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3-D Mandelbrot 3.0
CONTENTS :
Files
Features
Introduction
i. Version notes.
1. Starting the program
2. Demo
3. Reference Manual
A. Data Entry Window commands
B. Files
C. Type
D. C Mode
E. V Mode
F. I Data
G. Choose Color
H. Slides
I. Drawing
a. zooming in
J. Hot keys
K. Animating an image
4. Command Line Parameters.
5. Common problems
Appendix
Files
title - the title.
mandel_w.exe - the 3DMAND3 program (revision W).
mandel_v.exe - A short revision of mandel_w.exe which can run in the
background in Microsoft Windows 3.
mandel_v.pif - A Windows 3 PIF (program info file) for mandel_v.
mandel_v.ico - icon for mandel_v.
mandel_w.cfg - the 3DMAND3 configuration file.
3DMAND3.doc - this file.
c.bat - a batch file to run the mandel_w.exe program.
m.bat - a batch file to run the mandel_w.exe program
in nographic mode.
c2.bat - a batch file to run the mandel_v.exe program.
m2.bat - a batch file to run the mandel_v.exe program
in nographic mode.
*.3dv - demo images.
movie4.3ds - 111 slide long demo movie.
movies.3ds - 3 slide long shareware demo movie.
runme.bat - a batch file to run the demo movie.
Features
-20 digit extended real calculations.
-80*87 processor supported.
-Integer Math option.
-can calculate up to 2147483647 iterations.
-Potential calculating.
-A slide-projector.
-3 dimensional perspective zoom in/out and rotation.
-non-graphic option :
for multi-tasking computers.
-estimated finish time calculation
-sectional view
-project up/downward
-movie making routines.
-combine pictures and movies together
-sphere projection
-reuse iteration data.
-usage of key frame sets to make subsets.
Introduction
3DMAND makes iteration data files and plot&animates 3-dimensional
mandelbrot images. The program uses pull down menus. Mandelbrot
images can be infinitely complex. That is the reason why this program
supports more then 65000 iterations. 3DMAND usually calculates the
iterations while drawing the 3d image. You can also calculate using
the non-graphic option. This could be useful when you are using a
multi-tasking computer. You can also save unfinished drawings and
continue later.
(If you want to save the iteration data for later use, a hard drive
is recommended.)
You can also preview a new drawing in order to get an idea of what
the result would be like.
By using potential calculating, you can generate beautiful images
that resemble ridges and hillsides.
After calculating the image, you might want to zoom into a certain part
of the mandelbrot set displayed. You can do this simply by moving the
zoom-window and change the size and location until the image you want to
zoom into is inside the zoom-window.
3DMAND can also make a movie by setting the beginning image and the
ending image. The movie routine will make images connecting the two
images.
After calculating a series of 3-d images, you can load them into the
slide-projector and view them in seconds. You can also do this from a
batch file using command line options.
Also, you can combine two images together, setting one as the background
and the other as the foreground. You can also combine movies together.
Also, you can turn on the sphere mode which plots mandelbrot/julia images
into a sphere.
Also, you can make a shadowed image by setting the light angle. This will
give you realistic landscape like images.
Over all, the 3DMAND program lets you generate complex, 256 color 3
dimensional mandelbrot or Julia images using just zoom-windows and easy
to use pull down menus.
i. mandel_n.exe - An early EGA version of the program.
mandel_u.exe - 3DMAND version 1.0. A VGA version of mandel_n.exe.
mandel_v.exe - 3DMAND version 2.0. Added movie projecting routines.
mandel_w.exe - Due to a catastrophic power out while running a
disk optimizing program, a large part of the source code
was lost. So I had to re-program the complex movie making
features, many machine language codes and sphere mode
generating routines which all took a lot of time.
1. Starting the program
A. Installing from floppy disks
a. Insert disk A into the disk drive.
b. when installing from a 3.5 inch drive, type
install 3 <source drive> <destination drive>
example) To install from drive a 3 inch drive A to hard drive C,
type
install 3 a: c:
when installing from a 5.25 inch drive, type
install 5 <source drive> <destination drive>
c. follow the directions displayed
d. make sure you have at least 572K of free conventional memory to
run mandel_w.exe. Mandel_w.exe has been tested under Dos 5.0.
e. make sure you have at least 519K of free conventional memory to
run mandel_v.exe. mandel_v.exe has many functions disabled.
B. To view the slide-show..
just type
runmovie movie4.3ds<return>
(To stop the sliderun press the ESC key.
If you have the SHAREWARE version, type
runmovie movies.3ds<return>
)
C. To run mandel_v.exe under windows.
If you can run Windows 3 in enhanced mode, you can run 3DMAND 3 in the
background while running windows by running 3DMAND 3 in text mode.
Because most users would run out of memory running mandel_w.exe
in the background, mandel_v.exe is included which has many functions
disabled to decrease its size.
a. To make a 3dmand 3 icon, run Windows 3 and from the program
manager, pull down the file menu and then select 'New..'.
b. Select 'New program item' and type in the description and then
for the command parameters type
<drive letter>:\3DMAND3\mandel_v.pif
c. Finally use '<drive letter>:\3DMAND3\mandel_v.ico' as the icon.
d. You can't use the mouse to pull down the menus, etc when 3dmand3 is
running under windows because this is a ms-dos program running
in window mode.
2. Demo
This demo will go through the 3DMAND 3 program demonstrating many of the
functions. Please make sure that there is at least 1 Meg free in the
drive to run the demo.
A. Making your first image
1) To make sure the current configurations are default, type
copy default.cfg mandel_w.cfg <enter>
run the 3DMAND3 program by typing
c.bat <enter>
You'll see the title message. To continue, press
<enter>
(it might take a few seconds to load the program)
2) let's pull down the drawing menu and draw a picture
using the default settings.
Alt-D
(make sure 'Current Settings' is highlighted)
Start drawing your first image by pressing
<enter>
You'll see the current iteration, average iteration and X Y
coordinates blinking on and off at the upper left part of the screen.
You'll also see the estimated finish time at the bottom part of the
screen.
(On an AT, it should take about 8 minutes.
On a 386 it should take about 2 minutes.
Initially, it would predict the estimated finish time to
be longer than it really is.)
(You'd see that the drawing is a little coarse.
This is because the double density mode is turned off.
If you choose double density, you'll get a much more
smoother image even though it would take longer to draw it.)
After the drawing is finished and saved, you'll see the
'animating' message on the upper left part of the
screen. To erase the 'animating' message, press
<enter>
<enter>
Let's continue animating this image. Press
c
a
To change the direction of the palette animation, press
- or +
To step animate the palette, press
<space bar> ..
To continuously animate the image, press
c
To select alternate palette animation, press
t
To end, press
<ESC>
At this point, you'll see information related to the image. To
To get to the main menu, press
<ESC>
If you have a fast vga adaptor, you might be able to scroll the
palette in fastmode. If you do, press
Alt-C (highlight 'Fast Animate')
<enter> (make sure this toggles 'Fast Animate' on.)
<ESC> <ESC> (this returns you to the main data entry screen)
3) Let's draw a mandelbrot mountain using the previously
calculated rawfile.
Highlight 'Maxiter' and change it to a positive value
<Down Arrow>
<Down Arrow>
<Down Arrow>
100 <enter>
Change the image filename to 'noname2.3dv'
<Down Arrow> x 5
'noname2.3dv' <enter>
set the rawfile name to 'noname1.raw'
Alt-F
<Down Arrow> x 2
<enter>
'noname1.raw' <enter>
Let's begin drawing the image.
Alt-D
<enter>
You are now drawing a new image called 'noname2.3dv' using the
iteration data file 'noname1.raw' made while making 'noname1.3dv'.
The program won't spend any time calculating the iterations so
it should be faster.
After the drawing is finished, press <ESC> twice to return to the
main menu.
<ESC> x2
Before doing anything further, Let's change the rawfile name
to the default value which is blank.
(When the rawfile name is set to blank, the program will
automatically use the default rawfile name which is
the current filename + '.raw'.)
To change the rawfile name, press
Alt-F
<Down> x 2
<enter>
<back space> x 12
<enter>
<Esc>
<Esc>
4) Let's try to make a better looking mandelbrot mountain.
To select potential mode, press
Alt-V
<Enter>
And then select 'Conventionalmode' by pressing
<Down>
<Enter>
<Down>
<Enter>
<Esc> x3
and then change the image file name by pressing
<Pgdn>
'noname3.3dv' <enter>
To start drawing the image, press
Alt-D
<Enter>
5)
Let's draw another image with a different 3d perspective, get back
to the main menu and then press
Alt-I
(Highlight 'Change 3d Perspectiv')
<Enter>
At this point, you'll see a 3d box on the screen. This is the 3d
cube you'll use to change the 3d perspective. Let's rotate the
image 50 degrees. Press
<left arrow> x 25
Also, change the PHI by pressing
<Down arrow> x 35
Pan the image up by pressing
'I' (capital I only) x 7
To make the changes current, press
<Enter>
Now, change the filename to 'noname4.3dv'
Pgdn 'noname4.3dv' <Enter>
Let's use the old iteration data since the coordinates are the same.
Set the rawfile name to 'noname3.raw'
Alt-F
<Down Arrow> x 2
<enter>
'noname3.raw' <enter>
To start drawing 'noname4.3dv' press
Alt-D <Enter>
6) Now, Let's make a movie connecting images noname3.3dv and
noname4.3dv. Change the name of the slidefile list by pressing
Alt-s
(highlight 'Name of New Slidefil')
<enter>
'demo.3ds' <enter>
From the main menu, press
Alt-D
(Highlight 'Makemovie-r')
'10' <enter>
'demo0' <enter>
'3dv' <enter>
'noname3.3dv' <enter>
'noname4.3dv' <enter>
'noname3.raw' <enter>
The screen will go blank and the program will start making 10
blank images. To see the names of these blank images, press
Alt-2
You will see 10 image names listed on the slidefile editing
screen. To get back to the main entry screen, press
Alt-1
Let's save this slide file by pressing
(highlight 'Save Slidefile')
<enter>
Let's finish the blank images in the slidefile by typing
Alt-s
(highlight 'Run Slidefile')
<enter>
The program will now make 10 images connecting the two
images specified.
(This may take up to 120 minutes on an AT)
To run this slidefile, press
Alt-s
(highlight 'C Run Slidefile')
<enter>
7) press Alt-X to exit the program.
3. Reference Manual
- This reference manual is not meant to be read sequentially.
A. Data Entry Window commands
- This is the first window you see when you get into the program and
stays in the background. You can always get back to this window by
pressing the <ESC> key a few times.
a. Min X Cor
This is the x (real) coordinate of the lower left part of the
set.
b. Min Y Cor
This is the y (imaginary) coordinate of the lower left part of the
set.
c. Size
This is the length of the side of the square image of the
mandelbrot set.
d. Max Iter
This is the maximum number of iterations. For many images, 1000
iterations is appropriate. You can increase this value to more
than 100000 iterations. For most images, 60000 iterations is
sufficient. Increasing the number of maximum iterations will
give you more detail but also increase the time needed to finish
the image.
If you set this to a negative value, negative scaling will be
selected and the 'mandelbrot lake' will be plotted below the ground
instead of eerily floating above. The negative sign is only a switch
to tell 3DMAND that you want negative scaling and has no other
effect.
e. Zoom
This sets the zoom value. If you decrease this value, it will
have the effect of zooming out from the center. If you increase
this value, it will have the effect of zooming into the center
of the image.
f. No. of Regions
Select this to specify the number of regions displayed as one
color. If you decrease this value, you will increase the color
"band width", or to put it another way, have larger areas of the
same color. This value must be less than or equal to the number
of colors.
g. No. of colors
This is the maximum number of colors. The optimum value is 150
because you want to reserve space for drawing shaded images.
The maximum value is 249.
(The other colors are used for drawing the background,
the mandelbrot lake and write-over colors.)
h. Sectional View
Set this value to either a "T" or a "F". If you select "F" the image
will be composed only of surface dots. If you press "T" the surface
fill will be selected for a more complete image. Just drawing the dots
would decrease the time it takes to draw the image. The default is "T".
i. Clockwise Angle
Rotates the X Real and Y Imag coordinates used to generate the image.
if you set this to 10, it will have the affect of rotating the image
clockwise by 10 degrees.
j. Image Filename
This is the filename of the image. Set it to a new filename
everytime you draw a new image. The filename should have a ".3d*"
extension. Notice that if you set the image filename to a pre-
existing image, 3DMAND will display that image instead of writing
over it.
<reference>
The first image file should have a ".3DV" extension added to the
main filename. The iteration data file created will have a ".RAW"
extension. Image files contain the screen dump and all the parameters
used to generate the image which should be less than 64K. The
iteration data file can get pretty long depending on the X,Y resolution.
You can turn off the iteration data file generation if necessary. If
you attempt to generate a second image using the old iteration data
file, change the filename extension to something other than ".3dv"
(for instance ".3d2", ".3d3"...) while using the same main filename
and draw the image again. A second image will be made using the old
iteration data.
B. Files
- To select this menu, press Alt-F.
Using this menu, you can select an image from a directory, add images
to the slidelist and make backups.
a. Path
Select this to change the path in which the data files are located.
If you don't specify otherwise, the default directory is selected.
b. Mask for directory
This is normally '*.3D*'.
c. Directory.
When you select this, a window appears from which you can select
a specific file. Only files with the right mask will be displayed.
Use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to where you want and
then press the <ENTER> key when you have selected the right file.
You can leave without selecting a file by pressing the <ESC> key.
If you select a file, the 'File name' in the data entry window will
be changed. This won't immediately load the other parameters. The
other parameters will get loaded when you actually display the
image from the 'drawing' menu. (Finished drawing files are colored
white. Unfinished drawing files are colored light magenta.
Slidefile lists are colored light red. All other files are colored
black.) Up to 120 files can be displayed at once.
d. Add To Slidefile
When you select this, a window appears from which you can select
many image files into the Slidefile. Only files with the right mask
will be displayed.
Use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to where you want and
then press the <ENTER> key when you have selected the right file.
You can leave this screen by pressing the <ESC> key. If you want
to see the slidefile list, get back to the data entry screen and
then press Alt-2. Press Alt-1 in order to get back to the data
entry screen. When you select images and then view the slidefile
list, you will see the filename added to the end of the slidefile.
The slidefile is listed top to bottom and then right to left
starting from the upper left part of the screen. In all, it can
store up to 114 filenames. In order to get help on editing the
slidefile list, press F1 to see the editing commands. You can
also directly change the contents of the slidefile list by typing
the filename in after moving the curser to the right place in the
slidefile list.
e. Set Rawfile Name
Use this to set the rawfile name to something other than the
main image filename +'.RAW'. You must leave this blank if you
want to use the default rawfile name. If you set this to something
other than blank, 3DMAND will assume that this is the filename of
the rawfile to be used.
f. Make Backup
You can make multiple backups using this function. In order to
make a backup of a file, highlight it and then press enter. The
file will be copied to a '.BAK' extension.
g. Delete File
You can delete multiple files when you select this option.
Use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to where you want and
then press the <ENTER> key when you have selected the right file.
You can leave without deleting a file by pressing the <ESC> key.
h. Delete Current
This will delete the current image file.
i. Copy Current
This will copy the current image file.
j. Copy List
Copy images that appear when running the current slidefile list to a
specified path.
C. C Mode
- Choose this to set the constant modes. Constant modes don't
get saved to or loaded from the image file and are only saved
into the mandel_w.cfg configuration file. So, they stay constant
unless you change them manually. Select this by pressing Alt-C.
a. FastMode
If you don't select the fast mode, calculating the iterations will
take about 2 times longer even though you'll have pretty much the same
image. If you select the fast mode, the program will skip 2x2 pixel
boxes which are surrounded by a single color. If you turn off the
FastMode, the program will calculate as many pixels as set by the
X,Y resolution.
b. Animate Unfinished D
Select 'Animate Unfinished Drawing' in order animate the drawing
while generating it. The program will scroll the palette while
generating the image.
c. Rawfile
Select this if you want to use or make rawfiles. If you don't select
this option, the program will not read from or write to rawfiles.
d. PreviewMode
Select this to see a preview of the image before drawing the actual
image.
e. Double density
Turn on this option if your plotting becomes too sparse. When your
plotting becomes too sparse, you can either increase the X and Y
resolution or select Double density. If you increase X and Y
resolution, it will also increase the iteration calculating time but
selecting Double density will only increase the image drawing time.
f. sounds
enable or disable the sound
g. Animate Run Slidefile
This will animate the palette as you run the slidefile.
h. Fast Run Slidefile
Turn this on in order to increase the speed of the slidefile run
animation.
i. Run Palindromically
This will run the slidefile in the opposite direction after each run.
j. Fast Animate
Turn this on in order to increase the speed of the palette
animation. If you see flickers when 3DMAND animates the palette,
turn 'Fast Animate' off.
k. Part Animate
When you select this, the program will animate the palette only
up to the Maximum number of colors set. Don't select this when
viewing shaded images because the shaded part of the image won't
be animated when this is selected.
D. Type
- choose this pull down menu to change the type of the drawing you want
to make. Select this by pressing Alt-T. Use the arrow keys to move
the highlight bar. Press return to toggle the options or change the
contents of a data window. At any time press <ESC> two times to return
to the main entry window.
a. Draw Sphere
Select this to draw the mandelbrot/julia set into a sphere. You can
change the 3d parameters of the sphere by choosing the 'Change
sphere perspe' in the 'Drawing' pull down menu. The sphere mode
looks better with negative scaling. You can change the color of
the surface of the sphere by changing the 'starting color' from
the 'Enter Color' pull down menu.
(To make a 'colored sphere' image, select false to sectional view
and from the 'Change Sphere Perspe', set depth to 0.)
b. Draw Cube
This will draw the mandelbrot/julia set using a cube. You can change
the parameters of the cube by selecting 'Change 3d perspectiv'
option in the 'Drawing' pull down menu.
c. Draw 2D
Select this in order to display the image in 2d. It's useful to be
able to display the image in 2d when using zoom windows because it's
a lot faster and more accurate. You can easily make 2d images from
rawfiles.
d. Crater %
If you set this to something bigger than 0 then 3DMAND will turn on
the crater mode. The range for this value is between 0 and 100 -
bigger values will increase the depth of the crater.
Crater mode works only when you are drawing in potential mode.
(Crater mode draws iterations less than 9 at normal scaling and
iterations bigger than 9 at opposite scaling.)
E. V Mode
- Choose this pull down menu to change the variable parameters.
The variable parameters gets saved to or loaded from image
files so they may change when you load in an image file. Select
this by pressing Alt-V.
1. Draw Potential
If you don't select potential, some images will start to resemble
terraced landscapes. If you select potential mode, you'll see
continuous variations. In order to select this mode, you have to
select 'conventional mode' in the 'SelectCalcMode' option. You
cannot use 8087 mode or Fractint mode if you want to draw potentials.
Also, the maximum iteration limit is 5000.
2. SelectCalcMode
- 8087mode
If you select this the program will calculate images using an
assembly program that uses the 8087's stack registers.
- Conventionalmode
Select this if you've selected potential mode or if you can't
use '8087mode' or 'fractintmode'. This mode is the slowest of
the three.
- Fractintmode
Select this in order to use integer calculating methods. You are
limited to 32760 iterations and the magnification is limited to
8 digits. This mode is about 2 times faster than '8087mode'.
3. Shadow
Select this in order to see ray traced shadows.
You should set the shadow angle in the Data Menu before drawing
shaded images. Look at 'shaded.3dv' for an example.
4. Julia
If you want to draw Julia images, select Julia mode and then enter
the 'Julia Real' and 'Julia Imag' from the 'EnterData' menu and
then change the Min X Cor, the Min Y Cor, and the Size in the Data
Entry screen to an appropriate value. (for example -2, -2, 4)
5. Drawstars
Selecting this will draw stars on black colored areas.
F. I Data
- To select this menu, press Alt-I.
Using this menu, you can change many data parameters related to
drawing the image.
a. X resolution
This sets the X (real) resolution of the image made.
This does not have any affect on the hardware screen mode. The
hardware screen resolution remains at 320x200x256 for this version
of 3DMAND. What this value changes is the density of the plotting.
Sometimes it makes sense to select a value more than 320 when you
are drawing an image that might have boundaries outside the screen.
This also selects the number of iterations calculated per line. You
can obtain a suggested X resolution value by pressing 'p' from the
'Change 3-D perspective' function. Anything less may result in
a drafty looking image.
b. Y resolution
The Y (imaginary) resolution of the image made.
c. Minimum Iteration
Set this value to change the Minimum Iteration. This simply
sets the minimum number of iterations calculated. If a certain
point results in an iteration less than the minimum iteration,
it is given the minimum iteration value. It might be necessary
to increase the minimum iteration in order use the palette more
efficiently when the maximum iterations is high.
d. shadow angle
This sets the angle of the light used in making shadowed images.
Select a value between 0 and 90. 0 is from the top. 90 is from the
side.
e. Julia Real
Use this to set Julia Real Manually.
f. Julia Imag
Use this to set Julia Imag Manually.
g. Potential Slope
The optimal value is 100. Decrease this in order to get a less
steeper slope. Increase this value in order to get a more steeper
slope.
h. Change 3D Perspective
- Using this function, you can change the viewpoint, size, etc
for use in drawing the 3D-cube perspective.
You will see a cube drawn on the screen. If it's zoomed in
to the point where the image covers the whole screen, you'll
probably not be able to see the whole cube as most of the
lines would be outside the screen. In this case, zoom out by
pressing 'z' until you can see the entire cube. White lines show
the edges of the cube near the direction of light. Blue lines show
the base of the cube. Use the arrow keys to rotate the cube
horizontally or vertically. You can also roll the image by
pressing ',' or '.'. Using 'I','J','K','M' (capital letters)
keys you can pan the image. At any time, you can press
'F1' to get help on commands. Press 'd' to return the image to
the default configuration if you've lost track. Press 't'
for the 'box' configuration used in 3DMAND2. Press 'p' to see the
parameters and an advice on what the X, Y resolution should be.
Press 'T' to leave a trace behind. (For reference, you may not
get correct results if you try to look from inside the set.)
commands summary :
F1 - help screen
Up arrow/Down Arrow - change PHI. Rotate Up/Down
Left arrow/Right Arrow - change THETA. Rotate Left/Right
a - Zoom in
z - Zoom out
j - decrease X horizontal ratio
k - increase X horizontal ratio
i - decrease Z vertical ratio
m - increase Z vertical ratio
o - decrease Y horizontal ratio
l - increase Y horizontal ratio
J - pan left
K - pan right
I - pan up
M - pan down
, - rotate counter clockwise
. - rotate clockwise
d - return to default configuration
t - box configuration
T - leave a trace behind
p - print coordinates
return - save new perspective
i. Change Sphere Perspective
- Using this function, you can change the viewpoint, size, etc
for use in drawing the sphere perspective.
You will see a sphere drawn on the screen. A sphere section will
show the part of the sphere in which the mandelbrot/julia set
will be drawn. The sphere section can go around the edge of the
sphere if you want to. The part behind the visible portion of the
sphere will not be plotted. The sphere section will have curved
lines in the middle showing the maximum depth. If it's zoomed
in to the point where the image covers the whole screen, you'll
probably see only part of the sphere as some of the curves would be
outside the screen. In this case, zoom out until you can see the
entire sphere. Use the arrow keys to change the coordinate of the
lower right part of the sphere section. Use the 'i','j','l','m'
keys to change the coordinate of the upper left part of the sphere
section. You can roll the image clockwise or counter clockwise by
pressing ',' or '.'. Using 'I','J','K','M' keys you can pan the
image. At any time, you can press 'F1' for help on commands. Press
'd' to return the image to default configurations if you've lost
track. Press 'p' to see the parameters. Press 'f' to increase the
horizontal ratio making an elliptical image. Press 'v' to decrease
the horizontal ratio making a vertically elliptical image. Press 'A'
to Decrease the depth making a more level image. Press 'Z' to increase
the depth making a less level image. Press y,g,h,b keys to pan the
sphere section. Press <Enter> to set the sphere to the new settings.
Press <Esc> to exit without making any changes.
commands summary :
F1 - help screen
Up arrow/Down Arrow - change the lat of the lower right part of
the sphere.
Left arrow/Right Arrow - change the long of the lower right part of
the sphere.
a - Zoom in
z - Zoom out
A - Decrease depth
Z - Increase depth
j,k - change the long of the upper left part of the sphere section.
i,m - change the lat of the upper left part of the sphere section.
y - decrease the latitude of both the upper part and the lower part.
b - increase the latitude of both the upper part and the lower part.
g - decrease the longitude of both the left part and the right part.
h - increase the longitude of both the left part and the right part.
, - rotate counter clockwise
. - rotate clockwise
d - return to default configuration
p - print coordinates
f - increase the horizontal ratio the sphere
v - decrease the horizontal ratio the sphere
return - save new perspective
j. Entire Set
Press this in order to draw the entire set.
This function will set the X Cor, Y Cor and the square size
appropriately to draw the entire set.
G. Choose Color
- To select this menu, press Alt-D.
Using this menu, you can set some of the colors.
a. White Spot Color/Black Spot Color
This is used to set the color of the mandelbrot lake. You can
select a value between 0 and 150. If the maximum number of colors
is not 150 then something in between is selected.
b. BackGroundColor
This sets the background color. You can select a value between 0
and 150, 0 being black. If the maximum number of colors is not 150
then something in between is selected. This should be set to 1 in
sphere mode.
c. Starting Color
Use this to set the surface color of the Sphere in Spheremode.
In Cubemode, this will set the color of the minimum iterations.
- Sometimes, you might want the background color to match the
color of the maximum iterations. To do this, set Starting color
to 0 and background color to Max Color.
d. If you set this, the program will change to a new palette when
the image is loaded.
H. Slides
- To select this menu, press Alt-S.
Using this menu, you can load, edit and run slidefiles.
Data Entry Window.
a. Name of New Slidefile
Select this in order to change the slidefile name. This will
not immediately load or save the slidefile.
b. Load *.3DS
Highlight this option and press return. The Slidefile list you
choose will be loaded into memory from the disk.
c. Load Slidefile
Highlight this option and press return. A Slidefile list will be
loaded into memory from the disk.
c. Edit Slidefile
This will start editing the slidefile list.
The slidefile is numbered top to bottom and then right to left
starting from the upper left part of the screen. In all, it
can store up to 114 filenames. You can't have blanks in between
entries. In order to get help on editing the slidefile list,
press 'F1' to see the editing commands. You can also directly
change the contents of the slidefile list by typing the filename
in after moving the curser to the right place in the slidefile
list. If you want to run more than 114 filenames, you can put
slidefile list names into the slidefile list. This will save the
original slidefile into a stack and then load/run the new slidefile.
After running the new slidefile, the original slidefile will be
popped from the stack and continued. (see the demo movie for an
example.) You can also select an image file from the slidefile
list by pressing Alt-F4 after moving the cursor into the imagefile's
cell. When you do this, the imagefile the cursor is on will be
selected as the current 'Image File name' and it's configuration
will be loaded into memory. By pressing Alt-F5 you will also view
the image as well as select it. Pressing Alt-F6 will reverse
the slidefile list. Pressing Ins will insert a blank cell. Pressing
Alt-F1 will insert the filename the cursor is on instead of a blank.
Pressing Del will delete an imagefile from the slidefile list. Pressing
Alt-F7 will erase the entire slidefile list. Also you can put
directives in the place of filenames in order to control the sliderun.
't+' or 't-' will alternate scroll the palette once. 'p+', 'p-' will
turn the 'Part Animate' mode on and off. 'a+','a-' will turn
'Animaterun slidefile' on and off. 's+','s-' will turn Load Shadowmode
on and off. 'fsa+', 'fsa-' will turn fast slidefile animation on and
off. In order to run the slidefile Palindromically you should put
directives in reverse order at the end. See 'shaded.3ds' for an
example on inserting directives for displaying shaded images in
slidefiles. In order to load a shaded image properly, you should
make sure 's+' and 'p-' surround the shaded images.
Command Summary:
Alt F1 Insert an Imagefile name
Alt F4 Select Imagefile
Alt F5 Select & View Imagefile
Alt F6 Reverse list
Alt F7 Clear Slidefile list
Alt F8 Load Slidefile list
Ins Insert a Blank
Del Delete a filename from the slidefile list.
Slidefile list directives:
t+ altscroll.
t- altscroll in the opposite direction.
p+ turn 'part animate' on.
p- turn 'part animate' off.
a+ turn animate run slidefile on.
a- turn animate run slidefile off.
s+ turn loadshadowmode on.
s- turn loadshadowmode off.
fsa+ turn fast slidefile animation on.
fsa- turn fast slidefile animation off.
r+ turn use rawfile on.
r- turn use rawfile off.
Selecting this function is the same as pressing Alt-2. In order to
get back to the data entry screen, press Alt-1 or <Esc>.
d. Save Slidefile
This will save the slidefile list in memory to disk. If
there exists a slidefile in disk of the same name, it will be
written over.
e. Run Slidefile
This will start displaying the images. All the images will be
displayed once and then the program will return to the data entry
screen. The palette will be animated in between the images.
To temporarily stop the sliderun, press the space bar. To animate
the palette, press 'a'. Refer to section K for more information
on animating the palette of an image. Press <Enter> to continue
the sliderun.
- Making multiple images.
If there are any unfinished images inside the slidefile, the
'Run Slidefile' function will complete the unfinished images
as it goes along. Using the 'SaveConfig' or the 'Make Movie'
function, you can easily make several blank images which
you can complete one after the other by putting them in a
slidelist and running 'Run Slidefile'.
f. Pause Run Slidefile
This is similar to 'Run Slidefile' except that the program will
pause after displaying each image. Press <Enter> after each
slide in order to continue. You can also press 'n' in
order to show the name of the image file.
g. C Run Slidefile
This will run the slidefile repeatedly. To stop and return to
the main menu, press the <ESC> key. When you select C Run
Slidefile, the program will only load the configuration of the
first image in the slidefile. C Run Slidefile is faster than
'Run Slidefile' because it does not load the configuration
information of the other image files. Also, C Run Slidefile
will not try to complete incomplete images.
I. Drawing
- To select this menu, press Alt-D. From this menu, you can create
new drawings, make movies and edit images.
a. Current Setting
This will draw the mandelbrot set as configured by the data entry
window and the pull down menus. When you want to make a new drawing,
run this function after changing the image filename to that of the
new drawing. You can also finish incomplete images using this
function. When you select this option, the current settings will
be saved in the "MANDEL_W.CFG" file and the program will start
drawing the image. If the drawing is already finished, it will
display the image. If you've selected preview mode, you will at
first see a sparse drafty-looking preview of what the final result
might look like. In drawing the actual image, the program will
calculate a line of iterations and then draw a section of the image
repeatedly until the image is finished. Iterations calculated is
displayed at the upper left part of the screen. If you are using an
iteration raw file, the program will load a line of iterations from
disk and then draw them on the screen repeatedly until the image is
finished. The estimated amount of time that might be needed to
complete the image will blink on and off at the bottom part of the
screen. If you've selected 'Animate Unfinished D', the palette will
scroll after each line. To stop the image generation for now and
continue from where you've left off later, press the <ESC> key
(This might take a while as the program checks only occasionally for
a keyboard input.) Also, if an image takes too long to finish, the
program will automatically save the intermediate result and recycle
after every two hours. To abort the image generation, press the 'q'
key.
- To animate the palette.
After the image is finished, you will hear a small beep (If you've
enabled sound). Press <enter> two times to clear the 'animating..'
message. Press 'c' and then 'a' to start animating the image by
scrolling the palette. Press numbers '1' through '5' after
pressing 'a' in order to change the speed of the palette animation.
Press '-' or '+' to change the scroll direction. Press the space bar
in order to animate step by step. Press 'c' in order to animate
continuously. At any time press 't' in order to select the alternate
palette animation. If you want to return to the main menu, just press
the <ESC> key.
- Zooming in..
To Zoom in on an image, press <Enter> and then 'F1' after
the image is displayed through the 'current settings' option.
For simplicity, only the four corners of the zoom window is
displayed. You will see four white dots and four red dots
at the center of the screen. The red dots show the iteration
of the current XxY position. The white dots show the current
XxY position. Drawing the dots will be delayed at higher iterations
unless you are using a 2d image because the program has to calculate
each iteration in order to calculate the red dots. Press 'I' or 'M'
to move the window up or down. Press 'J' or 'K' to move the window
left or right. Press 'a' or 'z' to change the size of the square. Move
the zoom-in window until the dots completely surround the area you want
to zoom into. And then press return. The dots will blink for a while
and you'll see the 'zoom set' message on the upper left part of the
screen. This will only change the X (Real), Y (Imaginary) coordinates
and the Square size. The Zoom will be changed to 1 if it was some other
value. In order to draw the area you've just zoomed into, change the
image file name, select the draw option and then run the 'current
settings' function.
- Setting the Julia coordinates with the Zoom Window.
To set a Julia image using the zoom window, you must first load a
mandelbrot image by using the 'current settings' function. You
should make sure that the zoom window does not lie inside the
mandelbrot lake. After moving the window to the mandelbrot
coordinate you want to make the Julia set out of, press ']' instead
of <enter>. When you press ']' the XxY coordinate of the center
of the four dots will be saved into Julia Real and Julia Imag.
The min X cor and the min Y cor remains unchanged so that you
can change them later. To see the entire Julia set, you should set
the Min X cor, Min Y Cor, Square Size and Zoom to -2,-2, 4 and 1.
(Notice that you can zoom into Julia images just like any other image)
- Caution on using raw files.
When you delete an unfinished image, and fail to delete the rawfile
(the file with the '.RAW' extension) and then try to make a new
drawing with the same name, the program will try to resume making
the rawfile and pick off from where the rawfile ended even if the
coordinates are wrong. So, if you want to make a different drawing
using the same name, be sure to delete the rawfile also.
commands summary:
keys usage
i,j,k,m - move window
a,z - change the size of the window
c - scroll palette
<enter> - set zoom
] - set julia set
b. Save Config
Press this instead of 'current settings' when you want to make
a blank image. The program will save the configuration data into
a blank image file 2048 bytes long. You can later resume this
empty image file in order to complete the image.
c. Load Config
Pressing this will load the configuration information stored in an
image file. Selecting the 'Current Settings' function will also
load the configuration information. Still, 'Load Config' is useful
because you can load the config information of an image file
without displaying it.
d. Show Zoom
After zooming in on an image, you might want to see the coordinates
of the zoomed image again from the original image. To do this, first
load the image you zoomed from. If you select this function, you
will be prompted to input the 'Zoom-in 3DV' file. If you do so, it
will load the 'filename' image and then show with 4 white dots
the coordinates of the zoomed image file you just entered.
e. Movie
Using this function, you can make a movie using two image files
to set the beginning and the end. The Movie procedure will create
images in between the starting and the ending image file. First
you have to select the number of slides. If you want to make
a smooth running movie, select a big number. Next, input the movie
title. It has to be 5 chars long. Next, type in the extension you
want to use. (You might want to use an extension other than '3DV' -
if you want to make use of rawfiles made from previous movies of
the same title and length.) Next enter the starting and the ending
image file. The Starting and the ending image files have to be made
individually. Also, the starting and the ending image files has to
be of the same type. The procedure will then make image files that
go between the starting and the ending image file, changing most of
the variables associated with drawing the image. Notice that what
you are making are blank images. In order to see the slidefile, go
to the slidefile editing screen by pressing Alt-2. You will see the
filenames of the blank images just created by the Movie procedure
added to the end of the slidefile. In order to actually make the
movie, save the Slidefile using an appropriate slidefile name and
then run the slidefile using 'Run Slidefile'. This will complete the
blank image files made by the movie function.
f. Zoom Movie
If you are making a movie in which the ending set's square size is
more than 1000 times bigger or smaller than the starting set, using
the 'Movie' function will not be very useful because you'd have to
make too many slides in order to make a movie. If you use 'Zoom Movie'
instead of the 'Movie' procedure, the square size will change
geometrically instead of arithmetically. This will enable you to
make a zoom movie using few slides.
g. Make Movie-s.
If you want to make a movie using a single rawfile, select this
procedure. Everything else is similar to the 'movie' function except
that you will be prompted to enter the Rawfile name. When you pre-set
the Rawfile name, all the images in the slidefile will be made using
a single rawfile.
h. Make Movie-r
Using this function, you can make images using a key frame rawfile.
When you are using this function, you need two image files. The
beginning image file has to be completed and must have a rawfile. This
will be the key frame set. The ending image file doesn't have to be
completed but must be a subset of the beginning image. The new images
will be calculated using portions of the key frame set. In order to
prevent the new images from becoming too sparse, the ending images's
square width should be bigger than 80% of the square width of the
key frame set. These new images would be created without calculating
new iterations. Notice that the clockwise angle will remain the same
in the new slides regardless of how it may have been changed because
they are all generated from a single raw file. This function would
be of use if you want to make a smoother running movie.
i. Combine Movies
Using this function, you can combine two movies together, using
one as the background and the other as the foreground. First enter
the number of slides for the output file. And then enter the number
of slides in the background file. And then enter the background movie
name and extension. After that, enter the foreground movie length, name
and extension. And then enter the output movie name and extension.
The number of slides for the output movie should be less than or equal
to either the foreground movie or the background movie whichever one
is bigger. These files must be present in the default path. After
that, enter the output movie title and extension. You can not run this
function in nographic mode. In order to view the new slidefile, go to
the slidefile editing screen by pressing Alt-2. Notice that the new
slides are added to the end of the slidefile. Edit the slidefile if
needed and then save the slidefile using an appropriate slidefile name.
You can now run the slidefile. The foreground images should not
completely overlap the background images or you'll only see the
foreground images. The black colored areas of the foreground image will
be replaced by that of the background image.
j. Flip Horizontally
Flip the image Horizontally and save it on disk.
(Once you alter the image, the zoom window may not work accurately.)
k. Flip Vertically
Flip the image Vertically and save it on disk.
(Once you alter the image, the zoom window may not work accurately.)
l. Re-size / edit
To Re-size the entire image:
This will plot the current image into the size and location you
specify. When you select this, the current image will be displayed
on the screen along with a white rectangle. Press i,j,k,m keys to
move rectangle. Press the arrow keys to change the shape of the
rectangle.. Press 'a' or 'z' to increase or decrease the size of
the rectangle.. Press 'X' to see the rectangle's coordinates.
After setting the rectangle, press enter to re-size and save the image
to the size and location outlined by the rectangle. The image will be
re-plotted and saved. If you press ']' instead of enter, the
background will not be erased.
To Re-size a portion of the image:
This will plot a portion of the current image as you
specify. When you select this, the current image will be displayed
on the screen along with a white rectangle.
Press i,j,k,m keys to move the rectangle.
Press the arrow keys to change the shape of the rectangle.
Press 'a' or 'z' to increase or decrease the size of the rectangle.
Press 'X' to see the rectangle's coordinates.
After setting the rectangle, press '[' to lock onto the capture
coordinates. After that, you'll see another rectangle on the screen.
Set this rectangle as before to the size and shape of the output
image. The captured image will be re-sized and re-plotted as
specified. If you press ']' instead of <enter> the background won't
be erased.
To Draw a white box on the image:
Change the shape of the rectangle as described above and press 'b'.
This will leave a white box on the image.
To add text onto the image:
Press 'T' after the rectangle box appears. Enter text color and text.
The text will be overlaid on top of the image at the bottom part
of the screen.
To draw multiple copies of the same image onto the screen :
Press '}' to copy the same image over and over again.
You must press ']' for the last copy. You can not copy images
and then add text at the same time. You'll have to save the
image first.
To draw multiple rectangles onto the screen :
Press 'B' instead of 'b'.
To change the step rate, press '1'..'9' or '0' for ten.
(Once you alter the image, the zoom window may not work accurately.)
Keys Summary
i,j,k,m - move box
arrow keys - re-size box
b - draw box and save.
B - draw box.
[ - specify the source image. (default is entire screen.)
] - draw image and save.
enter - clear screen, draw image and save.
} - draw image.
'1'..'0' - change step rate.
m. Mix Mode
In order to combine two images together, making a third image,
select this procedure. You will be prompted to input the name of
the background, the foreground image file and the output file.
The background and the foreground files have to be completed
images. The procedure will draw the foreground file over the
background file and then save it in the output file.
n. Change Config
This will save the Configuration information in memory to an existing
image file. This will not change the image stored in the image file.
J. Hot keys
a. Alt - F2 (Save Config)
save current configurations to a blank image file of the current Image
filename.
b. Alt - F3 (Load Config)
load the configurations in the Image filename to memory.
c. Alt - F4
select an image file the cursor is on in the slidefile list and
load in the configurations.
d. Alt - F5
Select & view an image file the cursor is on in the slidefile list.
e. Alt - 1
go to the main data entry window.
f. Alt - 2
go to the slide file edit window.
K. Animating an image
a. Animating a slide in a sliderun
At any time during a sliderun, you can animate an image by pressing
the space bar to stop the sliderun and then any of the following keys.
a press 'a' to select the default palette animation.
t press 't' to choose alternate palette animation.
space bar press the space bar to step scroll the palette
c press c to continuously scroll the palette
+ scroll the palette in one direction.
- scroll the palette in the opposite direction.
return press return to continue running the sliderun.
n shows the name of the slidefile
The above keys can also be used after displaying a slide through the
'view image' or the 'current setting' function.
4. Command Line Parameters.
/nographic - switches on nographic mode. In nographic mode, you can
generate raw files and images without using a vga system.
You can do everything except mix, combine, zoom window
and resize/edit. If you want the program to run in the
background in 386 enhanced mode, you should turn this on.
/slide:demo.3ds - this will automatically load and run a slide named
demo.3ds
/nomessage - this will turn off checking for a vga system.
/nowarning - this will turn off the initial warnings.
5. Common problems
A. working with Windows
a. memory
You need 572K free conventional memory in order to run mandel_w.exe.
If you need to run 3DMAND3 with less conventional memory
mandel_v.exe can run with 519K of memory. You won't be able to
use getwindow, makemovie, combine, showzoom, re-size, 'change
3d perspective' and 'change sphere perspective' while running
mandel_v.exe.
The 3DMAND program does not uses any expanded memory.
B. Speed
a. Why does the plotting gets suddenly slower when drawing sets beyond
32000 iterations or when the shadow mode is on.
- Non-shadow mode sets with iterations below 32000 are plotted using
a machine language drawing routine which is at least 3 times faster
than the alternative.
b. It takes too long to run my slidefile.
- A disk caching software will dramatically improve the speed of
the sliderun speed. Running from a RAM disk will also improve
the speed. Also, make sure 'fast run slidefile' is turned on.
C. Display
a. I see flickers at the top of the screen when the program is animating
the palette.
- The program tries to change the palette only when the VGA is
in a retrace period. If there isn't enough time to change the
palette in time, the program will end up changing the color
registers during an active refresh period which will cause
snowing to occur. When snowing occurs, turn the fast animate mode
off. This way, the palette will be changed in two pieces. This
should prevent the snowing from occurring.
b. The colors of the dark part of my shadowed image won't change when I
try to animate the palette.
- When you want to view a shadowed image, turn the part animate mode
off. This will enable the animation of the shadowed part of the
palette.
D. Generating an image.
a. I can clearly see that the slide is finished. But the program keeps
on running.
- That's because the program is processing pixels outside the screen.
If you want to force the image into completion, press '&' if you
aren't making a rawfile. If you are making a rawfile, you should let
the program go on to finish the rawfile or you will end up with an
incomplete rawfile.
b. The Rawfile is over 1 million bytes long! How can I reduce the size
of the rawfile?
- Rawfiles of images with iterations above 64000 will have rawfiles two
times bigger than those with iterations below 64000. Also, you could
try reducing the X and Y resolution and turning on doubledensity.
You could also try compressing unused rawfiles using a compression
utility.
c. It takes too long to calculate the iterations.
- You could try to reduce the X and Y resolution. This could be done
from the I Data menu. This will naturally make the plotting sparse.
When this happens, select doubledensity mode. Selecting
doubledensity mode will increase the plotting time but the improvement
in the quality of the image is definitely worth it. Also, selecting
Fractint mode when applicable will speed up the calculation. Also,
turning on Fastmode will improve the iteration calculating speed
at lower iterations by skipping 2x2 pixels surrounded by the same
color. Using old iteration raw files whenever possible to generate
a new image will also reduce the time spent calculating new
iterations.
