.
When they hit something shiny or clear, they bounce off or bend.
The card then figures out how the scene should look based on where the light went.
It uses this to draw more realistic pictures on your screen.
Example:
If your game character stands in front of a mirror, ray tracing lets you see the reflection correctly. Without ray tracing, you might not see anything in the mirror at all, or it might look fake.
Light & Shadows: How does ray tracing simulate realistic shadows compared to other rendering techniques?
Reflection & Refraction: How does ray tracing handle reflections and refractions in transparent objects like glass or water?
Performance & Hardware: Why does ray tracing require powerful GPUs, and how do modern graphics cards optimize it?
Real-World Applications: Where is ray tracing used outside of gaming, and how does it improve visual realism in movies and simulations?