{"product_id":"digital-rendering-engineering-the-hardware-of-light-real-time-ray-tracing-directx-12-vulkan-hlsl-and-gpu-driven-rendering-9798253108659","title":"Digital Rendering Engineering: The Hardware of Light: Real-Time Ray Tracing, DirectX 12, Vulkan, HLSL, and GPU-Driven Rendering","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): J. M. Sage\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Software Development \u0026amp; Engineering - Computer Graphics\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe equations don't run themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe PathTrace() algorithm is derived in Volume 1. This volume builds the hardware infrastructure that executes it: the acceleration structure it traverses, the shader binding table that routes hits to materials, and the render graph that schedules the entire frame in 16.6 milliseconds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDigital Rendering Engineering: The Hardware of Light\u003c\/b\u003e is not a DirectX 12 tutorial. It is a production reference for Rendering Engineers, Graphics Programmers, and Engine TDs who already know what a BLAS is and need to know why their TLAS build is costing 3ms instead of 0.3ms.\u003c\/p\u003eWhat this volume delivers: \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eGPU Architecture - the execution model: \u003c\/b\u003e Warp divergence measured with WaveActiveBallot. The occupancy cliff at 42 registers on Ampere. RDNA 3 comparison. Async compute: conditions for real overlap vs. accidental serialization. All with numbers from NSight, not estimates.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eDX12 Pipeline - production patterns: \u003c\/b\u003e N=3 frames-in-flight fence protocol. Descriptor heap for bindless RT (SM 6.6, DESCRIPTORS_VOLATILE required). Render graph with complete barrier table for the DRE RT frame. PSO pipeline library: 200-500ms cold to under 10ms cached. All C++ targets Agility SDK 1.614.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eHardware Ray Tracing - the complete DXR infrastructure: \u003c\/b\u003e TLAS\/BLAS: build flags, refit vs. rebuild, compaction. RTPSO: subobjects, hit groups, payload size vs. occupancy tradeoff. Shader Binding Table: indexing formula, the canonical stride bug, shadow ray optimization. All HLSL SM6.6, DXC-compiled.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eReSTIR DI - 3-pass implementation: \u003c\/b\u003e Reservoir struct (28 bytes\/pixel). Initial candidates (N=32). Temporal reuse with M-cap. Spatial reuse with Jacobian correction and mandatory visibility ray. Measured: 1.81ms total on RTX 4090 at 1440p. Bitterli et al. 2020 derivation included.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eReSTIR GI - one-bounce indirect illumination: \u003c\/b\u003e GI reservoir with secondary hit validation. Temporal reuse: why the 0.2ms visibility ray is not optional (ghosting lasts 20 frames without it). Spatial: quality vs. cost. WRC for bounce 2+: 8MB hash grid, 0.6ms update, replaces multi-bounce at under 1 percent cost.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eDenoising hierarchy - SVGF, NRD, DLSS RR: \u003c\/b\u003e SVGF complete (temporal + a-trous). DLSS RR: NGX integration, diffuse\/specular separation requirement, resource state checklist (each missing item maps to a specific artifact). Glass mask fix: prevents indefinite boiling on refractive surfaces. Fallback hierarchy for non-RTX hardware.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eNeural Rendering - production implementation: \u003c\/b\u003e 3DGS: covariance projection, GPU radix sort, tile rasterizer. NRC: multiresolution hash grid encoding + MLP, complete backpropagation, Adam with atomic hash updates, 33MB VRAM. SER (Ada): NvHitObject + NvReorderThread, 24 percent speedup at 50 materials. Work Graphs: adaptive dispatch with zero CPU round-trip.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eEngine Integration - 3 targets: \u003c\/b\u003e UE5: Lumen override points, custom RT pass plugin. Proprietary DX12: 4 interface contracts (GBuffer, Scene, Material, Output). O3DE Atom: AZSL SRG, pass template, 3-8s hot reload cycle. CI\/CD with CMake + GitHub Actions: zero-warning policy, automatic dependency tracking on Vol.1 functions.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003eCompanion repository (live): \u003cp\u003eAll HLSL compiles on Shader Model 6.6. All C++ targets D3D12 on Windows 11. Vol. 1 companion code included as git submodule.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egithub.com\/OpticsOptimizationLab\/dre-hardware-of-light\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePrerequisite: Volume 1 (The Physics of Light)\u003c\/b\u003e - the BRDF, VNDF sampling, and path tracing mathematics are not re-derived here. They are called from the DXR pipeline built in this volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe chapter is not ready until the code compiles on production hardware and the frame budget closes at 16.6ms.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Independently Published","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47775873237143,"sku":"9798253108659","price":5668.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9798253108659.webp?v=1777992937","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/digital-rendering-engineering-the-hardware-of-light-real-time-ray-tracing-directx-12-vulkan-hlsl-and-gpu-driven-rendering-9798253108659","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}