ChaosPro description
A freeware fractal generator for the Microsoft Windows operating system

ChaosPro is a freeware fractal generator for the Microsoft Windows operating system, able to create beautiful images based on mathematical formulas.

Here are some key features of "ChaosPro":

· Multitasking and Multiwindowing
· This means ChaosPro is a true MDI application where each fractal resides in its own window. You can calculate several fractals at the same time in different windows. The different calculation threads use low priority, so you can calculate several fractals and continue doing your other work with the computer. All windows in ChaosPro are modeless dialogs, so can be open just as you like. You do not need to close any window in order to open another one.
· Realtime fractal exploration
· Well, this does not mean that you can dive into the fractal in realtime. Realtime in ChaosPro means that all changes take effect immediately. You grab the fractal with the mouse in order to move it around, and the effect is immediately visible. You assign another gradient (palette) and it gets applied immediately, no OK button to click on. If you move a slider (perhaps the rotation angle slider) the fractal thread constantly gets noticed that the slider changed its value and adjusts the fractal. How good and how fast it catches up with the changes depends on how fast your computer is. If you resize the fractal window then the fractal gets scaled accordingly. ChaosPro does not use modal dialogs, all parameter windows are modeless.
· True color
· ChaosPro does not know that there are only a limited number of colors. Basically it thinks there is an unlimited range of colors. Later in the fractal calculation it determines the colors based on a gradient (well, in ChaosPro a palette is a path through the color space based on about 250 knots). Depending on the coloring algorithm and on your display driver it then selects the colors. True color images with lots of colors, the mandelbrot set without those iteration bands, ChaosPro can calculate that sort of image.
· FractInt compatible
· To be honest: ChaosPro is not 100% FractInt compatible: There are situations where ChaosPro behaves different from FractInt. But it can read almost 80% of FractInts fractal types, starting with julia, mandel, upto complexnewton, barnsley1m, IFS, LSystem, etc. ChaosPro's formula parser can parse FractInt *.frm files. ChaosPro's gradient (palette map) editor can read FractInt's *.map files. The IFS and LSystem formula editors can load FractInt's *.ifs and *.l files as well.
· UltraFractal compatible
· You may ask how ChaosPro can be compatible to a fractal generator which uses a built in compiler. Is there really a compiler in ChaosPro? A compiler for a freeware fractal generator? Yes, indeed, there is: If another one can write a compiler, then I can do that, too. It's quite difficult and very time consuming, but it's not impossible. So I wrote a fast compiler, wrote some automates to import UltraFractal formulas and there it is:
· A built in compiler which produces fast machine code. No extra DLL, no extra package to install. It's all in ChaosPro. For free.
· The compiler together with the import mechanisms allow ChaosPro to use all UltraFractal formulas (transformations, iteration formulas, colorings) and to calculate all fractals which UltraFractal can calculate.
· This especially means that ChaosPro has all the features of UltraFractal 3.02 currently built in.
· Animations
· In ChaosPro you can create zoom movies: Define where to start from, define where to end. Specify how many frames to calculate and press start. Too easy? Wait a moment:
· ChaosPro restricts you not only to simple zoom in/out/around movies, it lets you create animations based upon every fractal parameter in ChaosPro, in every combination. You simply define key frames of how your animation should look like, specify how many frames there should be between each pair of key frames and ChaosPro does the rest. The key frames may differ in any parameter which can be changed in a continuously manner, like the corners, the iteration value, the rotation angle, the parameter, the bailout value, the coloring paramaters, the palette and many others. Parameters which cannot change during an animation are the fractal type or flags for example: These must be the same during the animation. But the animation system is clever enough to not let you specify keyframes which do not match to the others you already have defined.
· So, are you interested in an animation flying into a Complex Newton Set, which keeps rotating, whereas the palette changes, just in order to fly around a bit and finally to fly back to the starting location animating the initialization point?
· And together with the 3D feature you additionally can animate all 3D parameters...
· 3D Transformations
· ChaosPro can create 3D views from two dimensional images, i.e. it can create height fields. This way you can create stunning images from fractals.
· Supports several fractal types
· ChaosPro not only creates Julia and Mandelbrot sets of any formula (using either one of about 20 built in formulas or using a user defined formula), it can create bifurcation diagrams, IFS fractals, Plasma fractals, Lindenmayer systems, dynamic systems like the Lorenz attractor, the Rossler attractor, and Lyapunov Spaces (more to come). ChaosPro not only wants to be able to create nice images, it wants to be more: There are two kinds of people interested in fractals. The one group is only interested in nice images, not knowing much about the math, the theory of fractals, etc. these people like programs like UltraFractal, Tierazon, Fractal eXtreme (and perhaps ChaosPro?). And then there is another group of people: People interested in the theory, the math, and these people want to explore fractals, they want different fractal types (different in the formula, different in the whole algorithm). These people mainly used FractInt simply because no other program offers so many interesting fractal types. Those people seem to love fractals like bifurcation diagrams or lorenz attractors, boring images, with interesting math behind them. And that's the reason why ChaosPro offers such fractal types. Happy exploring :-)


Requirements:

· Screen resolution: Minimum 1024x768 , Truecolor recommended
· Pentium processor recommended (works on 200Mhz), but the faster the better.
· 64 MB minimum, again: the more the better.