Conclusions
We have seen that the implementation of two very simple acceleration
techniques can significantly reduce the execution time of a ray
tracer. There are some important aspects to note with regard to the
implementation:
- This was a very simple ray tracer, only first generation
rays were considered. The spatial subdivision would reduce the tracing
time of higher generation rays. The bounding volumes would still prove
useful.
- Subtractive objects were not allowed. It is uncertain how
bounding volumes would affect the use of subtractive objects.
- It is also uncertain how bounding volumes affect the
spatial subdivision. Because the bounding volume is used for
determining if a complex object is in view, a complex object can be
considered to be in view even though 99+% of the objects that compose
it are not. this would result in objects being tested for intersection
that shouldn't be if the were considered separately. This why we can
not say that this implementation has 1/8 (1/4 * 1/2) the execution
time of exhaustive ray tracing.