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The Datafile PD-CD 5
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DATAFILE_PDCD5.iso
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utilities
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fractrace
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!FracTrace
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FTS-Def
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1990-07-22
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FracTrace Script (FTS) command descriptions
-------------------------------------------
An FTS file is a plain ASCII text file containing the commands and their
right parameters to describe a fractal surface and its rendering in
FracTrace.
Lines may contain : - a single command
- multiple commands, separated by a semi-colon ';'
- comments, preceded by a back-slash '\'
- the combination of both commands and comments
Some good examples of FTS files can be found in the 'FTS-Files' directory.
A description of each individual command follows underneath:
Command Description
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title Sets the title for the current surface(s). This title is
used for all file-handling. A string of maximum eight
characters is given as the sole parameter.
Example: Title Snowy
Frames Sets the maximum number of 'frames'. The parameter is an
integer.
Example: Frames 24
Scope Sets the range of frames to be rendered. If you have set
the maximum number of frames to, say 24, it is possible
to set the range of frames to be rendered to any
interval within 1..24. The two parameters are the
minimum and maximum frame number.
Example: Scope 3,18
Mandelbrot Tells the program that the set to be used is the
Mandelbrot Set. This command takes no parameters.
Julia Tells the program that the set to be used is a Julia
Set. This command takes no parameters.
Resolution Sets the resolution of the surface to be calculated and/
or rendered. The units for this resolution may be
regarded as pixels. The two parameters are the x and y
resolution of the surface.
Example: Resolution 300,300
Range Sets the range in the complex plane for the part of the
set that is to be calculated and/or rendered. The four
parameters are minimum x, maximum x (real axis), minimum
y, maximum y (imaginary axis). These values can best be
obtained from a normal Mandelbrot plotting program!
Example: Range -1.5,1.5,-1.5,1.5
Cval Sets the real and imaginary part of the point to
calculate and/or render the Julia Set of. The two
parameters are the real and imaginary part of the point.
Example: Cval 0.32,0.043
Smoothness Sets the smoothness of the surface. The higher the
smoothness-value, the smoother the surface, and the more
calculations will be performed to obtain the potential
of a point on the surface! The sole parameter is an
integer, which really should be at least about 100!
Example: Smoothness 120
Depth Sets the depth of the iterations in the calculation of
the potential of a point. The higher the value, the more
precise the set will be calculated, and again, the
longer it takes to calculate a point-potential. The
parameter is an integer in the range 1..127!!!
Example: Depth 100
Mountains Tells the program to render the surface as a mountain.
This command takes no parameters.
Valleys Tells the program to render the surface as a valley.
This command takes no parameters.
Light Sets the direction of the light-vector. This vector
need not be normalised. Note that this vector is the
direction of the light-rays, ie. it points away from the
light source! The three parameters are the x, y, and z
components of the vector. (z always should be negative!)
Example: Light 0.5,1,-2
Brightness Sets the brightness of the light-source. The higher the
value, the brighter the light. The sole parameter is an
integer.
Example: Brightness 78
Steepness Sets the steepness of the mountain/valley slopes. The
higher the value, the steeper the slopes. Note that the
magnitude of this value is disproportional with size of
the region indicated with the range command. The sole
parameter is an integer.
Example: Steepness 240
Dithering Sets the color-dithering factor. Because the program
only uses 16 colors to render an image (due to the 4bit
nature of mode 12), abrupt color changes on the surface
may give a non-realistic feel to the image. Therefore,
a simple technique, called random dithering, is used to
produce intermediate 'pseudo-colors', which make the
color changes seem quite continuous. A value of 1 means
no color dithering. The sole parameter is an integer.
Example: Dithering 16
Shadows Tells the program wether to calculate shadows or not.
The calculation of shadows slows down the rendering
quite drastically. The parameter is a string of the form
'On' or 'Off'.
Example: Shadows On
Interpolation Tells the program wether to interpolate values in the
horizontal direction. Interpolating doubles the time
needed for rendering an image, but it produces more
detail. An image created with interpolation off has
'mode 9' resolution, whereas images created with
interpolation on have a true 'mode 12' resolution.
The parameter is a string of the form 'On' or 'Off'.
Example: Interpolation Off
Offset Sets the two 'screen offsets' for the image. A
horizontal offset of 0 would place the image to the left
edge of the screen. A vertical offset of 0 would place
the image half way below the bottom edge of the screen.
Normally, the x (horizontal) offset should remain at 40,
and the y (vertical) offset should vary between 240 and
480, depending on the angle at which to view the
image. The two parameters are the x and y offsets.
Example: Offset 40,380
Angle Sets the viewing angles. The first value is the x angle,
a value of 0 makes you look at the image 'head-on'.
The second value is the y angle, which should be in the
range 15..90 to get a meaningful view on the image, 30
being a quite reasonable average. In the current
versions of FracTrace, the x angle is best kept at 0!
The two parameters are the x and y viewing angles.
Example: Angle 0,25
Increment Sets the x and y 'OS-Unit' increment steps when
rendering the surface. These values are both best kept
at 4!
Example: Increment 4,4
Slope Front Sets the front-slope range and steepness. For some
images it will be necessary to use this feature to avoid
the artificial cut-off of the front-most edge of the
surface. When