I think this is a very good idea ... I have been using the disk/RAM 2048x2048 driver for this kind of work now (since I also have video driver issues on my new Dell Workstation). What I do now is render the image in low res video (that my machine will support), then when I have the area of the fractal that looks interesting targeted, I switch to the disk/RAM mode and render a full size version. Since it is a GIF file output I view it in Photoshop. A beter way would be ... You could have a "batch" machine running on your LAN that would generate the fractals as image files. (By sending it a "par file" and the size/color depth of matrix you wanted generated) This way you could queue up a bunch of fractals to run and not have your normal machine busy or worry that is another operating system (Linux, Mac, etc.) The batch machine could be optimized for high speed math, it could be pretty cheap as it would not need Fancy Graphics cards, Big Disks, Expensive Monitors, etc. ... it would just need a fast CPU and Memory. Then the UI part of the program could pick up the finished image files as data and do all the display functions. (It would be great to be able to use a common file format (as on option) so that programs like Photoshop, etc. could read the fractal directly, That way you could use color mapping functions in other programs to render colors to the matrix.) TIFF? PNG? or PSD? would all be good choices. (But it is nice to have the Fractal data in the image file like it is now in GIF) This would make it easy to generate large files for printing images and for greater color depth 16bit, 32bit, 64bit color. I find the 2048x2048 size too small for very large prints. -david -----Original Message----- From: fractint-bounces+david=lemoncreekdigital.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:fractint-bounces+david=lemoncreekdigital.com@mailman.xmission.co m]On Behalf Of david Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 8:57 AM To: Fractint and General Fractals Discussion Subject: Re: [Fractint] Seeking a vid adapter mode Go for it! I've mentioned this idea on the list for a couple of years now - separate Fractint into a portable fractal generating engine back end that could be used with different front ends. That could even be run on a different computer than the front end ... Jonathan Kotta wrote:
I've been thinking about making a new fractint that is more portable. The existing code would be stripped of all user interface stuff so just the math routines, drawing algorithms, etc. remained. Then it would draw to a block of memory that represented the screen. Another program would link to this "fractint library" and provide the UI. So far, I think wxPython and Python would work pretty well for the UI, and SWIG could tie the C and Python together. Of course, all of these things are cross platform (Windows, Linux, OS X). I'm really not much of a programmer, but I'm going to give it a shot this summer.
-- David gnome@hawaii.rr.com authenticity, honesty, community _______________________________________________ Fractint mailing list Fractint@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fractint