# mmp/pbrt-v3

Source code for pbrt, the renderer described in the third edition of "Physically Based Rendering: From Theory To Implementation", by Matt Pharr, Wenzel Jakob, and Greg Humphreys.

Repository: https://github.com/mmp/pbrt-v3
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pbrt-v3
Homepage: http://pbrt.org
Language: C++
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2023-09-03T11:38:00+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4097, "days_push": 1095, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5076, forks 1207 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:09.434970+00:00)

## What it is
pbrt-v3 is the C++ source code for the physically based rendering system described in the third edition of the book 'Physically Based Rendering: From Theory to Implementation'. It is a cross-platform offline renderer that reads pbrt scene description files and produces photorealistic images via ray tracing.

## Use cases
- render photorealistic images from scene description files
- learn physically based rendering by studying a complete renderer implementation
- teach university computer graphics and rendering courses
- experiment with BRDFs, cameras, and light transport algorithms
- render example scenes for research or benchmarking
- extend a renderer with new shapes, materials, or samplers

## When to choose
- you want a well-documented, academically rigorous renderer tied to a free textbook
- you are teaching or learning rendering theory with matching source code
- you need a BSD-licensed ray tracer to modify for research

## When to avoid
- you need a production renderer with GPU acceleration or an active feature roadmap (consider pbrt-v4 or a commercial renderer)
- you want real-time rendering or game-engine integration
- you need a maintained tool - v3 is in maintenance mode while development focuses on the fourth edition

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: graphics, simulation, cli
- domain: graphics, education, computer-vision
- platform: windows, cpp, cross-platform
- tags: ray-tracing, physically-based-rendering, renderer, computer-graphics, path-tracing, textbook-companion, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- mmp/pbrt-v3 (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:09.434970+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:02:36.899964+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mmp/pbrt-v3 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:09.434970+00:00, sha ced415092a55)
  - homepage: http://pbrt.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:57:30.875088+00:00, sha 2b381f37f5ec)
  - site_page: https://pbrt.org/faqs.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:57:30.888629+00:00, sha 706e063e6367)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.