There is no fundamental reason the BRL-CAD raytracer cannot produce High Dynamic Range output, but it currently does not do so and BRL-CAD's image tools do not support it.

This task would involve:

  1. Investigating the OpenEXR image file format for suitability for use in BRL-CAD
  2. Identify BRL-CAD libraries and tools that would need to be enhanced (either to support OpenEXR or some other format)
  3. Allow BRL-CAD raytracing to generate HDRI output
  4. Allow BRL-CAD image editing and display tools to work with HDRI output

The end product should be an enhanced raytracer and toolchain that can produce and handle HDRI images.

References

  • src/rt
    • most of our raytracers reside in here
  • src/liboptical
    • where optics are calculated during raytracing
  • src/util
    • tons of image converters

Requirements

  • Strong familiarity with C and C++
  • Understanding of issues related to HDR images and conversions