C++ Ray Marching Renderer

A modern C++23 implementation of a ray marching renderer using Signed Distance Functions (SDFs) and SFML for visualization.

!Ray Marching Render

Demo

Features

• Fast ray marching using signed distance functions (SDFs)
• Interactive camera controls
• Physically-based material system with metallic/roughness properties
• Atmospheric lighting with soft shadows
• Multi-threaded rendering using C++23 features
• GPU-like rendering pipeline implemented entirely on the CPU
• Interactive controls for camera movement and quality settings

Requirements

• C++23 compatible compiler (Clang 16+ or GCC 13+ recommended)
• CMake 3.22+
• SFML 2.6+

Building the Project

Using Clang (Recommended)

./build-clang.sh

Using GCC

./build-gcc.sh

Running the Application

After building, you can run the ray marcher with:

./build-clang/raymarch

Or if you built with GCC:

./build/raymarch

Controls

Key	Action
W, A, S, D	Move camera forward, left, back, right
Q, E	Move camera up, down
Arrow Keys	Rotate camera
Space	Toggle between auto and manual camera mode
R	Increase samples per pixel (higher quality)
F	Decrease samples per pixel (faster rendering)
Escape	Exit application

Scene Construction

The scene is built using Signed Distance Functions (SDFs) which enable complex geometry to be defined mathematically. The current scene includes:

• Procedurally placed pillars with glowing spheres
• Reflective tori with metallic properties
• A central complex shape created by CSG operations
• Atmospheric lighting with dramatic shadows
• Custom sky and ground gradients

Technical Details

Ray Marching Algorithm

Unlike traditional ray tracing, ray marching works by stepping along a ray in variable increments until an intersection is found. This method excels at rendering:

• Complex mathematical surfaces
• Procedurally generated geometry
• CSG (Constructive Solid Geometry) operations
• Fractal structures

C++23 Features

This project leverages modern C++ features including:

• C++20 modules for improved compilation speed
• Concepts and constraints for generic programming
• std::format for string formatting
• Multithreaded rendering using std::thread and atomics

Project Structure

• src/ - Source code files
  • main.cpp - Application entry point
  • modules/ - C++ module implementations
    • camera.cpp - Camera module implementation (with rm namespace)
    • common.cpp - Common utilities and data structures
    • renderer.cpp - Rendering pipeline implementation
    • scene.cpp - Scene graph and SDF implementations
    • Note: The .cppm files are reference files, not used in the build
• include/ - Header files (traditional includes for non-modular code)
• build-clang.sh - Build script for Clang (recommended)
• build-gcc.sh - Build script for GCC

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Inigo Quilez for his excellent resources on SDFs and ray marching
• The SFML team for their simple and effective multimedia library EOF < /dev/null