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Author Topic: Version 1.45.02 with Image Dragging and FractalInt MAP files !!  (Read 5348 times)
Description: Image Dragging, Size-Scrolling and Color Files !
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rickz65
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« on: April 27, 2010, 03:29:58 AM »

Hi Everybody !
  As requested and just in time for the spring contest, is a new version that can open and save FractalInt .map files. The Colors get loaded into the Color Editor on the bottom of the color tab in Many Fractals Control Panel, which now has a menu. You can first check the box for 'Instant Preview' on the top of the color tab, so that the current fractal image in the main window of the App will be instantly recolored ! This is very helpful to adjust a color set to exactly what you want for a particular image. Before you calculate an image, go into the control panel, to the 'Misc' tab and select 'Store Image in Memory' and 'Store Raw Data', which will allow each image to be colored separately, and recolored with recalculating. The Color editor is like a text editor for colors. One types letters and numbers to get colors. One can also create 'loops' of colors, show in the preview control in the middle of the color tab, and insert them into the color editor at the caret. You may find the color editor is a great way to make .map files for FractalInt or any other program that uses them. I've also created a new color file type called SuperMap (*.rgba), which is just like a map file, except it can contain as many colors as you like and stores the Alpha channel. Many Fractals will currently read in the first 34 million colors in the file. SuperMap files are backward compatible with map files, in FractalInt anyway.
  By selecting the mouse function of drag-scroll image, the image can be dragged around to re-center, or re-align it. By sizing the App, with the image linked to the window, which it is by default, the image can be scrolled or unfurl new area. All the points in the new area are calculated, so lengthy equations, like sine and cosine, have slow response.
  Special Thanks To  Nahee_Enterprises (Paul N. Lee) for posting a Huge collection of map files for me to work with !! ... He is in the Many Fractals credits now too. I've included a few of the more colorful map files in the new version.


Taken from http://www.manyfractals.org version news :

Version 1.45.02 Notes:

Added: Image Dragging and Size-Scrolling, so now you can 'slide' the image around, or 'unfurl' new area by sizing the App. Added a Menu to the Color Editor, which is the control on the bottom of the color tab in the control panel. On the Menu, is the ability to open and save color files. 2 file formats are currently available, FractalInt's .map files and SuperMap files, which are backward compatible with .map files. SuperMap files are a type of text file containing red-green-blue and ALPHA values and can hold up to 34,000,000 colors !

Improvements: began centralized error handling, which will require a minor re-engineering project to be used everywhere in the code.

Fixes: ... can remember ... forgot to document ...   :-)

Next Version:  'tracing out' set points and 2 more color methods to add. Better Sound handling. Finish menu for the Color Editor. Improve Color Quality on 16 - 256 color and 16 bit bitmaps and icons. Full Screen Display mode ! Update to a newer version of QuickLZ, for faster and multi-threaded compression.

OH ! ... and of course, UPDATE The Help File !!!
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Sockratease
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« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2010, 12:38:49 AM »

Thanks for the new version  smiley
OH ! ... and of course, UPDATE The Help File !!!

Yes, please.  It took me a while to figure out how to actually load a .map file  huh?

Some images forthcoming...


EDIT:



While you're working on updating the program, another feature which would encourage re-use of the software would be the ability to save (and re-open) parameter files.

I did that one with a previous version, and would have enjoyed seeing it with a few .map files as a test, but Many Fractals does not (yet) save files!

I have no idea how I made it or how to re-create it, so it just goes in the pile of images.  Starting from scratch every time the program is opened, with no ability to return to previous projects, severely limits the usefulness of the toy.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2010, 12:53:10 AM by Sockratease » Logged

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rickz65
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« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2010, 12:16:59 AM »

... oh yes, you are so very correct. I'm currently neck deep into reworking the sound handling, but have added PARAMETER files as the very next feature to add, so you'll have that in the next version. I've got some ideas on a more complex compound document type, which can wait, but basic parameter files are very needed  cheesy ... I'll take a look at FractalInt parameter files to see how compatible they are will what Many Fractals works with. I guess Ultra-Fractal files would be also very worth looking at.

Can anyone suggest any other type of parameter file I should consider huh? 

... I really like the way .map file compatibility worked out, and would like to do the same with parameter files. So far I've also considered .xml serialization, and have some really good software for handling it.
  ... as to the help file ...  embarrass ... I use Help-Maker 7 and the it's broken ... the new version was due out in January, and is yet to be released ... but I'll find a way to get the job done ... sorry about that ...  embarrass
 ... I've also found a few glitches with Image dragging and scroll-sizing when combined with Free-Form Zoom Boxes ... which can be completely resolved by click on GO after you finish dragging or scroll-sizing ... I'll have that fixed in the next version too  cheesy
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Sockratease
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« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2010, 12:56:31 AM »

I didn't post this, because you said how busy you were, but the latest update broke a few key features of the program   hurt

The worst of it is - on my system anyhow - if, while letting an image render, you go to another program (like a web browser in my case) and come back after it's done rendering...  the window is blank!  Rendering then has to be re-started and you can't go do anything else if you actually want to see the finished image.

This prompted me to put the program aside until the next release.  Sorry.

There were a few other bugs that cropped up with the new release, but I don't recall them all : I've slept since then!

I'll have a quick play over the weekend and make a list...
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rickz65
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« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2010, 04:13:22 PM »

Yes I'm busy, but Many Fractals is my full time Job, so please post-away. I'm really concerned about the blank image problem. If Manyfractals can start to render an image, then the memory for it's bitmap has been assigned successfully and there should be at least that available to re-paint the image when you return to the app. Also if you've selected to store the raw data, the the image should be able to be remade without re-rendering, and if you've selected to store the image itself, which is not done by default, then there's either a second bitmap or a compressed bitmap available ... so with default settings there should be 2 ways for it to repaint the window ... I'm stumped, and I can't recreate the problem here ... I just tried to on 4 different machines, 3 of which are older systems (P2 and P3) ... If you have the image blank again, try this: Click on File, on the main menu, then on print preview; is there an image in print preview ? then click close to return to the app window, that should repaint the image without re-rendering, is there an image now ? If not, then somehow there must not be enough memory for the bitmap in RAM and it slipped past the bullet-proofing, but I doubt that, it might be that the image got cached to the page-file and is just taking it's dear sweet time being recalled ... I'm stumped as to what would cause that. Question: is the web browser IE ? and had it been open for a long time, like 12 hours+ and maybe also you hadn't rebooted your system in a few days? I've hit really nasty memory consumption problems because of IE being opened for a long time and I keep putting the system to sleep rather than shutting down. That hits Many Fractals week spot: low memory ... but if it's able to start rendering an image, then it can get the memory it needs ... did you have 'use virtual memory - page-file' selected ?  huh?
... and yes, unfortunately, I've hit a few bugs as well, all dealing with the Dragging and scroll-sizing ...
Well, Thanks for the feedback, and when you get a chance to play with it some more, I'll very much appreciate your efforts.
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Sockratease
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« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2010, 12:26:02 AM »

OK - I had a bit of a play around...

The vanishing image thingy is reproducible, but intermittent - BUT it only happens when working Full Screen!  Something about the maximized window messes with my computer  (Vista Home Premium, 32 Bit with NVidia - GeForce 9200 card).

It does not happen every time, but often enough that I'd have to call it a bug.  When this happens, the back arrow thing no longer works, and all work is lost  sad  To answer the question - Nope.  I Never use IE!!  I hear the new version fixed many of my old issues, but I'm still scared to death of that browser!  I use Firefox with NoScript running, but I *do* tend to multitask too much...  Sometimes rendering fractals and setting up a complex 3D scene in Carrara at the same time as browsing the web and downloading large archives with multiple streams downloading at  once!

So ...  yeah.  I have never encountered this when NOT doing too much at once, now that I think about it.   :smiley

So it could well be me.  I'd suggest the easiest way to fix the issue, and help the program dramatically in the process - Parameter Files!  If I crash the program like that, I could just go back to my last saved version of whatever I was doing  (when I find something cool in almost any fractal generator, I save the file and a low resolution image for future reference).

You asked about what parameter file formats are best - I'd suggest your own.  That way it can be just a plain text file with a funny extension  (that's how Chaoscope does it, and it allows the user to edit those files by hand if they want).  But if you want to be able to import other formats, I guess UltraFractal has a ton out there and it *is* quite popular.  You'd just be limited by the features it has and Many Fractals does not  (Layers, Classes, etc).

OK - Supper's Ready  (Walking across the sitting room, I turn the television off...)  (Sheesh! - That's an obscure reference  afro I wonder if anybody will get it??)  (I don't even watch television!!  Haven't turned it on for almost 4 years...)
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rickz65
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« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2010, 05:10:44 AM »

yup, I'm the same way, almost never watch the boob tube. PBS over the net, yes, but only like 1-3 times a month.
Thanks for the info. Full screen and arrow button blow-out on vista with heavy load ... yup ... seen that on my NB before Vista-icky DIED. Vista can get M.F. serious Memory headaches. Try using setting in M.F. Control panel on Misc tab for Use Virtual Memory/pagefile ... that can help, but probably not in this case.
Well, that settles it ... rush order on M.F. text based custom parameter files, for both open and save. I'll put a hold on everything else I'm working on, currently a high speed timing system that M.F. needs but is also needed by PortAudio under Windows. I'll try to recreate the bug here, as I've needed to load Vista-icky into a Virtual Machine for a while now ... but I'll get the files done first, and tested really well. 'Cause you said it, if you can just save your work ...
Boost.org has a great library that I'm already using in M.F. and it has xml serialization, so I should be able to just create a structure and have the I/O handled by the experts, their software library has never given me anything but excellent results ... in case you didn't know it, xml files are editable in notepad, they're just a type of text file, which was exactly what I was thinking. I'm also going to include a MEANINGFUL label to each setting/parameter so everyone will know exactly what to edit, etc. The Bullet-proofing against bad data will be the hardest part. I'll work on other peoples file types later on. If it's not really hard I may try to include a small-ish image in the file, like a .png or .jpeg , something compressed, at the end of the file, such that opening in wordpad will display the small graphic and help the users to remember exactly which file is which. I'll try to capture the name of the most resently load map file also, maybe include it also, as an option.
Well, sleep is calling me ... Thanks again for the info.  wink
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