Mandlebrot Set-Fractals

check this out!

i've made a renderer in c++ and a gui in vb...in the gui you can zoom and change all other suff....then click render and the c++ program will render the image for you in just a second! really fast! then it loads back into vb!

tell me if you want the source!

here it is

Quote:

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Originally posted by TheAlchemist
here it is

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what? where?

here is another version using a dll file that i made in c++.
it's fast and easy, with no known bugs.

damn it didn't attach! give me a few minutes.

Cyborg:
i can't seem to use your app(the first c++ one), it says some files are missing. I did not note a very great rise in performance from the alterations you made to my code. It may be because it was still using the {Step 0.0001} thingy. In a few minute check out the new version.
BTW can you show me how to use the GetDIBits function. Thanks.


Guv:
I still haven't manged to check your app. Please give me a few more hours. Thanks.

here's an example using getdibbits...its still very slow, but that's because its vb..
(the zoom function is a bit buggy)

hey guys,
sorry i still haven't posted! my floppies always seem to die on me just when i need to attach! this is the same reason i still haven't gotten to see your code Guv-no way to get it to a vb enabled computer.
Im working on it.

i managed to make my program alot faster (thanks to Agent and Jon for some help with this). so now there's realtime animation fly-through, bmp and jpeg file support.

i managed to do this by making all the calculations and drawings in the c++ dll file, so now it works almost like BitBlt, only it calcs what to draw.

Cyborg: Your latest version was impressive.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Guv
Cyborg: Your latest version was impressive.

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Thanks alot! :)

Do you have any ideas for improvements?

Cyborg: My application is entirely VB, resulting in rendering extremely slowly compared to your application. The difference in speed surprises me. I assume that the computations take most of the time, and I would expect VB code to be more efficient for raw computing. I use a maximum of 200 to 1000 iterations per pixel.

Your code seems to store all the values in an array and then draw the image from the array. Might this technique make the process faster? I compute for a single pixel, store in an array (for fast repaint), and paint the pixel

Your animation controls are too slow due to taking small increments and rendering at each change in size or position. It is interesting to home in on extremely small virtual areas, and your method is too slow. Decreasing the number of iterations seems to help.

An algorithm which is initialized to take 25% jumps seems about correct. This allows homing in exponentially. If user changes direction, use half the previous percentage. User can adjust to the area of interest fairly easily and quickly.

I start with a factor of .75 for zooming in and 1.25 for zooming out. If user zooms in then out, the zoom out is 1.125, and the next zoom in would be .9375 The left/right & up/down movements are handled similarly. When the user stops zooming and moving, my application resets to the original percentages.

ok, ill try to make the animation a bit better...in fact, i dont like it the way it is either.

in the latest version i send all the variables (such as rmin, rmax, etc) to the dll.
then the dll creates a DC and a one dimensional array that can hold all pixels.
then i compute all pixels and store the color values in the array.
then i use SetDibBits to draw them all to the DC.
then i BitBlt the DC back to the one in VB.

i was making it draw directly to the DC in VB fist but then i experienced some problems with it, so i created a new one and used BitBlt to draw it back.

there is probably some ways to make it all work faster.
for example when zooming out i could stretchblt the image smaller and only render the parts thats new. (same when scrolling sideways)

Guv
I have been playing around with your application. I particularly like the n'th root fractals. There seems to be a problme with your julia sets. All the sets produced (at least for all the valus of C that i have tried) are variations of the C = 0+0i fractal. They are basically very round with a slight black border.
I am leaving for university in a few days so i am very busy and don't have as much time as i would like to have to study your application. Have I mentioned yet that it is great!!! It is!
I find your zooming a bit restricting with the rectangle size being fixed, but i understand it is neccesary to prevent distortion of the selected area when mapped to the picture boxes' dimensions.
I have still chosen to leave my zooming functions intact. After studying your colouring algorithms a bit i have discovered that the kind of colouring that i am using is a variation of cyclic colouring! phew i finally have a name for it. The equal interval scheme is not very aesthetically pleasing or open to interesting exploration by zooming.
I haven't had time to carefully read the links Cyborg provided but have a strong feeling that my knowledge of fractals will substantially increase after i have. I also haven't had time to look at Cyborgs' app yet.
I like the way you have used DeMoivre's theorem/notation for complex numbers to find the roots of the newton iteration functions. I am working on a similar scheme for my app... but with a variation- I don't think i will be using angles.

try this colour scheme for your app:

VB Code:

Dim idx As Integer
   Dim r As Integer
 
   r = 
   For idx = 0 To 11
    lblColor(idx).Backcolor = r
    r = r + 1016
   Next idx

im not sure if this is the right code.. i will confirm and get back to you. In the mean time just use this. It should produce different hues of red fading into black...produces very aesthetically pleasing fractals. BTW i sorted out my zooming problem. Your tip was spot on.

Cyborg
I hope you understand my predicament cyborg- i appreciate your contribution to this thread.

hey guys, here it is finnaly, took some time because i was busy getting settled into college

try the last version of my app! :)
its really fast!

Hey guys am back!
I figured out a cool way to make nice color schemes(if you remember that was once of the problems i was working on)

VB Code:

Dim idx As Integer
   Dim x As Integer
   Dim r As Integer
   
   idx = 255
   For r = 0 to 11
    lblColor(r).BackColor = RGB(x,x,idx)
    idx = idx - 20
    x = x + 20
   Next r

would generat nice hues of blue(try it out by simply replacing the above code in the SetCols Subroutine in my project)

looks nice!

have you tried UltraFractal?

here's the link: http://www.ultrafractal.com/
you might get some ideas from it...but its really advanced!

hey i just downloaded ultra fractal, wow! you were right in saying its really complicated! im going to try and figure out small parts of it and try and intergrate them in to my own app. I might just buy it after the evaluation expires, unless u know of a crack. ;)

A long time ago, my father told me that if you had a machine that only had one function, you turned it on and it did that funciton. If you had a device capable of doing two functions, you had to turn it on and choose a button or a switch setting to chose which function you desired. If you had a device that could do thousands of functions, you might not be able to figure out how to get it to do anything.

UltraFractal & Fractint are incredible applications. Both make my fractal application look sad, but I wonder how many people can use either effectively without a lot of study. I have Fracint for DOS, but most DOS graphics programs are ineffective on modern systems due to graphic card compatibility problems. I downloaded Fractint for Windows, which I think is freeware.

I am thinking about building a DOS system using an old graphics card. I still have a lot of very fascinating DOS software, and think I can find a suitable graphics card somewhere (likely on ebay).

cracks are illegal, but if you dont care: www.cracks.am
(just had to mention it)

Guv: i agree. its a bit too complicated.

yes i agree too, Ultra Fractal is very complicated. I suppose that is why it is a very good fractal application. If one really wants to appreciate the beauty of fractals then it is imperative that one study them.
Having said that, i'm finding it difficult to effectively use myself. But the links that Cyborg posted on fractals much earlier in this thread are proving to be very useful.