Chaoscope Manual

Previous: Rendering modes 4. Interface  

 

Of all the aspects of Chaoscope, the interface is probably the one that needs the most work to do. For instance, there's no possibility to save a full project yet and there is no undo. So be careful when you find an attractor worth being rendered not to press the F3 key again!


Chaoscope interface : Previewing an attractor



4.1 Language selection

 

The first time Chaoscope is launched, you will be asked to select the default interface language. Highlight one of the two options and press OK.

 
 


the Language selection dialog box



4.2 Managing projects

 

These are the project management functions available once a project has been created :

New...

Creates a new project (see 4.2.1)
 

 


the File menu

 

 

Load...

Loads an attractor (parameters) file. Unlike version 0.1, the new attractor type is correctly set when a file is loaded, there is no need to make sure the current project attractor type matches the file type before it is opened.

Save attractor as...

Saves the current parameters into a file.

Save image as...

Saves the current view contents as a BMP picture.

Close

Closes the current project.

Quit

Exits the application.

4.2.1 Creating a new project

 

You will have to start with creating a new project before you can render attractors, or load a parameters file. Attractor and rendering types can be set as well as the image size. Two types require an extra parameter : number of matrices for IFS (default is 4) and equation order for Polynomial Sprott (default is 2). Apart from the view Width and Height, all the options can be changed once the project is opened.

 

the New Project dialog box


4.3 The Attractor interface

 

4.3.1 The Attractor menu

 

Search

Searches for a new attractor. Depending on the equation you have selected, it may take a few successive searches before you find an interesting attractor.

 
the Attractor menu

 

Stop Search

Cancels attractor search.

Start

Starts the attractor rendering. You can only render one attractor at a time.

Stop

Stops the current rendering. You cannot restart a rendering from where you stopped it.

4.3.2 The Attractor property palette

 

The Type drop-down list lets you change the attractor equation on the fly.

The Iterations is the number of times the equation will be computed. The default value is twenty millions. The rendering time will vary depending on the computer speed, the equation and the rendering type. On average, a rendering takes less than five minutes.

The Randomness is the factor, expressed as a percentage, of random variation applied to each parameter during a search. The lower the Randomness is, the more similar the attractor will be after a search.

 
the Attractor property palette
 
Below are the parameters, which you can modify either by typing a new value in the text box or using the slider. Dragging it left or right will update the Attractor in real-time.
 


mouse cursor with sub-pixel precision sliders

 
When the mouse cursor is moved close enough to the slider thumb, the cursor will change shape : from one to three black arrows pointing away from the thumb. Keep the left mouse button pressed and the slider thumb position will smoothly move in the direction indicated by the arrows until you release the mouse button or move the cursor away from the slider.
Click on the check box next to the parameter name to exclude it from a search. A parameter is excluded when the box is checked.


4.4 The View

 

4.4.1 The different view modes

 

There are five different view modes. The View mode is indicated in the View window title bar, after the Attractor type, within brackets.

Searching

You have pressed the F3 key, Chaoscope is searching for a new attractor. Once an attractor has been found, a quick render (20,000 iterations) is displayed.

Preview

The preview mode displays the attractor using OpenGL, allowing you to manipulate the attractor in real-time. The view switch to preview mode after you have :

- changed the attractor type.
- changed the rendering mode.
- changed the attractor angle, position or scale. (see 4.4.2 and 4.4.3)
- loaded a parameters file.

No attractor

The parameters for the current equation doesn't yield any attractor, the orbit is drifting towards Infinity. When it's the case, nothing is rendered and the window is left blank.

Rendering

You have pressed the F4 key, Chaoscope is rendering the attractor. Check the status bar to know how much time is left before completion.

Render

Rendering or Searching is completed.

4.4.2 The View interface

 

Once you have found an attractor you wish to render, you may want to change the point of view, or zoom in onto a particular feature. To do so, first make sure the View window has the focus. You can then apply the following adjustments to the view :

Rotation

Hold the left mouse button while moving the mouse around.

Translation

Hold the Shift key and the left mouse button down while moving the mouse around.

Scale (Zoom)

Scroll the wheel of your mouse down to zoom in, up to zoom out. Alternatively you can hold the Ctrl key and the left mouse button while moving the mouse up and down.

4.4.3 The View menu

 

Copy

Copy the rendered image to the Clipboard.

Centre

 
the View menu

Move the attractor to the centre of the view.

Adjust

Move and scale the attractor to make it entirely fit within the view.

Auto Adjust

Automatically adjust the attractor after a search or a parameter modification. This option is enabled by default. It is useful when you use the parameters sliders.

4.4.4 The View property palette

 

In this palette, the changes made to some of the properties will not be applied immediately. You will know if a change needs to be applied when the property caption is displayed in bold characters. Press Return to apply the changes or Escape to cancel them.

The Render drop-down list lets you change the rendering mode on the fly.
The Width and Height drop-down lists are not functioning yet.

 
the View property palette

The Updates value is the number of times the view will be updated while rendering an attractor. You may change to "1" when you are ready to start the final rendering of an attractor.
Scale is the View zoom factor.
Below are the parameters specific to the Render mode, as discussed in Rendering modes.

When in Light or Plasma mode, you can load a new gradient by double-clicking on the gradient itself. The format used by Chaoscope is the widely accepted FractINT .map standard.


Notes for the version 0.2 :

  • The property palettes lack of navigation controls.
  • The sliders are not resized correctly when the width of the palettes is changed.
  • There are a few update glitches when a property has the focus and the palette is scrolled.

 

Previous: Rendering modes 4. Interface