Mandelbrot Explorer v1.00
by Theo Kandiliotis
ionikh@hol.gr
ICQ: 13315102
Frequently Asked Questions
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1. Q:
When I start M.E. I get a blank form , how do I
have it draw the Mandelbrot set?
A:
The 'Generate' item of the 'Fractal' menu will
plot the fractal according to the settings you
have defined from the 'Settings' item of the
main menu.When you start M.E. the settings are
already adjusted to their default values and
you don't have to ever change them unless you're
intrested in the math behind fractals.
2. Q:
Ploting the fractal on the screen takes way too
long , is there a way to stop the ploting but
still be able to zoom in the region of the
fractal already ploted?
A:
You may interrupt the ploting of the fractal with
the Escape key. Then you can zoom in the usual way.
3. Q:
What usual way, I haven't asked about zooming in
yet!
A:
It's preety straight forward. Push the left mouse
button when the mouse pointer is over the upper left
corner of the region you want to magnify ,move the
mouse to draw the rectangular region and then release
the mouse button. Ofcourse you must have already
ploted a fractal.
4. Q:
Ok,I've generated a spectacular fractal,how can I
save it as an image file?
A:
Just click 'Copy' in the 'Fractal' menu and then
paste the image to your favorite image utility.
5. Q:
What are all those weird options in the form that
pops up when I click 'Settings' ?
A:
Chances are you'll never need to change the first
4 scrollbars . They can be used to determine the
rectangular region within the complex plane that the
fractal will be generated from ,but the program
will automatically do that for you if you just
select the region by drawing it on the fractal
(see Q&A #3) . The 5th scrollbar (Iterations)
determines how many times the function will be
repeated before the program selects what color
each pixel should have. This is not the place
to catch up if you're not into complex numbers
and calculus :)
Just know that you can reduce the iterations
for faster plotting of the fractal , but you
will also be reducing the total colors that
appear within it.The X-axis and Y-axis scrollbars
can be used to change the dimensions of the
fractal ,but not the detail too. For example
if you change X-axis scale to 2 and keep
Y-axis scale to 1 , the fractal will appear twice
as wide.
6. Q:
Will there be a Mandelbrot Explorer v2.00 ?
A:
You can count on it , the next version will also
plot many other famous fractals like the Julia set,
the Henon map etc. You will also be able to plot
your own original fractals by typing in a new
mathematical function.Watch this URL:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Network/5045/misc.htm
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(
geocities.com/siliconvalley/network) (
geocities.com/siliconvalley)