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fractint-digest         Tuesday, May 12 1998         Volume 01 : Number 200




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 13:47:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail] (Kragen)
Subject: Re: (fractint) Filtering images with Fractint

On Tue, 12 May 1998, HGtotheG wrote:
>  On Sat, 2 May 1998, Weldon Morgan wrote:
>  > process, or can point me in the right direction
> and Kragen responded.
>
>  There's going to be a finite limit to your improvements, though, even
>  if it's possible to do this at all, on information-theoretic grounds.
>
> As to Wendels thought that, 'There's going to be a finite limit to your
> improvements..."     The computer, like zooming in on fractals, will
> constantly zoom and project, by its programing, its best image of its model.
> You will hit a point where there is only black or white but that is way down
> in the image.

What I meant is that you won't have to zoom very far before the model
diverges a long way from reality.  I can imagine a 3x improvement in
resolution, though.

You won't have to zoom very far because images will have certain
details that are smaller than the pixels they're in; changing these
details in the original image won't change the pixel value at all.

Any raster image of NxN pixels could be a reduction in resolution of an
infinite number of 2Nx2N-pixel images.  If each pixel can only have 256
possible values, then I think that infinite number reduces to
(256^(3NxN)) or so.  So for a 1x1 image, you could expand it out into a
2x2 image in any of 16,777,216 different images, all of which were
possible "enhancements" of that image.  Once we start getting into
bigger images, the numbers get really big.

By modeling the objects in the scene, you might be able to get some
idea of which of those images were most likely, but you'd still be
limited by the sampling error in the original image.

Kragen


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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 13:56:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail] (Kragen)
Subject: Re: (fractint) fractint v20 and beyond

On Tue, 12 May 1998, Mark Christenson wrote:
> <lots of stuff everyone just read>
> Can we please terminate this thread?

Well said, sir!

I think the protagonists have said their pieces; let anyone else who
has an opinion voice it, and then let's let this thread die.

Kragen


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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 19:47:34 +0100
From: "Christian Strik" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) fractint v20 and beyond

Morgan wrote:

>But may I add in conclusion that Terry Gintz could have presented his case
>somewhat better. I caught a distinct odour of arrogance from his posting
>(was it just me?) and to come as close as he did to slandering Fractint's
>dozens of authors over the years (66 at last count) was just plain
>uncalled-for.

I agree with this. Can't say Terry's reaction to Morgan's posting was much
better...

Christian




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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 20:01:26 +0100
From: "Christian Strik" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) Isn't DOS Dead?; Was fractint v20 and beyond

John Weeks wrote:

>Windows 98 does not support DOS applications.  You can have them both
>installed but I for one will continue to let my old 486 run my Fracint
>and other DOS applications while I do my Windows on a separate machine
>(to avoid hassles).  Who cares if the 486 is slow, I can let it chug
>away while I work on other things.
>
>           john

Windows 98 doesn't support dos apps any better or worse than win95 does. In
95, most of the dos apps i'm running are running well. When NT is conerned,
the story is quite different, as nt doesn't allow dos apps any direct bios /
hardware access.

Windows NT also has problems with some 16 bit windows apps that try to
perform direct hardware access. As an example, Borland Pascal for Windows
7.0. The bpw.exe on itself was no problem, but the debugging tools always
caused an error saying "An application has attempted the keyboard or mouse
hardware as a 16 bit Windows program, which cannot be supported."

Christian




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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 19:32:34 +0100
From: "Christian Strik" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) beyond the hype

Shauna Jones wrote:

> On 11 May 98 at 22:18, Terry W. Gintz wrote:

>> Having a functional Windows version of Fractint also
>> eliminates the need to support a hundred different
>> graphics modes and boards.

>It would also limit the modes available, in my experience
>with Windows. Fractint supports a lot of modes that no
>version of Windows does.

Right. I like fractint's 1600x1200 mode (the higher the better i guess), but
my windows doesn't quite support that mode. Also lores modes that can be
useful for quick viewing are not supported in windows. The latter can of
course be corrected by a setting saying 'winfract' (or whatever Terry likes
to call it) to calculate for a variable number of pixels on the screen,
instead of a calculation per pixel as fractint is now doing.

Christian





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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 20:15:50 +2
From: "J.P. Louvet" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) fractint v20 and beyond

Hi Jack (and all the others),

Your message puts some peace and love into a passionate debate. I have
used Fractint during many years and it gave me very great moments of
pleasure. When I looked for the first time the abpf group I discovered the
astonishing Paul Carlson's images.
Later on I began to use a confidential and buggy version of Phil Pickard's
Fractal Orbits and I discovered that it what possible to do in a very
simple way (with a windows program) images very similar to the Paul's
ones. With Terry's programs I began to do true color images in the
Fractint style as well as stalks and bubbles.
Now I can hardly use again a 256 colors program and I think that it has
no sense to develop or to improve such a program.
It was obvious that the provocative text posted by Terry will give rise to
explosive reactions. Indeed Fractint and the Fractint community have given
a outstanding contribution to the world of fractal images, without any doubt the
_greatest_ contribution. For this reason the Fractint family is a
community devoted to the celebration of the only truly Holy Fractal
Program, and also inclined to self-celebration.
In such a situation there are many "good" reasons to change nothing
to what exist. I have had kind discussions with Phil, Terry and Stephen
about their programs. I have made some suggestions to each of them :
sometimes these suggestions were stupids ; sometimes not. When they were
pertinent, I received a new version of the program some days later. How
many very interesting suggestions in this mailing group with no result
after one year ?
These 3 programs are probably no so optimized as is the Fractint code,
but I find more inventiveness in these programs made by lonesome
programmers than I will find in some 2.01axyz version of Fractint (even
if these programmers say clearly that they were often inspired by works
made by other members of the fractal community).
I admire you all who can write very complex formulae (indeed they are
often programs !) to do fractals which can be obtained with 2 or 3 mouse
clicks with other programs. I am neither a programmer nor a mathematician
(nor a masochist). Programs are made BY programmers but their are made
FOR users and not FOR programmers.
And now a suggestion : is it a good idea now to keep in the same program
complex polynomial fractals, IFS, L-system, strange attractors... The only
thing that are not made by Fractint are true color, easy
drawing of "new style" fractals, and coffe... Two more specialized
programs might give lighter code. I would be very happy if Fractint is
tomorrow the competitive program it was some years ago.
And many thanks to all who contributed to Fractint and to this mailing
list.

I apologize, my English is always approximate.

- ---------------------------------------------------------------
J.P. Louvet                | Phone :  [phone]
IUT Universite Bordeaux I  | Fax :    [phone]
33405 Talence CEDEX France | e-mail : [e-mail]
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Fractales sur serveur Web Universite Bordeaux I :
http://graffiti.cribx1.u-bordeaux.fr/MAPBX/louvet/jpl0.html
- ---------------------------------------------------------------

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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 11:13:23 -0700
From: "Terry W. Gintz" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) fractint v20 and beyond

Kragen wrote:

> On Tue, 12 May 1998, Mark Christenson wrote:
> > <lots of stuff everyone just read>
> > Can we please terminate this thread?
>
> Well said, sir!
>
> I think the protagonists have said their pieces; let anyone else who
> has an opinion voice it, and then let's let this thread die.
>
> Kragen

Fine with me.  Anyone who wants to learn more about the next generation
of fractal programming can contact me personally, or visit my websites.
Others can meet me on the dark side of the moon...

Cheerio,

Terry
- --
[e-mail]
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/5601/
http://www.zenweb.com/pan/rayn/twg/
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/palette/31/



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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 11:33:03 -0700
From: Mark Christenson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) fractint v20 and beyond

At 08:15 PM 5/12/98 +2, J.P. Louvet wrote:
>Hi Jack (and all the others),
>...

>I apologize, my English is always approximate.

No problem, Jean-Pierre.  Moi Francais c'est approximately nonexistent!


Bud


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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 20:20:33 +0100
From: "Les St Clair" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (fractint) useless tip #314

Damien M. Jones  wrote...

>Because pressing a single key for it, or even two keys, is a lot easier
>than typing p e r i o d i c i t y = 0  :)  I can't count the number of
>times I've misspelled it and received a complaint from FractInt.

and Joe Pearson wrote...

>>as well as all the options that are accessible by 'g' only<<

Any command line parameter can be written in par format, so you could write a
parameter file with all your favourite command line options in it.
To access the options just hit <2> and choose the one you want from the list.

Here's a simple example...

==== cut and save as "commands.par" =====

Periodicity=0       {; Turns periodicity checking off
periodicity=0
  }
Periodicity=1       {; Turns periodicity checking on
periodicity=1
  }
ViewWindows=2 {; Sets viewwindow to half-size (25% screen area)
viewwindows=2
  }
ViewWindows=5 {; Sets viewwindow to thumbnail size
viewwindows=5
  }
ViewWindows=1 {; switches viewwindows off
viewwindows=1
  }
Sound=yes       {; Turns sound (beep) ON
sound=yes
  }
Sound=no        {; Turns sound (beep) OFF
sound=no
  }
debug=50 {; Debug option for comparing <r>estored images
debug=50
  }
debug=0 {; switches Debug mode off
debug=0
  }


cheers, Les


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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 15:28:50 -0400
From: "RJ Corradino" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (fractint) Oh joy, another newbie

Hello.  I've been lurking here for what seems like forever, haven't managed
to post yet though- I wanted to wait until school ended.  I think I've
learned a lot from all of you- especially from the great tutorials by
Gumbycat and Wizzle.

Here is a series of fractal attempts I've made this morning.  It should be a
treat for any of you who may be JRR Tolkien fans.  I'm still toying with it-
and I'll let you all know when/if I get a finished product(Are fractals ever
really finished?  I doubt it...).  I've got it looking quite nice, but it
doesn't give me the shivers when I look at it yet.  A few of these use
colormaps from Wizzle's collection, big thanks to whoever made them(I stuck
them on without checking the name, and unfortunately I don't remember which
ones I used).  The others are done by me.  Let me know what you think.  :)

A few final questions;

1- I think I do fairly well in coloring individual fractals, but my maps
never seem to work on other zooms/formulas(whereas many of the ones
available on wizzle's page look wonderful on any fractal).  Is there any
specific process to making a good universal map??

2- Each formula asks for a bunch of params.  (z key)  I am very rarely
successful in choosing good numbers.  What do all these numbers mean?  If I
understood what all these perturbations or whatever effected, I might feel
more comfortable about my choices.  (But please, explain it slowely and
carefully.  My brain does not care for math.)

Thanks,
- -RJ

DarkEye1           { ; The Dark Eye of Sauron, attempt #1
  reset=1960 type=tim's_error function=sqr
  center-mag=-0.91056811833087170/+0.12388405197653190/34536.62/0.0489/-45\
  .86/79.096 params=0/0 float=y
  colors=z00870<8>000kkkz02<13>z0Uzh0<29>n2Mm0Nm0P<14>m0lzZ0<14>000<15>pP0\
  <15>000<15>fF0<14>310X50<15>000WI0<30>MC0tm0<51>980
  }

DarkEye2           { ; The Dark Eye of Sauron, attempt #2
  reset=1960 type=tim's_error function=sqr
  center-mag=-0.91056811833087170/+0.12388405197653190/34536.62/0.0489/-45\
  .86/79.096 params=0/0 float=y
  colors=z00870<8>000kkkz02<13>z0Uzh0<29>n2Mm0Nm0P<3>m0V<3>W0`w00<5>000zZ0\
  <14>000<15>pP0<15>000<15>fF0<14>310X50<15>000WI0<30>MC0tm0<51>980
  }

DarkEye3           {
  reset=1960 type=tim's_error function=sqr
  center-mag=-0.91056811833087170/+0.12388405197653190/34536.62/0.0489/-45\
  .86/79.096 params=0/0 float=y
  colors=000516<3>112000001<13>E0FF1HF1H<19>G1HH1HH1HI1HJ1H<11>V1EW1DX1DY0\
  CZ1C<14>xV1<14>_2BY0CX0C<13>J1HI2II2II2I<3>G2IG2IF1HF1G<13>112000000<28>\
  E0GF1HF1HG1H<4>I1HJ1HK1HL1HM1H<10>Y1EZ1D_1Da0Cb2C<14>zX0<14>_3BY0CX0C<7>\
  P1FO1FP1GM1G<2>J2II2II2IH2IH2I<2>G2HF1HF1GE1F<7>617
  }

DarkEye4           { ; Attempt 4
  reset=1960 type=tim's_error function=sqr
  center-mag=-0.91056811833087170/+0.12388405197653190/34536.62/0.0489/-45\
  .86/79.096 params=0/0 float=y
  colors=000iiT00IhhS00HggS00HffR00GeeQ00GccQ00GbbP00FaaO00F``O00EZZN00EYY\
  M00EXXL00DVVK00DUUK00CTTJ00CRRI00BQQH00BOOG00BNNG00ALLF00AJJE009IID009GG\
  C008FFB008DDA007BB9007998006887006666005445004224004<9>00100100100100100\
  0000000<6>500600800<2>C00E00G00I00K00<3>U00W00Z00a00<2>i00l00p00s00v00z0\
  A<2>zABzDCzFC<8>zYFz_Fz`G<7>znIzpIzrIzsIzuJzvJzxJzzKzzK000<6>500601801<4\
  >H02J03M03<4>Y05`05c06f06i07<3>v09y09z0A<2>zABzDCzFC<8>zYFz_Fz`G<7>znIzp\
  IzrIzsIzuJzvJzxJzzKzzK00Oyya00Nxx`00Nxx`00Mxx`00Mxx`00Mww`00Mww`00Mww_00\
  Mvv_00Mvv_00MuuZ00MttZ00MttZ00LssY00LrrY00LqqY00KqqX00KppX00KooW00KnnW00\
  JmmV00JllV00JkkU00IjjT00I
  }

DarkEye            { ; ;
                     ; Image Copyright May 12 1998 by RJ Corradino
                     ; e-mail to:[e-mail]
  reset=1960 type=tim's_error function=sqr
  center-mag=-0.91061682690876760/+0.12383459253096580/206289.8/0.02192/-4\
  5.859/79.096 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=250
  colors=00000KnnW00JmmV00JllV00JkkU00IjjT00IiiT00IhhS00HggS00HffR00GeeQ00\
  GccQ00GbbP00FaaO00F``O00EZZN00EYYM00EXXL00DVVK00DUUK00CTTJ00CRRI00BQQH00\
  BOOG00BNNG00ALLF00AJJE009IID009GGC008FFB008DDA007BB900799800688700666600\
  5445004224004<9>001001001001001000<2>100100200300<2>500600800<2>C00E00G0\
  0I00K00<3>U00W00Z00a00<2>i00l00p00s00v00z0A<2>zABzDCzFC<8>zYFz_Fz`G<9>zr\
  IzsIzuJzvJzxJzzKzzK000<6>500601801<4>H02J03M03<4>Y05`05c06f06i07<3>v09y0\
  9z0A<2>zABzDCzFC<8>zYFz_Fz`G<9>zrIzsIzuJzvJzxJzzKzzK00Oyya00Nxx`00Nxx`00\
  Mxx`00Mxx`00Mww`00Mww`00Mww_00Mvv_00Mvv_00MuuZ00MttZ00MttZ00LssY00LrrY00\
  LqqY00KqqX00KppX00KooW
  }

DarkEye5           { ; #5
                     ; Image Copyright May 12 1998 by RJ Corradino
                     ; e-mail to:[e-mail]
  reset=1960 type=tim's_error function=sqr
  center-mag=-0.91061682690876760/+0.12383459253096580/206289.8/0.02192/-4\
  5.859/79.095 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=250
  colors=R38C1N<45>M2d000kkkS38<21>m36m36l36<68>232131132<27>8PD9QE9REASF9\
  RE<16>0K0000<59>C1M
  }

DarkEye6           { ; best attempt
                     ; Image Copyright May 12 1998 by RJ Corradino
                     ; e-mail to:[e-mail]
  reset=1960 type=tim's_error function=sqr
  center-mag=-0.91061682690876760/+0.12383459253096580/206289.8/0.02192/-4\
  5.859/79.095 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=5000 bailout=5000
  colors=R38C1N<45>M2d000E14S38<28>W37W37X37Y37Z37_37<6>Y36<2>m36<4>V35<7>\
  R34Q34P34O34O34<4>P54P54P64Q64Q74Q74<69>mf0mf0le0<59>000C1MC1M
  }


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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 15:33:33 -0500
From: "Damien M. Jones" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) useless tip #314

Les,

 - Any command line parameter can be written in par format...

This is a good tip, thank you.  Still, juggling several PAR files to get
extra options is a bit of a kludge; having periodicity be on one of the
option screens would still be the preferable solution.

Damien M. Jones   \\
[e-mail]  \\  http://www.icd.com/tsd/ (temporary sanity designs)
                    \\  http://www.fractalus.com/ (fractals are my hobby)

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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 16:08:12 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Robert Hailman)
Subject: RE Re: (fractint) Isn't DOS Dead?; Was fractint v20 and beyond

DOS cannot be dead until NOBODY uses it anymore, as [e-mail] said. It
couldn't be dead now, because everyone who uses any version of PC-DOS, MS-DOS,
any of the other DOS incarnations, Win95, Win98, or OS/2 has DOS at some level
on their computer. I for one, have 3 computers... an XT that I got for free
with PC-DOS 3, a 486DX2/66 with Linux and OS/2, and a Pentium 133 with Win95.
As you can see, all 3 of my computers have DOS on them. Win 98 will be based on
DOS, as Win 95 was, which is a VERY bad idea in my opinon.  If WinNT consumer
editon (coming out 'round 2001) does not support DOS programs, I'll have none
of it. Getting back to my original point, DOS won't die until nobody stops
using it. I NEVER will stop using it... EVER EVER EVER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Sorry.

Robert Hailman
      Toronto's Anti-Microsoft Guy.

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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 20:25:22 +0100
From: "Christian Strik" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) fractint v20 and beyond

Angela wrote

<<snipped>>
>I know that is a single users experience, but I suspect it is fairly
typical of
>many folks who are completely unfamiliar with a DOS type interface.  I have
to
>add that I am shying away from POV Ray because it doesn't have a genuine
GUI and
>I'm intimidated.
>
>Angela

POV-Ray has both a menu interface and a, well, programmer's interface. It's
more like a modern visual, object-oriented programming language than a
graphics program.
I found POV-Ray's help files clear enough. POV-Ray requires some practice to
understand it in detail, but in that context does it differ so much from
fractint?

Christian




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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 17:07:27 -0400
From: "Peter Gavin" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: RE Re: (fractint) Isn't DOS Dead?; Was fractint v20 and beyond

//  Win 98 will be based on DOS, as Win 95 was...

Well, as far as I've heard, Win98 is really just Win95 OSR2 with IE4.0 =
and all the other free updates from MS.  Anyone know otherwise?

Pete
<[e-mail]>



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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 18:28:17 -0600
From: "Tim Wegner" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (fractint) "platform wars" off topic

I hereby declare the thread on "platform wars" (DOS vs Windows)
started by Terry Ginz as OFF TOPIC for this list. Religious
and polemical debates about the relative merits of different
platforms are not welcome here.

I have had messages from several people with a long-standing interest
in fractals and fractint who briefly joined the list, only to
be blasted away by the flurry of off topic messages on Windows vs
DOS. I don't want people who SHOULD be here driven away by off topic
discussions. Let me add that recently list participants have been
very good about staying on topic. The recent flurry of polemic
about platforms is an exception, and I'd like to end that discussion
here and now.

For the record, the fractint programmers do not advocate DOS over
Windows. The reasons for the survival of the DOS version of Fractint
this long are mostly practical.

There is another list for fractint developers, where professional
discussions about porting Fractint to various platforms is welcome.
If anyone is interested, let me know. However polemics are not
welcome in that list either.

Tim Wegner
fractint list administrator







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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 20:32:07 -0400
From: "Turner Rentz" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: RE Re: (fractint) Isn't DOS Dead?; Was fractint v20 and beyond

Yes.

Win 98 is Win 95 upgraded to include different user interfaces,
optimized dll's for newer bios features, etc.

The non  Y2K compliant versioning scheme  (Windows YY)
can't tell you much about features but if you open up a prompt
(using the 16 bit shellcommand 'command' type 'ver' you will see
 the real version. If it is a minor release the version number should
stay constant (Windows version 4.something) )


Microsoft has publicly stated that the YY series products are
slated for technical obsolescence before 2Q 1999;
the Hybrid Windows 95/98 and its concomittant DOS based ridiculousity
to be replaced by  Windows NT meeting at  version 5.minor or 6.

There has always been acquiescence, public and private,
of the limitations of DOS but one thing that will be replaced
fundamentalswise is the hardware and video routines in Assembly.
These things are a bear.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Peter Gavin <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Date: Tuesday, May 12, 1998 12:15 PM
Subject: RE: RE Re: (fractint) Isn't DOS Dead?; Was fractint v20 and beyond


//  Win 98 will be based on DOS, as Win 95 was...

Well, as far as I've heard, Win98 is really just Win95 OSR2 with IE4.0 and
all the other free updates from MS.  Anyone know otherwise?

Pete
<[e-mail]>



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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 18:05:22 -0700
From: "Angela Wilczynski" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) fractint v20 and beyond

john Weeks wrote:
>

>
> What makes Fractint "great" is it's wide user base.  I am a Windows
> programmer and make fractal programs that use 32bit color and sound and
> AVI files etc.  These images are superior to Fractint, but I love all
> the pars that people post to this list

<<snipped>>
>                                       john
>

John...

Do you have a homepage and what fractal program do you use??

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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 21:42:38 -0400
From: davides <[e-mail]>
Subject: (fractint) Spirit Walk

Greetings,

The color map in the following par is a somewhat changed "Bud4", therefore
the nomenclature of "Bud4a". (Hope you don't mind...  :))


Spirit_Walk        { ; David Shanholtzer, 1998
                     ; color map: (Bud4a)
  reset=1960 type=formula formulafile=fractint.frm
  formulaname=dmj-Mand-Cir-Dec passes=1
  center-mag=-0.227402/-0.673226/13.61414 params=1/1/0.1/1.1/19/1.1
  float=y maxiter=1500 inside=260 outside=real decomp=130
  colors=066<3>066077099<24>0ii0kk0jj<25>088066066<68>066450<28>kz0<28>230\
  000000000<30>z00<31>000
  }

Regards,

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
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How do I put it in reverse?

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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 19:00:41 -0700
From: "Angela Wilczynski" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) Oh joy, another newbie

Hi RJ!!!!!

I haven't had a chance to look at your pars yet, but hope to soon. In the mean
time.....

RJ Corradino wrote:
>
> A few final questions;
>
> 1- I think I do fairly well in coloring individual fractals, but my maps
> never seem to work on other zooms/formulas(whereas many of the ones
> available on wizzle's page look wonderful on any fractal).  Is there any
> specific process to making a good universal map??
>

a.  I suggest you start with the maps from the mid-tones section of the
collection and study them to see how they are constructed.  Where is the darkest
color? where is the lightest color? What is the color range, i.e. dark to very
light or rather muted? Note colors you like particularly and the range in which
that color is used (it's darkest and lightest values).

b.  Select a couple of all-purpose maps you like and try adapting them rather
than starting from scratch.  I do this all the time and get insights into what
the maps are "doing" as well as expanding my collection of goodies.  Replace
colors you don't like with colors you do like....etc.

c.  If you see a par with a good map, definetly save the map.  I started with a
folder called "linda" where I put all of her wonderful maps before I was
confident in my own abilities. I now have folders called "carlson" "gallet"
"mitchell" "digiorgio"....on and on!!! Put those maps on to your images .....if
good things happen....study the map. And.....conversely.....if you see a good
par....try applying one of the maps you have made and see how it works.

By and large, it is the construction of the map rather than the individual
colors selected (or their sequence) that seems to determine if the map will be
generally useful or only in particular situations.

> 2- Each formula asks for a bunch of params.  (z key)  I am very rarely
> successful in choosing good numbers.  What do all these numbers mean?  If I
> understood what all these perturbations or whatever effected, I might feel
> more comfortable about my choices.  (But please, explain it slowely and
> carefully.  My brain does not care for math.)

I still have no idea what numbers to put into the parameters either (except for
Julias). So I start with a par and note the numbers used by someone more
knowledgeable then "tweek" them. You can download oodles of pars from the
Fractint pages at the Spankey site.  Paul Carlson had a wonderful tip so you
don't have to write down the numbers (which is what I was doing) and then enter
them into a formula.  Just start the par generating, press z......press F6 then
F4 and hit enter twice.  That will give you the par as though you had entered
the numbers into the appropriate screen starting with the formula.  The only
reason I know about numbers for julias is because I have written down a list of
numbers for julias I like.  In Paul Carlson's formulas, Paul gives hints about
values to enter into the par.....which I find incredibly helpful.
AND......since I never know what number to enter into a formula when I return to
it at a later time, I try to keep a representative bunch of gifs that I've made
handy in a "startup" folder so I can go exploring some more.
>
> Thanks,
> -RJ
>
>

Happy Fractaling!!!

Angela aka wizzle

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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 21:55:07 -0400
From: davides <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) Superior Images?

At 08:46 AM 5/12/1998 PDT, you wrote:

>What makes Fractint "great" is it's wide user base.  I am a Windows
>programmer and make fractal programs that use 32bit color and sound and
>AVI files etc.  These images are superior to Fractint, but I love all
>the pars that people post to this list ...  (Remainder snipped)

In what way, if I may ask, are the images of which you write superior to
the images generated from fractint?
TIA

[e-mail]
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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 19:22:19 -0700
From: "Angela Wilczynski" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) useless tip #314

OK OK OK .....I can't stand it....what is periodicity??

Like a good fractint user I checked out the documentation first and it says

Note that fractint normally uses periodicity checking to speed up
  bifurcation computation.  However, in some cases a better quality image
  will be obtained if you turn off periodicity checking with
  "periodicity=no"; for instance, if you use a high number of iterations
  and a smooth colormap.

Now I'm sure this is English because I recognize many of the words. I also read
the longer explanation on p. 140 of the documentation (which I have as a .doc
file thanks to a hint from this list). But I STILL don't know what <g> or any of
those other things do for me.  Could someone explain how it affects an image and
when it should be used? and how?

Thanks

Angela

Damien M. Jones wrote:
>
> Les,
>
>  - Any command line parameter can be written in par format...
>
> This is a good tip, thank you.  Still, juggling several PAR files to get
> extra options is a bit of a kludge; having periodicity be on one of the
> option screens would still be the preferable solution.
>
> Damien M. Jones   \\
> [e-mail]  \\  http://www.icd.com/tsd/ (temporary sanity designs)
>                     \\  http://www.fractalus.com/ (fractals are my hobby)
>

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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 22:15:25 -0400
From: "RJ Corradino" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: (fractint) Oh joy, another newbie

Angela-

Thanks very much for the advice and the warm welcome.  I'll be sure to try
out all of those ideas.

>By and large, it is the construction of the map rather than the individual
>colors selected (or their sequence) that seems to determine if the map will
be
>generally useful or only in particular situations.

What do you mean by construction?  Construction and sequence seem to be the
same thing to me(both seem to refer to the overall layout of the colors)...

Thanks,
- -RJ


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Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 20:58:44 -0700
From: Mark Christenson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (fractint) periodicity

At 07:22 PM 5/12/98 -0700, Wizzle wrote:
>OK OK OK .....I can't stand it....what is periodicity??
>...

>Could someone explain how it affects an image and
>when it should be used? and how?

I haven't scanned the code, but based on my observations
(I have thought from time to time about implementing it in
my fractal programs) here's my best guess.

If you have played much with orbit plots, you have probably
noticed that points trapped within the "solid" part of a fractal
(or "the set" proper) fall into convergent orbits.  If you're within
the main node of the fractal (e.g., for the Mandelbrot Set, the
main cardioid), they converge on a single point.  If not, they
converge on a *cycle* of points that passes through the main
node, the point of origin, and any number of other nodes
(depending on the depth of the midget for which the plot is run).
Periodicity can significantly reduce calculation times by bailing
out of the cycle after the convergence falls within a certain
tolerance; the problem is that for fractals (mostly Julias, in my
experience) generated near critical points, the orbits are
very nearly, but not actually, periodic (run an orbit plot just
outside a midget and see what I mean).  In this case the
periodicity test is deceived, and corrupted images result.
The effect is compounded due to the fact that once it is
triggered, the check tests every point on the current scan
line until some other threshold (unknown to me) is crossed.

I hope this helps?


Bud


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End of fractint-digest V1 #200
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