Raytracing is a powerful framework which allows for rendering of surface properties which are hard to achieve with the normal renderer. It is based on modeling the paths taken by light rays so that shadows, reflection, refraction and hidden surface removal can all be elegantly produced in a single framework.

Raytrace render of 3 spheres in OpenGL: opaque, reflective and translucent

The image above is rendered using a raytracing program which I have written in OpenGL. It shows a completely opaque sphere, a reflective sphere and a translucent sphere to illustrate the effect which a raytracer can achieve. The checkerboard pattern is generated procedurally.

Note: Program template provided by Dr Anthony Fang.