The Fires of Chaos

R. Shamms Mortier



	At several times in the past we have explored fractal-based software in Amazing Computing. We have looked at both fractal scene generators (like Natural Graphics Scenery Animator) and a whole collection of picture and animation generating programs based upon the work of Mandelbrot and leading researchers in the field. For those of you who are attracted to "strange attractors" and other aspects of chaotic math, a term associated with the algorithms that drive these picture generators, we have a treat in store. Cygnus Software, long known for its "Cygnus Ed" and other packages for the Amiga, has released version two of its Mandelbrot-based fractal picture generating software on a CD-ROM, Mand 2000. Having seen what other like programs do both on the Amiga and on the MAC and PC, I can say that Mand 2000 is light years ahead of the others in terms of ease of use and the beauty and variety of its output. This is good news to all of the Amiga diehards who need some ammunition in the verbal onslaught coming from users on other platforms. No other platform can boast of a fractal generator like Mand 2000. 



On a CD-ROM



	Previous versions of Mand 2000 were marketed on a collection of floppy disks. Care was taken to pack them as full as possible with animation file examples as well as the executable program. But CD-ROMs are definitely the way to go when you have more data than ten floppies can hold, even when the data is super-compressed. The Mand 2000 CD-ROM contains thousands of individual images that you can browse through or use as a start for your own fractal explorations, as well as over 30,000 frames of animation. In addition to this, you get the program itself and various utility files. As for the images, they come in a multiple number of resolutions, so that AGA and non-AGA users (as well as owners of 24bit hardware) can access them visually.



The Mand 2000 Interface Options



	This software is fully ARexx compatible so that as new uses are found for it ARexx commands can drive it to those destinations. At any time, you can move a Mand 2000 image on the screen to a new camera location simply by click-dragging with the Left Mouse button. The best way for me to walk you through the rest of this software is to take a look at the specific commands contained in the menus, and to tell you what they mean as far as creative applications.



The Project Menu



	Listed under this menu are several basic options (save image, load/save image placement, print) and several others that say a lot about the depth of the software. "Show Location" zooms you out so that you can see the totality of the image against a background, great when your explorations become so deep that you forget where you came from. But this item isn't only a visual indicator, but is accompanied by a verbal list of chaos jargon descriptions, which when clicked on demonstrate that item on the visual ("Dragon, Nautilus, Double Spiral and more). As you will see, Mand 2000 attempts to educate you as well as giving you a beautiful experience of discovery at each step of the way. The Project menu is also the place where new Mandelbrot and Julia Set screens are initiated. Julia sets are special case cousins of Mandelbrot sets.



Zoom



	Zoom is the next menu. All of the items listed here have an effect on both the magnification of the scene and the area of interest. Remember that chaotic images are for all intents and purposes infinite. You can keep zooming forever, either in or out, and never reach a last overview or final resting place. "Set Fractal Location" allows you numeric control over the area of interest, and over the Mandelbrot "Type" as well. Increase/ decrease magnification jumps you into or out of the image by discreet steps. If you desire to explore more definitively, "Good Spots" is the menu item for you. Here, you choose a selection from the jargon list and are rewarded with an instant placement to that area of the image. For those who desire control over their own image destiny, using the "Box Zoom" operator provides the ability to zoom into any area desired at any zoom level.



Setup



	 In addition to being the place that Cycling is set in motion, which we'll cover in detail later on, the Setup menu contains the color palette settings. These allow you to configure the palette to your liking. When I work in a low number of colors (usually 16), I set the color palette to a smooth transition between the start and end colors. This gives me a smooth graphic and it's just right for cycling effects. The other unique menu item here is the "Color Mapping" requester. Here, you can make global changes to the palette by selecting one from a series of choices. My favorite is "Mono", which changes the image into a stark two color screen and is just right for creating bump maps for 3D applications. You can also play with the "Skip" and "Offset" function sliders to manipulate the image palette further.



Animations



	Mand 2000 allows you to create two distinct types of animations or movies: zoom based and morph based. Zoom movies are just that, animations that allow you to move into or out of  a fractal image. Morph movies allow you to show a morphing transition between fractal images, creating some of the more interesting and bizarre animations you will ever produce on a computer, looking like alien liquid plastic in motion. Although a stand-alone movie player exists on the CD, I loaded the movie samples included with the software into Brilliance (from Play, Inc.), which gave me more control over the playback. There is an especially nice 12 meg morphing movie included called "SmallBulb" that was very intriguing to view.



Cycling and its applications



	The Mand 2000 "Cycle Colors" operator is exquisite, good enough to act as an image generator for an experimental music video. No matter what Amiga system you're running on, the cycling is so smooth and mesmerizing that you will want to find a method to record the results. You can also reconfigure the color palette so that the cycling transitions progress smoother. Another use for the cycling generator is to use a Mand 2000 cycling image as a screen saver. A screen saver is a moving image or an animation that keeps your CRT screen fro sitting too long with one image burning into the phosphor coating, The only trouble with using a Mand 2000 color cycling image as a screen saver is that once you look at it, it may be hours later before you remember that you were about to leave to do another task. It's that hypnotic and beautiful. But what if you want to create an actual animation made up of single frames that emulate the color cycling look? I've figured out a way to do that too. Mand 2000 has the unique ability to freeze the color palette once color cycling is switched off (versus DPaint which always returns to the same color palette instead of stepping it forward). You can turn color cycling on and off several times, saving a frame each time. Once you figure out which frame belongs where and name them with sequential numbers, you have the ingredients for a neat single frame animation. The only caution I would suggest in using this method is to work with a 16 color palette, so that you will have only sixteen frames in your cycling single frame animation. Otherwise, the gluing process becomes too intricate. Once you have a single frame animation sequence of Mand 2000 color cycling images, try wrapping them on a plane in a 3D program, either as a background for objects (including text) or on a horizontal plane to emulate liquid. You will be knocked out by the results. One last remark about Mand 2000 Cycling. Each time it is toggled on, it reverses its direction from the previous time, adding even more variety to the cycling animation. 





And in addition...



	Fred Fish's Amiga Library Services has recently been expanding its offerings of CD-ROMs from Europe. One of these is called "The Beauty of Chaos" from Germany. It has 507 stunning fractal images in diverse formats for the Amiga, MAC, and PC in a variety of sizes. Most are in 256 color, but there is also a TrueColor collection in the TIFF format. If you are a MandelNut, you owe it to yourself to check out this lovely CD-ROM. 







Captions:



Figure 1. You can open as many screens as your memory will allow, and each can be set to color cycle at the same time. AGA users will, of course, achieve more colors in their images.



Figure 2. Mand 2000 offers the Amiga user a wealth of on-screen controls that act to add variety and interest to each image.



Figure 3. Frames from a Mand 2000 morphing animation.



Figures 4 to 7. Images from "The Beauty of Chaos" CD-ROM from Amiga Library Services.



Mand 2000

MSLP: $49.95

Cygnus Software

33 University Square, #199

Madison, WI  53715

(608) 277-0413

cynussoft@cup.portal.com



The Beauty of Chaos, Volume 1

MSLP: $22.95

Amiga Library Services

610 North Alma School Road, Suite 18

Chandler, AZ  85224-3687

(800) 804-0833

(602) 491-0048 FAX

info@amigalib.com

