RTX Path Tracing is a code sample that strives to embody years of ray tracing and neural graphics research and experience. It is intended as a starting point for a path tracer integration, as a reference for various integrated SDKs, and/or for learning and experimentation.
The base path tracing implementation derives from NVIDIA’s Falcor Research Path Tracer, ported to approachable C++/HLSL Donut framework.
GTC presentation How to Build a Real-time Path Tracer provides a high level introduction to most of the features.
/bin | default CMake folder for binaries and compiled shaders |
/build | default CMake folder for build files |
/donut | code for a custom version of the Donut framework |
/donut/nvrhi | code for the NVRHI rendering API layer (a git submodule) |
/external | external libraries and SDKs, including NRD, RTXDI, and OMM |
/media | models, textures, scene files |
/tools | optional command line tools (denoiser, texture compressor, etc) |
/RTXPT | RTX Path Tracing core; Sample.cpp/.h/.hlsl contain entry points |
/RTXPT/PathTracer | Core path tracing shaders |
At the moment, only Windows builds are supported. We are going to add Linux support in the future.
Clone the repository with all submodules recursively:
git clone --recursive https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/RTX-Path-Tracing.git
Use CMake to configure the build and generate the project files.
cd Path-Tracing-SDK
cmake CMakeLists.txt -B ./build
Use -G "some tested VS version"
if specific Visual Studio or other environment version required. Make sure the x64 platform is used.
Build the solution generated by CMake in the ./build/
folder.
In example, if using Visual Studio, open the generated solution build/RTXPathTracing.sln
and build it.
Select and run the RTXPT
project. Binaries get built to the bin
folder. Media is loaded from media
folder.
If making a binary build, the media
and tools
folders can be placed into bin
next to executable and packed up together (i.e. the sample app will search for both media/
and ../media/
).
Due to interaction with various included libraries, Vulkan support is not enabled by default and needs a couple of additional tweaks on the user side; please find the recommended steps below:
Clear CMake cache (if applicable) to make sure the correct dxc.exe path (from Vulkan SDK) is set for SPIRV compilation
Once the application is running, most of the SDK features can be accessed via the UI window on the left hand side and drop-down controls in the top-center.
Camera can be moved using W/S/A/D keys and rotated by dragging with the left mouse cursor.
--scene
loads a specific .scene.json file; example: --scene programmer-art.scene.json
--width
and --height
to set the window size; example: --width 3840 --height 2160
--fullscreen
to start in full screen mode; example: --width 3840 --height 2160 --fullscreen
--adapter
to run on a specific GPU in multi GPU environments using a substring match; example: --adapter A3000
will select an adapter with the full name NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU
--debug
to enable the graphics API debug layer or runtime, and the NVRHI validation layer.We are working on more detailed SDK developer documentation - watch this space!
RTX Path Tracing is under active development. Please report any issues directly through GitHub issue tracker, and for any information, suggestions or general requests please feel free to contact us at pathtracing-sdk-support@nvidia.com!
Many thanks to the developers of the following open-source libraries or projects that make this project possible:
If you use RTX Path Tracing in a research project leading to a publication, please cite the project. The BibTex entry is
@online{RTXPT,
title = {{{NVIDIA}}\textregistered{} {RTX Path Tracing}},
author = {{NVIDIA}},
year = 2023,
url = {https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/RTX-Path-Tracing},
urldate = {2024-01-26},
}
See LICENSE.txt
This project includes NVAPI software. All uses of NVAPI software are governed by the license terms specified here: https://github.com/NVIDIA/nvapi/blob/main/License.txt.