SiFrax Multi-Threaded Java Fractal Explorer

[JVillella]

Hello everybody,
Over the past 2 weeks I have been working on a Computer Sciences end-year project. I decided to make a fractal explorer allowing the user to navigate 2D and 3D fractals. It was made in Java only because that is the course requirement. I much rather have done it in C++ so we could get some real time rendering. It is still not too too slow however, as I have threaded it. I want to hear what you guys think of it so far. I have GPL'ed it and the source and executables are at the bottom of this post --> http://jvillella.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/sifrax-v0-2a/

It runs fine on jre 1.7 however a friend told me it wasn't working on 1.6. Very soon I will recompile it for that target.

A full run down of its features and some images showcasing it are on my blog (link above). I designed the program to be very user-friendly so someone that know little to null about fractals can enjoy the beautiful world of fractal shapes.

Thanks for reading and I am really interested in hearing your guys thoughts so I can improve this for future releases.

Thanks

[JodyVL]

Yaayyy...  ... I always like to try out a new fractal program. But when I try run the .jar, it gives the error "Could not find the main class: MainRun. Program will exit."  ... Could you tell me what's wrong? I'm on Windows 7 32 bit.

[JVillella]

Yaayyy...  ... I always like to try out a new fractal program. But when I try run the .jar, it gives the error "Could not find the main class: MainRun. Program will exit."  ... Could you tell me what's wrong? I'm on Windows 7 32 bit.

did you remove the .jar from the folder it is in? when you extract the zip did you take the files out of the SiFrax folder they were in?

[DarkBeam]

Explain clearly where the files must go please

[JodyVL]

did you remove the .jar from the folder it is in? when you extract the zip did you take the files out of the SiFrax folder they were in?

No I didn't! I extracted the "SiFrax v0.2a_Executable" just as it is, into my E:\Programs folder.

[JVillella]

Explain clearly where the files must go please

They don't have to go anywhere special . Just extract the zip and open up the jar.

[DarkBeam]

Explain clearly where the files must go please

They don't have to go anywhere special . Just extract the zip and open up the jar.

And it does not work

[JVillella]

Explain clearly where the files must go please

They don't have to go anywhere special . Just extract the zip and open up the jar.

And it does not work

what jre version are you using?

[DarkBeam]

Explain clearly where the files must go please

They don't have to go anywhere special . Just extract the zip and open up the jar.

And it does not work

what jre version are you using?

Jre6

[JVillella]

I recompiled SiFrax targeting it to JRE 1.6. It was targeted to 1.7 before and that wouldn't work on a 1.6 runtime. Here is the executable: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/48440366/SiFrax_v0.2a_jre6.zip

Please let me know if it works for any of you.

I should also mention that it does not have to be installed...just in case some of you were hesitant on trying it .

[JodyVL]

It works for me now, and congratulations for doing this as your project... Looking forward to more and more features... The challenge, I guess, will be to add features that popular programs like Fractal Extreme/M3D/Mandelbulber don't have... And to beat M3D's navigator should be tricky! Hehe ... Good luck and keep us posted!

[knighty]

Works 4 me 2!
Is it possible to have a formula editor inside it? In case there is a kind of java code eval function in java.

[DarkBeam]

Now it works, nice start. Too bad, Java is slow and we knew it already

But you did a good job!

[JVillella]

Thanks for your kind replies everyone! Yes Java, being an interpreted language, is extremely slow. However, I do think there is still a few little optimizations I can make. Maybe knock off a few seconds on render times. Looking ahead, I want the user to be able to essentially come up with his own fractal equations and see them instantly. (S)He would just have to type in an equation or move a few sliders. And I want it to be really users friendly. It should be so straightforward and simple that someone who knows nothing about fractals can start using it. And those who know much about these beautiful geometry can create amazing 2D and 3D shapes with it.

In a few days I will be getting back to work on this and I'll start implementing a few ideas I have on paper. Feel free to PM me or post any suggestions you have.

knighty: As of know no formula editor, but within the coming weeks expect a very robust and extensive one

Thank you all again for trying out the software. I welcome everyone else on the forums to give it a shot and let me know how I can improve it.
(just in case the link to the binaries and source are here: http://jvillella.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/sifrax-v0-2a/)