Raytracing vs Pathtracing?
First of all the two terms and can be somewhat used interchangeably. I often do, but in
reality there is a distinct difference. Simply put, pathtracing is raytracing but
raytracing is not necessarily pathtracing.
When raytracing you are using simplified rays used for specific purposes like reflections,
shadows or lighting. Heavy use of approximation makes raytracing more useful for realtime
applications like games.
Pathtracing is a much more realistic approximation of reality, but is more computationally
intense. Pathtracing involves sending out potentially millions of rays from the camera, and
letting them bounce around a scene, accumulating lighting information. By letting these rays
scatter, reflect and refract in a realistic approximation. By doing this hundreds or thousands
of times for every pixel in the image and averaging the results you get a noisy but more accurate
image.
My approach
I knew of and have wanted to follow the book “Raytracing in one weekend” by Peter Shirley.
So finding myself a little bored, I dived right in.
First tracing
Metallic
Glass or diaelectrics
Final Render