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These are the screenshots from the development of our raytracer. For more information, see the story of the raytracer.

First time running the raytracer and actually finding our data

Figuring out how to move the camera and tweaking the output

Getting a second object into the picture (our intersection tests aren’t perfect yet)

Adding the infinite plane and shadows

Color!

Reflection and a second light source (note the sphere intersecting the plane in the background)

Refraction (my favorite effect - also available as a movie)

Refraction + reflection

A family of ellipsoids (showing reflection from scaled objects) and spheres

First try at colored shadows (a little excessive)

Proper reflections from rotated objects (including non-90 degree rotations)

Caustics