I finally found time for this. I`m doing it all from scratch ( i.e I`m using no libraries) my starting results will be rather trivial, some triangles on a black background.
Ray Tracing
I hate to bump my own thread, but I need help with this, I`m looking for feedback from someone who wrote a ray tracer and is not just using a ready to use ray tracing library. I need a teacher.
All those online resources and examples from “In one weekend” to “Physically Based Rendering” don't serve as templates and learning base ?
I've been working my way through Buck's “The Ray Tracer Challenge: A Test-Driven Guide to Your First 3D Renderer”. I think this book will fit you needs as it is from scratch - no libraries, no framework, etc. Here ( https://github.com/thurizas/Ray-Tracer-Challenge/blob/master/images/chapter11b.png ) is a sample showing a transparent glass sphere infront of a checker board background, demonstrating transparency and refraction. I still need to go back and debug why I have a black circle at one pole of the sphere.
I remember this one: https://www.flipcode.com/archives/Raytracing_Topics_Techniques-Part_1_Introduction.shtml
From the pioneer of realtime raytracing himself : )