What's new in Fractal Explorer

quaternions rendering. Check "Fractal|Quaternions..." menu to find one

we used algorithm by Frode Gill, Norway (fgill@krs.jia.no), bugs fixed, speed improved and Phong coloring method added;
added formula parser by Kyle McCord;
animations rendering by quaternion rotations available too;
3D "strange" attractors: new algorithm, which allow to ray-trace the image with Phong-lights. New algorithm also allow to increase iterations count, improve quality of the resulting image and reduce memory using.
added additional options into all image saving dialogues:
- put sign the image will be signed (signature options available in the "Preferences" window)
- auto spot saving to save spot file after saving of the image
- antialiasing 1:2 to make antialiasing before saving;
when you save the spot file, FE will offer you to render images at once and add spot to the "Batch rendering" list, where you can configure rendering;
version 2.03 of the Formulae Compilator released. Main feature of the new version is a speed improvements;
option "Keep infinity area" renamed to "No inside" and "No outside" option added;
added new formulas:
- Jesse McKeown II and III
- 5nd Mandel/Newton
- Polinom C-FnC
- RCL Pick 4
- SuperNewton I and II (Newton-style)
and added many additional functions into internal fractal formulas;
new entries added into complex-functions list;
new palette algorithm called "Sine combine III";
new interesting filters:
- Log Counting IV and V
- Log Counting (sin/cos) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
- Orbit counting 13 and 14
in the "Formulas" folder in the source package lots of the new formulas for Formulae Compilator;
new formulas for 3D-attractors:
- 09. Sin(X) + Cos(Y) + Z
- 10. X*Sin(X) + Y*Sin(Y) + Z*Sin(Z)
- 11. X + X*X + X*Y + X*Z + Y + Y*Y + Y*Z + Z + Z*Z
- 12. X + Y + Z + X*Y + Y*Z + Sin*Cos;

3D-landscapes rendering by "RenderLight" renderer removed;

fixed error in the "6nd Mandel/Newton var II" formula;

added menu item to stop fractal calculation (also, hot key is [Escape]);

added option to quick close of the all windows (see the "Help" menu);

Image post-processing: added some new filters and clouds generator;

File Browser will work much better and quickly;

"Auto iteration" mode now works in the "Select fractal" mode only;

"True3D Attractors": minor changes and improvements;

added support for multiuser environment: each user can have personal settings (see the "Preferences");

added automatic recovering features (look to the "Preferences" dialog, "Spots and images" tab);

found little bug, which braked fractal calculation - now is faster;

File Browser does not show directories with "read only" attribute set;

Now at minimization of the File Browser window the application will not be minimized;

fixed error: color cycling tool don't work with increment equal to 1;

fixed bug, when image was not drawn under Windows 2000;

fixed error in the Batch Rendering mode: options applyed to the first selected spot, not to all selected group;

fixed error: the button "C" works incorrectly when fractal rotated;

file renaming in the File Browser was case insensitive (it was impossible to rename a folder "FrActals" into "Fractals");

Fractal Explorer 1.21:

coloring: "Ultra Fractal"-like color gradient added (see the "Color control" window);
IFS: the first version of the Visual IFS Builder now available from the "IFS Constructor" window;
new fractals:
- Generalized Phienix 1 and 2;
- Generalized Newton IV;
- Polinom: Fn(t)+C;
- CBAP: Z*Z*Z-aa3*Z+b (formula №3 from Flarium24);
- 3nd Newton variation 4;
- 4nd Newton variation 3;
Now 100 internal sets available !!!
new filters:
- Weights I;
- Log counting I, II and III;
- Log counting IV X-area;
- Log counting V Y-area;
- Log counting VI Z-area;
Batch rendering mode is almost completed. The sheduler now works. Added some another improvements, but "render-to-disk" feature not implemented yet. The work proceed...
Image processing mode (now called "Filters"): added some transformations and new feature - texturization (it can use the texture library, which included into "Fractal Landscapes Library" package;

Ctrl key with left mouse button allow you to move fractal in the main window;

double clicks by the mouse buttons (left to zoom in, right to zoom out) now differences with Ctrl and Shift keys (see the "Preferences" | "Dbl-click zooming" for customization);

Selection block improvements: NW, SE, SW and NE resizing boxes available now and new "zoom-out" selection mode (see the "Preferences" | "Selection block" for more info);

different styles of the selection box allowed;

added lots of hints in the "Select fractal" and "System options" (new name - "Preferences") windows;

now UNDO available for IFS fractals too;

from the current version into spot-file will write info about version of the FE. After loading the spot you can see this info as hint of the status bar in the main window;

standart picture sizes added: 600x600 and 640x640;

iterations count of the IFS now not depend from MaxIter value;

added start-up options "Set autoiterations enabled by default" which enables automatic calculation of the iterations count at startup;

RAM allocation reduced in the batch rendering;

bug in the "IFS constructor": fields to edit A, B, C, D, E and F values rearranged to the right sequence:
Ax + By + E
Cx + Dy + F
old, not right sequence:
Ax+Bx+C
Dx+Ex+F

fixed fractal movement (with mouse) in the "Select fractal" window (when fractal is rotated);

fixed error with saving the spot file after savin of the image;

the "Image size" window now will save self position

some errors in the "File Browser, Undo works and "System options" were fixed;

fixed memory bug in the Julie preview window;

functions CMulR and CDivR (Formulae Compilator) was wrong,.. fixed;

Fractal Explorer 1.20se:

"quick image preview" area added into File Browser window (Bitmaps, JPEGs and GIFs accepted);
IFS animations: list of the IFS can be chosen to render transformations from one to another;
brightness and contrast controls added ("Color control" window);
added two variations of the "Gaussian" filter;
the "Sine combine II" coloring algorithms added;

into popup menu of the File Browser added options which allow you to load palettes from FRP and FRS files;

color cycling tool changed to the best UF-like mode;

IFS constructor window rearranged;

main menu rearranged and some items renamed ("Copy to clipboard", "System"->"Preferences", ets...);

some changes in the "Julia window". Please remember, what you can switch to Julie and back with Enter key (while Julie window visible);

"Color control" window was rearranged and now can accept FRS and FRP files (drag these files from the File Browser window and drop them into "Color Control" window) to change current palette;

merged setup controls for the julie and params animations;

now state of the "Keep proportional" checkbox will kept;

"redo" options added into "Fractal" menu (also, "Ctrl+Shift+Z" keys);

now key "C" will move the point under mouse pointer into image center;

the formula of relative speed of the zoom animations are changed;

little speed-ups (but CPU/hardware-depend);

and little interface enhancements :-)));

now rotation state is keep after opening/closing of the IFS Constructor;

found little memory leaks;

fixed some bugs in the "Quick antialiasing" window;

3D-attractors: fixed animations rendering;

3D attractors: fixed bug with "simple" color palette;

the Windows wallpaper setting fixed;

error with "IFS Animation" window fixed too;

some little bugs with "Julie window" fixed;

Fractal Explorer 1.20:

now for the some built-in formulas there is an opportunity to choose one or two functions from the list. The list of functions is compatible with FractInt. In most cases, by default the function IDENT ("empty" function) is established. Also, one or two formulas can be used in Formula Compiler, please, read the Fractal Compiler manual for details;
the File Browser window added (drag'n'drop (in and out), cut/copy/paste, run files and spots supported);
version 2.02 of the Formulae Compilator released. Please, refer manual to get more info;
now you can select iterations count for quick load the attractors spots (System options|StartUp);
ability to set/remove the file associations (System options);
palette can be loaded from another spot file (frs);
the "Variation III" and "Sine combine" coloring algorithms added;
added new filters: "Orbit counting" 9, 10, 11 and 12;
two new fractal formulas added:
- ZZ2 (Noel Giffin)
- Scorpio (Noel Giffin)

now UNDO supported, see the "System options" window for undo options;

fractal's calculation speed-up, from 5 to 50% of the time;

now FE has support command line and drag'n'drop operation for:

FLP-files (Fractal Landscape projects)
FRA-files (zoom animation projects)
IFS-files (FractInt's IFS formulas);

"multiple instances" now work more correctly;

the speed of 3D-attractors OpenGL-rendering is increased on 5-10%;

now "Select fractal" window can have sizeable border, check the system menu of this window;

frames for AVI can be saved into BMP, JPEG and GIF format;

code of the Windows wallpaper setting altered;

the "Color options" form has not saved last position: fixed;

fixed some bugs in the mathematic-part of codes;

fixed some bugs on loading the IFS files;

fixed error with disabled rotations for "compiled" fractals;

fixed error with saving AVI frames as set of bitmaps;

and some another AVI-creations bugs fixed;

Fractal Landscapes Library 1.05:

added ability to save and load terrain environment (textures, lights settings, vertical palette, ets);
added vertical palette (look to the "Object" menu).
For more details see the FLL manual;
added texture editing tool (see the popup menu - right mouse button click - for each texture area);
now you can choose type of the equation, density, distances and color of the fog. These controls are available in the "Sky options" window;
texture library version 3.0 inqluded;
minor interface improvements;
now Windows 2000 compatibility tested;
minor speed-ups;
fixed errors with exporting terrain data into POV-Ray format;

Fractal Landscapes Library 1.04:

the landscapes rendering from the heightmap generated with algorithm by Bret Mulvey is added to the menu "File | New";
the OpenGL information module is added to allow selection of the fastest rendering mode (or pixel format).
Look for menu "Help | System info";
some quick-ups. Save up to 30-50% of time.
navigation panel on "Scene options" dialog now work throught OpenGL: terrain displayed correctly. Also, you can drag the camera and the view area;
now you can load GIF-files with terrain/water/sky textures;
added little executable to load FLP-files without Fractal Explorer. FLP files will associate with it;
the fog control is added to the "Sky properties" window (now it allow enable/disable state only);
the color gradient of the water and texture of the sky now work correctly;
ability to set the Windows wallpaper altered to get the right work;
the option is added "Mesh border to 0" (menu "Object"). It creates terrain with a one-pixel border, lowered on a sea level;
the options is added "Init context everytime" (menu "Render"). It may be need for some videoadapters. Check it if some preview areas not updated;
bad bug with Texture Library are fixed;
a lots of the little bugs are corrected.

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