include/nori/integrator.h

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/*
    This file is part of Nori, a simple educational ray tracer

    Copyright (c) 2012 by Wenzel Jakob and Steve Marschner.

    Nori is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License Version 3
    as published by the Free Software Foundation.

    Nori is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
*/

#if !defined(__INTEGRATOR_H)
#define __INTEGRATOR_H

#include <nori/object.h>
#include <nori/dpdf.h>
#include <nori/frame.h>

NORI_NAMESPACE_BEGIN

/**
 * \brief Abstract integrator (i.e. a rendering technique)
 *
 * In Nori, the different rendering techniques are collectively referred to as 
 * integrators, since they perform integration over a high-dimensional
 * space. Each integrator represents a specific approach for solving
 * the light transport equation---usually favored in certain scenarios, but
 * at the same time affected by its own set of intrinsic limitations.
 */
class Integrator : public NoriObject {
public:
        /// Release all memory
        virtual ~Integrator() { }

        /**
         * \brief Sample the incident radiance along a ray
         *
         * \param scene
         *    A pointer to the underlying scene
         * \param sampler
         *    A pointer to a sample generator
         * \param ray
         *    The ray in question
         * \return
         *    A (usually) unbiased estimate of the radiance in this direction
         */
        virtual Color3f Li(const Scene *scene, Sampler *sampler, const Ray3f &ray) const = 0;

        /**
         * \brief Return the type of object (i.e. Mesh/BSDF/etc.) 
         * provided by this instance
         * */
        EClassType getClassType() const { return EIntegrator; }
};

NORI_NAMESPACE_END

#endif /* __INTEGRATOR_H */