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Scratchapixel

Course Beginner

Jean-Colas Prunier

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Description

Jean-Colas Prunier's free computer graphics education site at scratchapixel.com. Lessons build 3D rendering from scratch with C++ exercises before touching GPU APIs, starting with ray tracing and pinhole cameras, then meshes, transforms, shaders, BRDFs, acceleration structures, and path tracing.

Sections include Foundations of 3D Rendering, Mathematics for Computer Graphics reference pages, Computer Graphics Gems on procedural generation and color, and tooling notes such as the OBJ format. A Scratchapixel book project was underway with first results expected before the end of 2026 per the homepage update.

Beginners willing to code along on CPU ray tracers benefit most. The hands-on-first order differs from API tutorials like LearnOpenGL. Math reference sections support intermediate readers revisiting Monte Carlo, matrices, and shading derivations.

All lessons are free in the browser. Content mixes completed v2 lessons with legacy sections; some pages load slowly or contain typos noted by readers, but core ray-tracing paths remain complete.

Widely recommended on Hacker News and graphics forums as one of the best free foundations courses before GPU programming or offline renderers like pbrt.