Welcome to Fractal Forums

I just posted the latest version of FractalWorks, a high performance fractal renderer for Macintosh.

Previous links were bad. Sorry about that.

You will find a large collection of sample images generated with FractalWorks, along with a link to the download page, by clicking here (http://web.mac.com/dchampney/Site/FractalWorks.html).

FractalWorks requires OS 10.4 or later, and works best on multiple processor machines, especially G5 and Intel based Macs.

I have a good sized gallery of images which you can view by clicking here (http://www.pbase.com/duncanc/fractal_images).



Duncan C

I updated this post. The previous link was bad.

I have also updated the software several times since making the original post.


Duncan C

Too bad it wont run on OS9...

I never upgraded.

Make it backwards-compatible, and I'd love to give it a try!

I have a Power Mac G4 with dual (500 MHz?) Processors if that helps.

But it does not get much use these days...

I don't know...

I am of the belief that No computer is ever outdated.

They may lose the ability to run modern programs, but all will always be good for their original purposes.

I used a Tandy 1,000 as my only computer for over 20 years, and only upgraded this century. It got me through college (recently).  I still use the Daisy Wheel Printer it came with.  Made my Lab Reports look like I actually typed them!

I still use my Apple II-C and I even break out the TI-90 every once in a while for nostalgia.  That uses a cassette tape for storing data, and a normal television for a monitor!!  But it plays a good game of chess.

I made my first computer graphics on that and recorded right to a VCR - it took computers over 30 years to return to that feature!  Most still don't do that.

So I'll keep all my old stuff, and upgrade when I can afford it.  A new mac is just too expensive.  And I was told by the mac folks that it would be silly to just upgrade the operating system in my old one.

But...  OS9 is NOT that old!  For it to be left behind so completely just because something better came along strikes me as wrong.  Possibly a shadow of that elitism that windows users accuse mac folks of possessing.

Now...  where's my flint and stone?  Gotta go light the stove and cook breakfast!

i was going to comment on some of those dubious assertions until...


WOMAN! BRING ME MY SPEAR!

i'm going out to get dinner.

Nothing dubious in those comments!

I happen to Like old technology. The assertion that it is all still fine for it's original purposes is 100% True. I really do use all that stuff still.

Newer stuff being available does nothing to make older stuff useless.  It just can't do what today's stuffs can.

I was kidding about the flint and stone, but I still use a rotary telephone, and do not own a touch-tone model.  Or a cell phone.  And I get by just fine.

Technology is just too expensive to keep up with!

most graphics cards have had tv out for a loooooong time. not that it's used, because we burn dvds with far higher quality, and these days 1920x1080 video onto blu-ray ;)

i do agree about hardware being fine for its original purpose of course... but this is only true to a limited extent; for example it's all fine and dandy to use a 286 for word processing, until you have to send your ms word 1.0 document to someone else.

Guess who just traded some old comic books for a new mac book?

I'll give you a hint...

He just downloaded FractalWorks 0.5.4!

Now... where are those other mac fractal generators?

I know there are a few hiding around here...

you should try out the mac programms made by gandreas  O0 :angel1: O0
http://www.gandreas.com/

agreed, i think quadrium | flame is the most advanced fractal rendering system available (so far ;)) and it's mac-only software.

clearly i need to take mac users into account in developing my next-gen rendering system!

That's a shame, as I just poured all my resources into a computer, I wont be able to actually BUY any software for quite a while.

Quadrium is more than $9.99 - so I am not allowed to buy it.  Thus, I shall have to pass on the demo, until I have the option of buying it should I like it.

I use Fractals in some semi-commercial work, and refuse to generate an image I can't use if it inspires me!

That is why I don't use Ultra Fractal or any program that does not give Full Rights to images generated, even with a demo version.

Sorry, G - That Old Hippy Mentality of mine keeps me from trying your wonderful software...

Thanks, though I'd have to qualify that as quadrium | flame being the most advanced "attractor" style rendering system (i.e., IFS flame fractals, strange attractors, other applications of the "chaos game").  With, of course, quadrium | prime being the most advanced "escape" style render (and quadrium2 covering the more generic "procedural art" category).

@gandres will there be windows ports ? that would be nice  ::)

i was with you until that point ;) have you seen david makin's ultrafractal formulae?

Socratease,

What do you think of FractalWorks? I'm trying a version that supports 3D rendering ready for release. It's coming together, but I've got some bugs that only show up on older Macs, so they are really hard to track down. Here's a link to my latest 3D image, generated LARGE:

Swirly grape Julia 3D huge (http://www.pbase.com/image/94537709/original)


Regards,


Duncan

That's a wonderful 3D Image!

 The program itself  - I was going to send an email, like it asks, but may as well post here so more folks can see it.

I'm learning a whole new operating system as well as a new fractal program, so some of the issues I ran in to were unrelated to the software.  (I only ever used my OS9 mac for just 2 or 3 programs, and never tried to get used to the operating system) (plus that computer was mine briefly, then traded, then returned Years later!)

But I digress...


I think it's a great renderer, but I had a hard time figuring out how to play around with the formulas.  I must admit, I far prefer the "slider" style interfaces to hand typing numbers.  I do not have enough math to know what to expect when I do that, so I tried to use formulas from other generators - but many variables did not match or were missing. 

Can one change the Bailout value?

And looking at my Julia formulas from other renderers, there seems to be a third variable called Phi (as well as C-real and C-imaginary) but I can only find the C parameters in Fractalworks, the Phi seems to be ...  well...  missing?  Or maybe it's a fixed value?

I wish I understood more about how these generators actually work so I could give better feedback on those points.

The color palette is interesting, but I did not experiment too far with it - I spent too long trying to understand how to work the text editor so I could use the read me file!  The print was so small, and I needed time to figure out how to enlarge it.

Plus...  I have many other OSX Issues. I fail to see why people rave about it so much. I am still trying to figure out how to insert my own sound files to replace the HORRIBLE Noises this thing makes.  It's Terribly Annoying.  If that can't be customized...  mac sucks!  I need to enjoy my work environment, and some of the things I do with the noises to a computer are so much fun, I can't imagine one without them.  Can't seem to hide the hideous thing at the bottom with all the icons either - it's always there.  What ever happened to Full Screen Work?

But this is not the gripe about mac thread, so I'll just say that it is a very impressive program, with  very clean renders and good speed even when the iteration count gets very high.

One weirdness - when I zoomed in to the "tail" of the Mandlebrot set - where I usually find my Mandala Friends - I couldn't find any!  The iteration bands never really changed pattern no matter how deep I tried to look.

That must have been a fluke and I will try again.  It may be that I need to make custom color palettes to "draw them out" (Gads - PUNS!!)

Some suggestions - Try to get it all in one window.  It is better to be able to change parameters without having to go to a menu to open a new window for this purpose.  It makes the workflow awkward because I increase the iteration count as I zoom in, and it adds steps to the process which make it less fun to use the program.

It's not immediately obvious to a new user how to save an image to an image file.  The save as menu command defaults to the native format and is used for both saving the formula, and for saving images.  You out-efficiented yourself on that one, and I could not locate the save image feature easily (but did find it).  I need to make some interesting renders to post - so far I can only make very generic looking images, the like of which are everywhere a Mandlebrot zoomer can be found.  (That's one reason I hoped to change the bailout - I get good distortions with that parameter in other such programs).

Fractal Works makes Clean Lined Images and makes them reasonably fast, but possibly due to my unfamiliarity with the computer it's on (and possibly due to my brain being made entirely out of wood) I have difficulty doing much with it.

I look forward to the 3D featured version.  Those renders look great!

I'll have to play some more with this program after I understand and tame this operating system.  So far OSX is Unimpressive.  It seems like a crippled version of windows with a little more speed at the price of having to do things in a fixed work environment which can't be customized (Trust me - that's enough right there to condemn the whole thing - who cares about performance if the environment is annoying?)

Sorry to combine mac user reviews with Fractal Works reviews, but I am learning both together, and am unsure exactly where the line between the two is drawn...

OK, I have a bit of a suggestion for future development of FractalWorks;

PLEASE stop old versions from expiring, or include a link in the pop-up!

I broke it out to play, and it told me my version had expired. I was nowhere near the internet, and was disappointed.

I have multiple installs of Mutatorkammer, and run various older versions at different times, as some features changed, or some saved "workspaces" fail to open in later versions.  This would be nice to do with FractalWorks too, but it seems to be set up to eliminate that possibility.

Also, this thread, old as it is, was the only place I found a link to the software so I could play again! Maybe add a link to the first post in the category for FractalWorks?

Please consider removing the expiration, including a link for upgrading in the pop-up notification when the time comes, and including the ability to have multiple installs based on version number.

I'd get more use from the program that way (I was unable to even download the new version for a while due to a burned out PC and limited internet access on the mac).

I'll go install the new one now...  Hopefully have some more fun stuffs soon!