rayrender R Package

Rayrender supports CSG operations to create complex shapes by combining primitives.

• csg_combine(..., operation="intersection"): Keeps only the overlapping part.
• csg_combine(..., operation="subtract"): Removes one shape from another.
• csg_combine(..., operation="blend"): Blends two shapes together.
• csg_group(list(...)): Groups multiple objects.
• csg_translate(..., x=...): Moves a CSG object.
• csg_onion(...): Creates layered shell effects.

# Example of a subtracted CSG object
add_object(csg_object(csg_combine(
    csg_combine(
      csg_box(),
      csg_sphere(radius=0.707),
      operation="intersection"),
    csg_group(list(csg_cylinder(start=c(-1,0,0), end=c(1,0,0), radius=0.4),
                   csg_cylinder(start=c(0,-1,0), end=c(0,1,0), radius=0.4),
                   csg_cylinder(start=c(0,0,-1), end=c(0,0,1), radius=0.4))),
    operation="subtract"),
    material=glossy(color="red")))

To run a benchmark across every release commit in the current first-parent history that contains a version string (e.g., v0.x.y), use the run_release_render_benchmarks.R wrapper.

This wrapper automatically handles C++ standard selection: it reads the DESCRIPTION file of each release commit and sets CXX_STD to C++20 if required, otherwise defaulting to CXX17 for older releases to ensure compatibility with modern R toolchains.

Key flags:

• --max-releases N: Limit the number of releases to check.
• --dry-run: Print the planned matrix and build commands without executing.
• --all-refs: Search branches, tags, and remotes instead of just the current first-parent history.

Rscript tools/benchmarks/run_release_render_benchmarks.R \
  --repo . \
  --config tools/benchmarks/configs/default.json \
  --benchmarks bvh_many_spheres,bvh_mixed_primitives \
  --iterations 5 \
  --warmup 1 \
  --output tools/benchmarks/results/release_render_benchmark_times.csv

To add a new scene, create a file at tools/benchmarks/scenes/<name>.R. The file must export a function named run_benchmark(settings).

Requirements:

1. The function must accept a settings object.
2. It should use settings$width, settings$height, and settings$samples for rendering parameters.
3. It should return either the rendered object directly or a list/data frame containing optional metric fields.

Supported optional metric fields:

• render_seconds (Required for timing)
• bvh_build_seconds (If BVH construction can be separated)
• scene_build_seconds
• total_seconds
• output_hash
• artifact_path

If the scene supports timing construction, use settings$time_build.

run_benchmark = function(settings) {
  scene = rayrender::generate_ground()
  elapsed = system.time({
    image = rayrender::render_scene(
      scene,
      width = settings$width,
      height = settings$height,
      samples = settings$samples,
      preview = FALSE,
      plot_scene = FALSE,
      progress = FALSE,
      denoise = FALSE
    )
  })[["elapsed"]]
  attr(image, "render_seconds") = as.numeric(elapsed)
  image
}

Installing OIDN on Windows requires Rtools45 and building from source.

1. Install Prerequisites

Open the “Rtools45 MinGW UCRT64” shell and install the necessary build tools via pacman:

pacman -Sy --needed \
    mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-make \
    mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-ninja \
    mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-cmake \
    mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-ispc

Ensure the toolchain is on your PATH:

export PATH="/c/rtools45/x86_64-w64-mingw32.static.posix/bin:/mingw64/bin:${PATH}"

2. Build OIDN from Source

Run these commands from the Rtools45 ucrt64 shell:

# Download the OIDN source
git clone --recursive https://github.com/RenderKit/oidn.git
cd oidn

# Create a separate build directory
mkdir build-cpu-static
cd build-cpu-static

# Choose an install prefix
OIDN_PREFIX="C:/local/oidn-static"

# Configure OIDN
cmake \
  -G "Ninja" \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER="/path/to/rtools45/x86_64-w64-mingw32.static.posix/bin/gcc.exe" \
  -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER="/path/to/rtools45/x86_64-w64-mingw32.static.posix/bin/g++.exe" \
  -DOIDN_STATIC_LIB=ON \
  -DOIDN_DEVICE_CPU=ON \
  -DOIDN_DEVICE_SYCL=OFF \
  -DOIDN_DEVICE_CUDA=OFF \
  -DOIDN_DEVICE_HIP=OFF \
  -DOIDN_DEVICE_METAL=OFF \
  -DOIDN_APPS=OFF \
  -DISPC_EXECUTABLE="$(command -v ispc)" \
  -DTBB_DIR="/path/to/rtools45/x86_64-w64-mingw32.static.posix/lib/cmake/TBB" \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${OIDN_PREFIX}" \
  ..

# Build and install
ninja
ninja install

Note: If CMake cannot find TBB, add -DTBB_ROOT=/path/to/rtools45/x86_64-w64-mingw32.static.posix to the cmake command.

3. Configure R

Add the path to your .Renviron file and reinstall rayrender:

echo 'OIDN_PATH=C:/local/oidn' >> "$HOME/.Renviron"

Then in R:

devtools::install_github("tylermorganwall/rayrender", force = TRUE)