.. _rendering.ospray_renderer:

OSPRay renderer |ovito-pro|
===========================

.. image:: /images/rendering/ospray_renderer_panel.*
  :width: 30%
  :align: right

OSPRay is a software-based ray-tracing engine, which can generate high-fidelity renderings of the scene including
global illumination effects, shadows and depth of field (focal blur). The OSPRay renderer has a smaller memory footprint than
the :ref:`Tachyon renderer <rendering.tachyon_renderer>`. It is thus suitable for rendering very large datasets
with a higher visual quality than the default :ref:`OpenGL renderer <rendering.opengl_renderer>`.

For more information on the capabilities of the OSPRay engine and its technical background,
please visit the website https://www.ospray.org.
The OSPRay documentation contains more in-depth information on the various parameters this 
rendering engine provides.

Quality settings
""""""""""""""""

Refinement passes
  OSPRay uses a progressive rendering method, which further refines the generated image during each rendering pass.
  This parameter controls the number of refinement passes to compute (default value: 4).

Samples per pixel
  The number of ray-tracing samples computed per pixel of the output image (default value: 2). 
  Larger values can help reducing aliasing artifacts and will yield better results if the *depth of field* 
  option has been enabled. 

Ray recursion depth
  The maximum number of recursion steps taken during ray-tracing (default value: 10). 
  Normally, 1 or 2 is enough, but when rendering many overlapping semi-transparent objects, a larger recursion depth may be needed.

Denoising filter
  Applies a denoising filter to the rendered image in order to reduce Monte Carlo noise inherent to stochastic  
  methods such as path tracing.

Depth of field<
  Only objects exactly at the distance from the camera specified by the *focal length* will appear sharp when depth-of-field rendering is active.
  Objects closer to or further from the camera will appear blurred. If you want a specific object to be in the focus, use the :guilabel:`Pick in viewport` button
  and click on that object in the viewport to be rendered. The *focal length* parameter will be automatically adjusted so that the picked location is in focus.
  The *aperture* radius controls how blurred objects will appear that are out of focus (default: 0.5).

Light sources
"""""""""""""

Direct light
  Enables a directional light source that is positioned behind the camera and is pointing roughly along the viewing direction.
  The *angular diameter* specifies the apparent size (angle in degrees) of the light source.
  Setting the angular diameter to a value greater than zero yields soft shadows. For instance, the apparent size 
  of the sun is about 0.53°.

Ambient light
  The ambient light surrounds the entire scene and illuminates it from infinity with constant radiance.

Sun-sky light
  The sun-sky light produces the light typically coming from the sky and the sun in an outdoor scene.
  The radiance values are calculated using the Hošek-Wilkie sky model and solar radiance function. 
  The zenith of the sky as well as the sun are positioned along the positive Z axis of the scene and are independent of the camera orientation.

Material
""""""""

Specular brightness
  Controls the specular reflectivity of the material (default value: 2%).

Shininess
  This specular Phong exponent is usually in the range between 2.0 and 10000.0 (default value: 10.0).

Path tracer backend
"""""""""""""""""""

Roulette depth
  Ray recursion depth at which to start Russian roulette termination (default value: 2).

.. seealso::

  :py:class:`~ovito.vis.OSPRayRenderer` (Python API)
