Chaoscope Manual |
Table of Contents |
Previous: Attractors | 3. Rendering modes | Next: Interface |
3.1 Gas |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Gas rendering method,
as well as the next three rendering modes, is based on pixel
accumulation : after each iteration, the pixel value corresponding
to the current orbit position is incremented, i.e. the pixel
is brightened, just like a crystal on a photographic film being
hit by a photon. When the image is updated, all the pixel values
are normalised then Brightness and Gamma settings are applied. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gas rendering after various number of iterations : |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Once the image is rendered, two parameters can be adjusted
to improve the rendering quality of the attractor. These
parameters are : |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gas rendering with different Brightness values : |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gamma : Monitors, especially old CRTs, don't display brightness intensities linearly. For instance, a mid-gray at 50% of absolute luminosity will appear darker than it should on a screen (i.e. 40% of apparent luminosity). As a result, the dim features of an attractor would be hardly noticeable if the Gamma correction wasn't applied to the rendered image. It also helps brightening areas of the attractor with low orbit hits. As a side effect, colours tend to lose their saturation when the Gamma value is high. The default Gamma value is 2.5 for Gas and Liquid methods, 2 for Light and Plasma, 1 for Solid. The Gamma parameter is common to all the rendering methods. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gas rendering with different Gamma values : |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gas is the fastest rendering mode. It can be used as an improved preview, before going for a more complex rendering method. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3.2 Liquid |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As the basic accumulation
algorithm the way it was implemented in Chaoscope lacks of natural
visual clues like haze and perspective, it can be difficult at
times to "read" the shape of a static convoluted attractor.
To make it easier, the Liquid rendering method adds depth and
opacity to the Gas rendering through the use of a z-buffer.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3.3 Light |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Light rendering
mode is a coloured version of the Gas rendering mode. The
colour is obtained by adding two different gradients. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Light rendering with different gradients |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3.4 Plasma |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Plasma rendering
mode is similar to Light rendering with added opacity.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3.5 Solid |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Solid mode uses the same tools as the Liquid mode, an
accumulation buffer and a z-buffer, but renders them differently.
The accumulation buffer is used for transparency and the
z-buffer is rendered using a ray-tracing-like lighting method
which includes specular highlights and shadows. Once the
image is rendered, two parameters specific to the Solid method
can be adjusted. These parameters are : |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Solid rendering with different Opacity values : |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roughness : This parameter sets the size of the specular highlights on the attractor. The default value is 0.008. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Solid rendering with different Roughness values : |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes for the version 0.2 :
|
Previous: Attractors | 3. Rendering modes | Next: Interface |