Fraqtive

There’s no better way to emphasize the power of math than the mesmerizing complexity and depth of fractals. Discovered by Mandelbrot, hence the name, these are an infinitely generating sequence of images that let you zoom in as much as possible. A suitable example is Fraqtive, with various customization options for you to explore.

At launch, the application shows up with the default Mandelbrot Set, letting you get acquainted with what it has to offer. What captures the attention is the Julia preview section which updates in real time as you hover the cursor over regions of the set. However, changing the set to Julia counters the preview.

In case you’re already familiar with the Mandelbrot set, you can bring up the fractal selection screen in order to choose from either a Mandelbrot or Julia set, with several variations, as well as the possibility to set exponent to either an integral or real value. A preview is generated in real time so you can decide whether or not to explore the customized set.

However, there are more options to be configured from a side panel. These are stored in categories and target general parameters, such as rotation angle, position, and zoom factor, and range to color settings and advanced options such as depth calculation, anti-aliasing, level of details, and more.

The application lets you save bookmarks at custom point in your exploration to later on revisit at the press of a button. You can switch to a 3D view, but zoom options are not available here. A simple picture can be saved locally, or you can generate a sequence of images by customizing quality details and depths. Sadly, there’s not option to create a clip, or at least a GIF animation.

Art comes in all shapes and sizes, and math proves it can be a part of it as well. Computer applications like Fraqtive provide just the right tools for a psychedelic journey through an endless stream of images generated by a math algorithm. Although there’s no option to create animations, the application is definitely worth a try.