Manual Fractal Settings of Fracthunder 2.1

Manual Using Bitmaps FracThunder 2.1

How bitmaps are used

A Walking point as a walking "pipet"

To understand this algoritm, you can see a walking point as a walking pipet. At the start of a walk. The pipet is empty having no color. While walking, the pipet touches a part of the picture it will take the color of the touched part of the picture.
Note that this "pipet" has nothing to do with the global pipet of the FracThunder.

standaard algoritm using pixtures

The normal algoritm is extendable by adding existing pictures (bitmaps). While a point is "stepping" through the space, you can place existing one or more picture in that space. When while Walking, the stepping point accidentely z(n) comes somewhere in the bitmap, the color of that place of the picture is taken into the pipet and the stepping of the point is stopped, because the pipet is full and the color is defined. The found color is put at the pixel of the Starting Point z(0) of the stepping pixel.

Variation: transparency pixels of pictures

Pieces of a picture can be partly of completely transparant. When the stepping pixel (pipet) comes into such a part of the picture. The pipet is filled partly with that color, when the pixel is 75 transparent (in sense of strength), the empty part of the pipet is filled with 75% of the color, so the empty room is 4 times smaller. When the pipet is (nearly) fill, the walking is stopped and the (mixed) content of the pipet (a mixed color) is put on the pixel of the Starting Point.

Importing, Browsing and Removing Bitmaps

Press or choose in the menu:Fractal | Bitmap Properties....
In the new dialogbox select tab Files.
Do the actions: importing, browsing and removing bitmap.
Press button OK, if you are finished.

The currently selected Picture is displayed in the dialogbox.

Importing a .bmp and .tif Bitmap

Absolute and Relative file references.

An Absolute file reference is a reference on it own. Example "D:\fractal\pictures\trees.bmp".
A Relative file reference is a reference seen from a directory. Example "fractals\trees.bmp". In this case the point is from the Fractal file. When you open fractal file "D:\fractals\christmastree.ftf" and you want to reference to "D:\fractal\pictures\trees.bmp", the Relative reference is "pictures\trees.bmp", because "D:\fractal\pictures\" is the directory of the fractal file.

You can use Relative file references only when a Fractal file is defined. For example when you create a new Fractal, you cannot use Relative file references at that moment, you must save the fractal first.
Using Relative file references you can only references to files that are inside the same directory or subdirectories as the Fractal file.

You can switch between Absolute and Relative file reference by choosing Absolute or Relative from fractal file in group Reference to file, when possible.

The Succesfully imported file is listed in field File Specified, Absolute or Relative referenced.
The Succesfully imported Absolute referenced file is listed in field File Effective Absolute.

Importing Bitmaps via Dailogboxes

If there is already a picture, press Append
Give the picture a name in field Name. If you leave it empty, then name will be filled with the complete filename.
If you want to choose a bmp-file using a dialogbox with preview of bmp-files, press the button at Choose .bmp file using preview.
If you want to choose a bmp- or tif-file using a dialogbox without preview of bmp-files, press the button at Choose .bmp or .tif file without using preview.
You can import more pictures, after pressing button Append

If Relative file references is enabled, and you select a file that cannot be referenced using Relatieve references, Absolute file references is enabled.

Importing Bitmaps by typing the filename.

If there is already a picture, press Append
Give the picture a name in field Name. If you leave it empty, then name will be filled with the complete filename.
Type the filename in field File.
Press button Load.
You can import more pictures, after pressing button Append

After you have succesfully imported the picture. The kind of file references is enabled which correspondents the kind you typed in.

When to use Absolute or Relative file references.

This is importing when you will move one or more fractal and bitmap files.
When you move the fractal files, but leave the bitmap files on the same place, it is better to choose Absolute file references for these bitmap files.
When you move the fractal files and bitmaps files together, it is better to choose Relative file references for these bitmap files.

Browsing through imported Bitmaps

You can browse through the Bitmaps by pressing one of the buttons :

: First Bitmap
: Previous Bitmap
: Next Bitmap
: Last Bitmap

Delete imported Bitmaps

Browse to the bitmap
Press button Delete

Putting Pictures in the Fractal

Press or choose in the menu:Fractal | Bitmap Properties....
In the new dialogbox select tab Usages.
Do the actions: ...
Press button OK, if you are finished.

Creating Bitmap Usages

A Bitmap Usage tells how to put a Imported Bimap (picture) into the fractal.

If there is already a selected Bitmap Usage, create a new empty Bitmaps Usage by inserting the one before the selected one, by pressing InsertAppend.

Fill in the properties: ...

Browsing through Bitmap Usages

You can browse through the Bitmap Usages by pressing one of the buttons :

: First Bitmap Usage
: Previous Bitmap Usage
: Next Bitmap Usage
: Last Bitmap Usage

Delete Bitmap Usages

Browse to the usage
Press button Delete

Properties Bitmap Usages

Select the picture to use

Select name of the Imported Picture in listbox Bitmap. A picture can be used by more Bitmap usages.

Placing Pictures into the complex space

You can define the piece (rectangle) of a complex space in group Bitmap.

Using this rectangle, you can mirror, magnify, stretch and move the selected bitmap.

If you import the money, you get much more back!

By assigning "-0.55"to Left and "0.05"to Right the smallest coin is put at the center of the complex space, so in the fractal, that coin is connected to the brown tree itself.
Here is the Moneytree:

You can stretch the coins by making the difference in one dimension bigger or smaller. Here we make the length of the pile of pile two times longer: Left = "-1.1" and Right = "0.01":

By make also the other dimension two times bigger (Top = "0.2" and Bottom = "-0.2") you coins are two times bigger than of the first Moneytree:

You can mirror by swapping the values of one dimension, in this case Left and Right:

And you can move all coins by adding or substracting the same value to both values of one dimension, here we add "-0.6" to both Left and Right:

The tree loses all of its infinite money...

Selecting Walking Steps

You can reduce the number of pictures in the fractal by make a selection of the steps. Before step n is made, some pictures can be present (visible) of not.

You define the number of the step the bimpas is visible for the first time in Depth Min.
You define the number of the steps before the bitmap is again visible in Depth Modulo, so "1" is every time.
You define the number of the step the last time the bitmap can be visible in Depth Max, use "0" if there is no maximum.

For example if you define:

Depth Min = 5
Depth Modulo = 2
Depth Min = 10

The bitmap is visible in the steps numbers: 5, 7 and 9.

When importing a picture of a watch and use the default usage, you can get a result as:

Returning to the fractal with only the inner space filled, you can remove half of the layerd pictures by setting Depth Modulo to "2.

You can remove some upper layers by setting Depth Min to "5.

And remove the lower layers more at the background by setting Depth Max to "20.

Placing a Picture Inside Out

If you want to mirror the picture in the complex space with a circle of radius 1 (using function z -> 1/z) check checkbox Recipoke the effect is that picture is "inside-out".

Normal placing of the Picture:

The inner space of the default Julia Fractal is filled with the pictures of the watch:

You can see that the number of numbers is doubled every layer down.

When you check checkbox Recipoke, the watch is make "inside-out", so the outer space of the fractal is filled in place of the inner space.

You can combine those two usages, by adding a second usage by pressing Append or Insert, and copy manually the settings, but the opposite of Reciproke.

"Distance" between two Colors (definition)

Every Color has three values: red, green and blue. Each of them is between 0% and 100%. You can see a Color as a point in a color cube, which each dimension belongs to the values of red, green and blue.
If you take two Colors, the distance of the colors is the distance of the correspondenting points in the color cube. Because of the cube the disctance between colors can be more than 100%: 173.2%

Define the Transparant color of the picture

If you imported a picture from a tif-file, the picture already can have transparant parts. You also can define a color which will be transparant when the pictures is put into the fractal, even in combination of transparant parts out from the tif-file. To make colors nearby the selected color also transparant,

Selected the color which would be drawed transparant in group Transparant Color.
Specify the maximimal distance between the specified and the color of the bitmap pixel which is yet completely transparant in Color Distance Max Transparance.
Specify the minimimal distance between the specified and the color of the bitmap pixel which is no more transparant in Color Distance No Transparance.

For example if you define:

Color: red=100%, green and blue = 0%
Color Distance Max Transparance = 20%
Color Distance No Transparance = 40%

Color of pixel: red=90%, green and blue = 0%: pixel will be completely transparant, because the distance = 10%
Color of pixel: red=100%, green = 30% and blue = 0%: pixel will be for 50% transparant, because the distance = 30%, and it exaclty halfway between the specified distances 20% and 40%
Color of pixel: red=100%, green = 30% and blue = 40%: pixel will be not transparant, because the distance = 50%

The following TIF-picture is used. It has already transparancy parts: the background is transparant:

When you put the bitmap into a default fractal, the result is:

You can make some piece transparant, by specify a color:

Activate the Pipet. (close the dialogbox first)
Click on the center of the fractal, the round circle on the toolbar will become light blue.
Go to the Dialogbox Properties Bitmaps again.
Go to tabblad Usages.
Check Checkbox Transparant Color.
Click on the Piper-button in group Transparant Color.
Type in field Color Distance No Transparance: "15%".
Click OK.

You get a new fractal, but it looks like some light blue paint is gone off:

You can make it more transparant:
Field Color Distance No Transparance: "80%".
Field Color Distance Max Transparance: "10%".

You get a new fractal, it looks like glass:

Hard or Soft Pixel selection of the bitmap

When while walking the point touches the bitmap, there are two possible ways to define the color, in group Pixel Selection:

option Hard: the nearbyest pixels is selected and it color is used. When zoomed in, these pixels are displayed a (distorted) squares, leaving sharpe edges.
option Smooth: the four nearbyest pixels are selected and it colors is mixed taking distance into account. When zoomed in, the egdes between pixels are soft.

Where you use a small bitmap of a picture, you can clearly see the difference between the Hard and Soft Pixel Selection:

Hard Pixel Selection:

Soft Pixel Selection: