• Category Archives JWildfire releases
  • JWildfire 8.50 (on all platforms) released

    JWildfire 8.50 is now available at Steam, at the Mac App Store and the offical JWildfire site.

    Most important changes: introducing a new type of transforms: background-transforms, and GPU render now supports transparency.

    Complete list of changes:

    - introducing a new type of transform: background transforms.
        - a background transform calculates a layer of a background, typically using one of the dc-type of variations
        - this way you can add very interesting backgrounds which also evaluate very fast (in comparison to the "classical iterations")
        - the intensity ("brightness") of the background is controlled by the "weight" parameter of the background transform
        - use the small "B"-button (which is located right of the "Final"-transform-button) to add a random background transform to the current layer
        - currently, about 60 variations support background transforms
           - please note, that you can also combine them with regular "pre_"-type-variations
           - you can make most variations to work as a "pre_"-type-variation in the user-interface by pressing the small "pre"-buttons
           - this way you can apply interesting deform-effects to your backgrounds
        - background-transforms can also be animated like regular transforms
        - you can control the position, size and orientation by changing the affine-part of the background transform ("triangles")
           - please note that this affine-transform is applied to the coordinates of the background
           - so it appears somewhat like an inverse transform
           - e.g. moving to the right, will move the background to the left
           - e.g. scaling down the triangle will zoom into the background, etc.
        - currently, the following variations support background-transforms directly:
            colormap_wf, dc_acrilic, dc_apollonian, dc_booleans, dc_cairotiles, dc_circlesblue, dc_circuits, dc_code,
            dc_ducks, dc_fingerprint, dc_fractaldots, dc_fractcolor, dc_gabornoise, dc_glypho, dc_gmandelbroot, dc_grid3D,
            dc_hexagons, dc_hoshi, dc_hyperbolictile, dc_inversion, dc_kaleidocomplex, dc_kaleidoscopic, dc_kaliset,
            dc_kaliset2, dc_layers, dc_linear, dc_mandala, dc_mandbrot, dc_mandelbox2D, dc_menger, dc_moebiuslog, dc_pentatiles,
            dc_perlin, dc_poincaredisc, dc_portal, dc_quadtree, dc_randomoctree, dc_rotations, dc_spacefold, dc_squares,
            dc_starsfield, dc_sunflower, dc_tesla, dc_tree, dc_triantess, dc_truchet, dc_turbulence, dc_voronoise, dc_vortex,
            dc_warping, dc_worley, f_complex, fract_dragon_wf, fract_formula_julia_wf, fract_formula_mand_wf, fract_julia_wf,
            fract_mandelbrot_wf, fract_meteors_wf, fract_pearls_wf, fract_salamander_wf, iconattractor_js, swirl3D_wf
    - GPU render now also supports transparency
    - new "mobius_dragon_3D"-variation by Whittaker Courtney, with added GPU-support
    - variation-filter in the user interface ("Background transform"), which shows only variations which are suitable for background transforms
    - new RANDOM_BACKGROUND-mutation to add background-transforms, which is available both in the "Quick Mutations"-tab and the MutaGen-window as well
    - new "Flame with Background"-random-flame-generator to generate flames with background-transforms
    - GPU render now supports bg transforms (by compositing
    - GPU render now supports background images and background gradients (by compositing)
    - the "shift"-parameter of the gradient can now be easilier be animate to created color-cycling animations (as suggested by
    Hugo Orosz)
    - fixed an internal matrix-multiplicatiopn-bug, reported by Brenda661
    - fixed a bug regarding to saving the window-position of the Easy Movie Maker, as reported by Hugo Orosz
    - restored the internal "TM*" scripts (which got lost due to unknown reason)
    - on GPU the xcolorshift, ycolorshift, and zcolorshift variables now also work with post_mirror, as reported by Brad Stefanov
    - removed the parameter tinaRealtimePreviewIdleAmount, which caused more problem than it was helpful
    - some optimizations, especially to the realtime-preview
    
    


  • JWildfire 8.20 released

    JWildfire 8.20 is now available at Steam and the offical JWildfire site (the App Store version will come later).

    Most important change: GPU rendering now also works on NVIDIA 4xxx devices 🙂

    Complete list of changes:

    -upgraded the GPU render to CUDA 11.8, works also on NVIDIA 4xxx GPU’s now
    -new “Underwater”-random-flame-generator, most generated flames also work well with the GPU render
    -new “RANDOM_BG_COLOR”-mutation, makes it easy to play with different backgrounds for “Underwater”-flames
    -fixed a bug in the GPU-implementation of “loonie2”
    -added a non-ugly flame for selftest of the gpu render (selftest.bat in the FARenderJWF-folder)
    -adjusted the variation-type of many variations, leading to better random-flames in some cases
    -slightly improved the quality of various random-flame-generators
    -when using GPU render, automatically convert background-gradients to an average background color (because GPU render currently only supports a single background color)


  • JWildfire 8.00 released

    JWildfire 8.00 is now available at Steam and the offical JWildfire site (the App Store version will come later).

    The rendering of solid flame fractals has been fundamentally revised. It is now faster and delivers a much better level of detail and more visually appealing images. In short: it’s fun now 🙂

    List of changes:
    - huge improvements in solid rendering, hence the big change in version number:
        -now it feels like it should have from the start
        -needs less render time (about 66%)
        -quicker response in the preview-render
        -more accurate calculation of normal vectors
        -more accurate lighting calculation
        -needs less spatial oversampling in order to get clear details in many cases
        -there are three other sizes of shadow maps available
        -fixed an old bug which caused the shadow direction differing from the light direction
        -much faster tone-mapping (the final phase of rendering)
        -use reduced shadow-map size when rendering (smaller) previews to save memory
        -new "pre_affine3D"- and "post_affine3D"-variations for more precise control over affine transforms in 3D space
        -all solid-random-flame-generators now support many more base-shapes
     - new "Solid (recursive)"-random-flame-generator to generate simple but nice solid flames (thanks Brad for the name suggestion)
     - fixed a bug which prevented entering of values into number-fields manually in some cases
     - increased the default value of tinaRealtimePreviewIdleAmount (which causes less idling and smoother realtime-preview))
     - changed the locale of number-fields to US, so that the decimal separator is always a dot (".")
     - added "hourglass3D"-variation as suggested at the Facebook-group
     - added "Yummy Gnarls BS"-script, made by Brad Stefanov

  • JWildfire 7.5x (on all platforms) released

    JWildfire 7.5x is now available at Steam, at the Mac App Store and the offical JWildfire site.

    Major changes:

    • re-implemented the realtime-refresh of the flame-preview for editing. It should work more smooth with less flickering and should require less CPU-time
    • new powerful “brush_strokes_wf”-variation which helps to apply a painterly look to your fractals
    • added the feature to mark/unmark variations as favourites

    For a more complete list, see “List of changes” under the “Help” main menu.

    Have fun! 🙂


  • JWildfire 7.20 (on all platforms) released

    JWildfire 7.20 is now available at Steam, at the Mac App Store and the offical JWildfire site.

    Major changes:

    • option to generate z-buffers for regular (non-solid) flames
    • motion-curve-editor: sync animation to multiple frequency-bands of an mp3-song
    • macOS-platform: security scoped bookmarks are used to remember already selected folder-locations
    • Windows-platform: we now have about 660 variations which are supported on GPU
    • Fixed a very old bug that could lead to significant performance degradation: Unicode characters are now handled correctly when loading/saving settings

    Have fun! 🙂


  • JWildfire 7.00 (on Windows) released

    JWildfire 7.00 is now available at Steam and the offical JWildfire site. (Currently, there is no native Mac version available, it will come later, as soon as possible.)

    Major changes:

    • (almost) re-implemented GPU rendering:
      • gives very predictable and awesome results now
      • is better integrated in the main editor
      • support for over 500 variations
      • support for many of the more advanced features like weighting-fields
      • only downside: it requires a NVIDIA graphics card because I had to switch from OpenCl to CUDA
    • many new cool variations, also on GPU

    Have fun! 🙂


  • JWildfire 6.10 release: new creative workflow with “Quick mutations”

    JWildfire 6.10 is now available at Steam, the Mac App Store and the offical JWildfire site.

    The major new feature are “Quick mutations”. They are located at the new “Quick mutations”-tab and allow the easy creation of small batches of variations (or mutations) of the currently selected flame. You may load any of those mutations into the main editor by double-clicking at it. This creates a new flame in a new slot and does not alter the original flame in any way. This may sound not very spectacular, but gives a new type of very creative workflow. With just a single click, you get 5 (per default) variations of your currently selected flame very quickly. You may specify what do you want to modify or just let the program decide. And of course, you can modify the modified versions and so on.The number of 5 can be changed on the fly, you can also create 500 mutations quickly if you want.

    Have fun and a Merry Christmas  🙂


  • JWildfire for Win64 is now on Steam!

    JWildfire for Windows is also available on Steam now!
    Using this version you will not have to deal with manual updates or installing and configuring a Java-runtime-environment.
    (This is the only difference to the complete free versions, which are still available at my site.)

    Which version to pick:
    You are using Windows 10 64 Bit and want easy installation/updates: use the Steam version:
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/1445310/JWildfire

    You are using macOS Catalina and want easy installation/updates: use the App Store version:
    https://apps.apple.com/de/app/jwildfire/id1530646485

    You are using another OS or want to install by yourself: use the precompiled version at my site:
    https://jwildfire.overwhale.com/

    You want to build on your own: get the sourcecode at GitHub:
    https://github.com/thargor6/JWildfire


  • JWildfire for macOS is now on the AppStore!

    I worked the last four weeks on a dedicated macOS build which can be distributed
    through the App Store.
    Hopefully, this will make it much easier to install updates for Mac users and
    oush the macOS-version to a higher level.

    This step really needed a lot of tweaking, because all the packaging and code-signing
    steps must be performed manually (this is because JWildfire is not made using Xcode,
    which simplifies such stuff a lot.)
    Also, it was necessary to replace almost any file-dialog with a native one.
    Only this seems (currently) to make it possible to exit the macOS-sandbox
    under macOS Catalina (otherwise you would get a “operation not permitted” or
    similar error when trying to write a file.)
    Those dialogs also look better, but lack some features of the JWildfire-dialogs.

    So, I’m really glad, that it all works now! 🙂

    To support the future of this build and to make it possible to extend tests on the
    Mac platform, I decided to make the app not free. Instead, you have to pay about
    10 bucks (once), all future updates will be free.
    You can still use the completely free (*.jar-based) build (or build by yourself),
    of course. But this will require more manual steps to install the software.

    KNOWN BUG:
    If you once open FileDialog to select a drawer (and not a file), all further
    dialogs will not allow you to select a single file.
    (After the a restart of the app the problem is fixed).
    There is also a permanent workound (which will be included in the next update):

    Edit the file /Applications/JWildfire.app/Contents/app/JWildfire.cfg, e.g. by
    opening a terminal and entering:
    cd /Applications/JWildfire.app/Contents/app
    sudo vi JWildfire.cfg

    Then add the line “-Dapple.awt.fileDialogForDirectories=false” after the line “-Xmx4096m”,
    so that you have the section in the file:
    [JavaOptions]
    -Xmx4096m
    -Dapple.awt.fileDialogForDirectories=false
    Save the file, and after restarting JWildfire, the problem will be fixed.

    Here is the link to the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/jwildfire/id1530646485

    Have fun!


  • JWildfire 6.10 release: new creative workflow with “Quick mutations”

    JWildfire 6.10 is now available at Steam, the Mac App Store and the offical JWildfire site.

    The major new feature are “Quick mutations”. They are located at the new “Quick mutations”-tab and allow the easy creation of small batches of variations (or mutations) of the currently selected flame. You may load any of those mutations into the main editor by double-clicking at it. This creates a new flame in a new slot and does not alter the original flame in any way. This may sound not very spectacular, but gives a new type of very creative workflow. With just a single click, you get 5 (per default) variations of your currently selected flame very quickly. You may specify what do you want to modify or just let the program decide. And of course, you can modify the modified versions and so on.The number of 5 can be changed on the fly, you can also create 500 mutations quickly if you want.

    Merry Christmas  🙂


  • JWildfire 5.60 release: with support for OptiX denoiser

    Just released JWildfire V5.60 as another major update.

    This time, adding support for NVidia’s OptiX denoiser as a powerful tool to cut down render times and improve image quality.

    The OptiX denoiser, developed by NVidia, is included in most of the common 3D rendering software like Arnold, Blender, Lightwave.
    I was enjoying it for a longer time, but did not really think about an integration into JWildfire, because such an integrationg (GPU rendering and Java programs) is always somewhat weak or unstable.
    
    But then, user [Phaser Rave] at the JWildfire forum, introduced us to the a command-line version of the denoiser, made by Declan Russell. I was immediately hooked and created some "dirty" integration of the tool into the render-flow to play around. I was really excited and the results where amazing, so I kept stuck to the idea and improved the  implementation.
    
    Now, it is loosely coupled and can not crash your JWildfire process. You will only see the options, when your system can run it. So, it will not confuse users who can not make use of it, either. All others will love it ;-) 
    And, by using the way of utilizing a command-line-tool you are even able to denoise your already rendered images!
    
    Please consult the comprehensive documentation inside the software ("Help -> OptiX denoiser") for more information.

    There also a lot of other useful additons, contributed by Rick Sidwell, Jesus Sosa, Whittaker Courtney and others – most in the form of new variations – thanks a lot for your efforts!

    Complete list of changes:

    – support for NVidia’s NVidia’s OptiX denoiser as a powerful tool to cut down render times and improve image quality.
    Please consult the comprehensive documentation inside the software (“Help -> OptiX denoiser”) for more information.
    – new commandline-tool to create and render random flames.
    Example: java -cp j-wildfire-5.60/lib/j-wildfire.jar org.jwildfire.cli.CreateRandomFlame -w 1200 -h 675 -q 80
    – new variations:
    -julia_outside by Whittaker Courtney
    -polarplot3d_wf by Rick Sidwell
    -polarplot2d_wf (Like yplot2d_wf, but uses polar coordinates. Fifteen presets of common polar curves) by Rick Sidwell
    -combimirror by Thomas Michels and Brad Stefanov
    -gingerbread_man,
    -hopalong,
    -gumowski_mira,
    -threeply,
    -triangle,
    -crop_box, post_crop_box,
    -crop_polygon, post_crop_polygon,
    -crop_cross, post_crop_cross,
    -crop_rhombus, post_crop_rhombus,
    -crop_stars,post_crop_stars,
    -crop_trapezoid,post_crop_trapezoid,
    -crop_triangle, post_crop_triangle,
    -crop_vesica,post_crop_vesica,
    -crop_x,post_crop_x,
    -pre_zsymmetry,
    -post_zsymetry,
    -pre_c_var,
    -post_c_var, all created by Jesus Sosa
    – new jitter-option for weighting-fields: Adds noise after transforms, so it works well with blurs as well as normal transforms, by Rick Sidwell
    – some new presets to yplot2d_wf variation, by Rick Sidwell
    – FIXED: added missing parameter colormap_filename for metaballs3d_f variation, by Rick Sidwell
    – FIXED: a bug regarding colormaps in isosfplot_wf, by Rick Sidwell
    – FIXED: a bug in the mask variation, by Rick Sidwell
    – FIXED: made js.glsl classes serializable, fixing a bug where dancing flame projects could not be saved, by Rick Sidwell
    – updated variation credits, by Rick Sidwell

    Now, just click the “Random flames” button (or new “Random”-button at the gradient-tab ) to start playing around and have fun  🙂


  • JWildfire 5.50 release: introducing gradient-curve-editor as new artistic tool

    Just released JWildfire V5.50 as another major update.

    This time, introducing a new color-editing-function that makes it easier to control the final result: the color-curve-editor. It allows a very interactive editing of the gradient and the flame at the same time. Additionally, it allows more direct control over modifying the colors of a gradient, making it much easier to create “dramatic” effects.

    (Internally, each gradient now consist both of the “classic” part of the gradient and three new curves: hue, saturation and luminosity. Those curves belong to the flames, and are also stored within the flame-files.)

     

    A BIG thanks to Jesus, Rick, Brad and Michael (in no particular order) for their valuable contributions!

     

    Complete list of changes:

    - New "Curve Editor" for gradients at the gradient tab. This gives much more control over the final result because it allows a very interactive editing
    of the gradient and the flame at the same time. Additionally, it allows more direct control over modifying the colors of a gradient,
    making it much easier to create "dramatic" effects.

    Internally, each gradient now consist both of the "classic" part of the gradient and three new curves: hue, saturation and luminosity.
    Those curves belong to the flames, and are also stored within the flame-files.

    When loading an old flame without those curves, or assigning a "classic" gradient to a flame, the color curves are approximated.
    This usually is only a very raw approximation, but this is absolutely intended. To reach a very accurate approximation, it would require
    to have a lot of curve-points, which would make the curve very hard to edit.

    So, there is no exact synchronisation between the gradient and the colors curves, in order to not break existing flames and concepts.
    Instead, it is meant as powerful additional tool, whioch is useful in very many cases, but might not be useful in each case.

    Only when you start to edit one of the curves, the gradient is synchronized to shape of the curves. When you save and re-load a flame
    you can continue the editing of the curves.

    Each curve has a toolbar with little buttons to help with editing:
    - open a modal dialog for editing an enlarged version of a particular curve
    - create ramp-shaped curve
    - create line-shaped curve at the bottom (constant zero intensity)
    - create line-shaped curve at the middle (constant halve intensity)
    - mirror the curve at the vertical axis
    - mirror the curve at the horizontal axis (e.g., to turn a constant line of zero intensity into a line with maximum intensity)

    Two new random-gradient-generators directly support the concept of color-curves. I. e., they create random color-curves instead of random gradients.
    All existing random-gradient-generators works as before. I.e., they create only random gradients, while the color-curves are approximated from
    the gradients.

    - new "Uneven curves"-random-gradient-generator, which generated both a color-curve and a gradient (derived from this color-curve)

    - new "Uniform curves"-random-gradient-generator, which generated both a color-curve and a gradient (derived from this color-curve)

    - made "Uneven curves" the new default random-gradient-generator

    - New coloring type (by Rick Sidwell):
    CYCLIC shifts the gradient index right by the amount specified by Speed,
    wrapping as needed to cycle through gradient colors. It doesn't converge
    to a color when iterated, so some other transform needs to use DIFFUSION
    to get a stable color that CYCLIC can use as a starting point.
    CYCLIC is especially useful for coloring tilings.

    - function to create a simular gradient (using the currently loaded gradient as reference)

    - new "EDisc"-random-flame-generator

    - new "Save Gradient"-button at the gradient-tab

    - new "Random Gradient"-button direct at the gradient-tab

    - new variations (no particular order):
    - octapol (by xyrus02)
    - sinusgrid (by xyrus02)
    - csin (by zephyrtronium)
    by Jesus Sosa
    - cut_tileillusion
    - dc_fractcolor
    - cut_fractal
    - cut_zigzag
    - cut_x
    - cut_spiral
    - cut_spiralcb
    - joukowski
    - jac_elk
    - c_symmetry
    - cut_celtic
    - cut_triskel
    - cut_vasarely
    - cut_web
    - cut_spots
    - cut_btruchet
    - cut_c
    - c_var
    - cut_magfield
    - cut_btree
    - cut_2ewangtile
    - cut_alientext
    - cut_apollonian
    - cut_booleans
    - cut_bricks
    - cut_cirdes
    - cut_fingerprint
    - cut_fun
    - cut_glypho
    - cut_hexdots
    - cut_hextruchetflow
    - cut_jigsaw
    - cut_kaleido
    - cut_metaballs
    - cut_pattern
    - cut_randomtile
    - cut_rgrid
    - cut_shapes
    - cut_sincos
    - cut_snowflake
    - cut_sqcir
    - cut_sqsplits
    - cut_swarp
    - cut_triantess
    - cut_truchet
    - cut_truchetweaving
    - cut_tstruchet
    - cut_wood
    - cut_yuebing
    - dc_booleans
    - dc_butterflies
    - dc_spacefold
    - f_complex
    - msTruchet
    by Brad Stefanov
    - exp_multi (by Whittaker Courtney)
    - parallel
    - shredded (by Brad Stefanov and Rick Sidwell)
    - post_crosscrop (by Whittaker Courtney)

    - added "Lumiere Scripts" by Michael Bourne (a collection of 22 scripts) as built-in scripts
    - added "The Yugen Scripts" by Michael Bourne (a collection of 17 scripts) as built-in scripts
    - added "Keep 'Em Separated and Framed Script" by Brad Stefanov as built-in scripts
    - added "Minkowscope Painting Script" by Brad Stefanov as built-in scripts

    - fixed a nasty bug which could cause the final image to contain black stripes

    - Making a variaton a pre or post now works as intended

    - added standard shortcuts to Undo/Redo (<Strg>+Z/Y)

    - slighlty increased variation cost threshold to increase diversity in random flames

    - small optimization of the space at WField-tab

    - new README-file with hints for Linux-users

    - Additional presets added to isosfplot3d_wf variation

    - Two modes added to jubiQ variation

    - New option to specify color for DiminishZ; this is useful when using DiminishZ with a colored background

    - New coloring types descriptions in the Fractal Flames: Help window

    - New Density option for layers (by Rick Sidwell).
    Layer density allows fading some layers with respect to others to better
    balance the overall flame. It is complimentary to Weight, which controls
    the intensity of the layer to balance its brightness, but can only make
    it darker, not less dense.

    - New layer Extract button extracts the selected layer to a new flame in the editor

    - New ZBuffer controls (by Rick Sidwell)
    - ZBuffer bias makes the background appear closer. This is sometimes needed when using the ZBuffer
    for 3D photos in Facebook, which creates white splotches if the background is too far away.
    - ZBuffer filename option to select between traditional zbuf_name and name_depth (what Facebook requires).

    - New Camera tab Bank control to rotate flame around the Y axis. This rotation is normally called Roll,
    but that name is already used; Bank is a synonym. It works in conjunction with Pitch (rotate around X
    axis) and Yaw (rotate around Z axis).

    - New FastNoiseCreator in Image Processing to create images containing various types of noise

    - Change Easy movie maker FADE function to better fade between flames. A compatibility option allows using the old method.

    - Tooltips added to many controls

    - Rick Sidwell: Various fixes, including one that prevented the Mesh generator from working.
    1. Added some null pointer checks to AnimationService.java
    2. Removed print statement from Variation.java (only noticable if
    started from the command line for debugging)
    3. Fixed BokehOptionsBuggon tooltip text
    4. Corrected class for PerlinNoiseCreator so Transformation expression
    can be edited
    5. Camera distance field now allows negative distances.
    6. Motion curve for Fade to white now works.
    7. Edit gradient now puts focus on gradient so cursor keys work.
    8. Make a copy of a thumbnail flame before appending it as a layer to avoid confusing situations when editing one flame changes another.

     

    Now, just click the “Random flames” button (or new “Random”-button at the gradient-tab ) to start playing around and have fun  🙂


  • JWildfire 4.00 release: game-changing improvements in the user-interface

    Just released JWildfire V4.00 as a special X-mas-gift to the fractal-loving community.
    Big and warm thanks to Rick Sidwell, Whittaker Courtney, Jesus Sosa, Brad Stefanov, Michael Bourne and DarkBeam (in no particular order) for their contributions!

    This version is somewhat special to me: after really getting extremely pissed of at Facebook, I nearly threw the towel. But, after taking some time, I wanted to create something special, turning back to the roots. To put the user-experience into the centre. So the main changes in this version are not new functions (which are included a lot, of course :-)), but changes in the user-interface.
    They are rather complex, so I’m sorry, if they will not work for all of you “out-of-the-box”, I’m aware, that there is much room for improvement and fine-tuning.

    Breaking changes in short:

    • Realtime-editing was extremely optimized, editing fractals much feels like playing with liquid paint now (tested on Windows 10, Ubuntu 18.04, and macOS Mojave)
    • Creating random flames does not interrupt your workflow anymore, you may render or save flames, while random flames still are being generated, or have a closer look at random flames which are already were generated, …
    • Scripts can be easily imported from within the software by just chosing the *.zip-file, no manual extracting or copying of files is required anymore
    • Improved render-quality in the realtime-editor and more precise editing
    • Rendering of images with literally unlimited size (which exchanges render-size against time, so maximum size is not a matter of the power of your computer, it is just matter of dedication)
    • Some really interesting GLSL-emulation by Jesus Sosa, allowing to translate certain fragments from shadertoy.com into JWildfire-variations  – awesome idea!

    Complete changes (you can also see this list inside the program at the any time, see Help->List of changes ):

    • dramatically improved the smootheness of the real-time-editing: while dragging the mouse, the view is constantly updated,
      reflecting the change of the fractal. When you only see black editing-area, then often the fractal is changing too rapidly,
      just move slowlier to see the shape evolving, or wait a moment, while still having the left mouse-button pressed

      • reduded the change-rate when editing affine controls
    • new “Quilt Renderer”-module to render flames in nearly unlimited size. This works by splitting the whole image into tiles.
      You may freely specify how the tiles are generited, e.g. splitting the image in 3×2 tiles or 8 vertical stripes.
      Each of the rendered tiles is a valid image. So, even JWildfire would finally fail to assemble the tiles into one
      final image (due to memory restrictions), you could perform this step using external image-processing-software,
      which is more optimized to handle large images. But images with a size upto 32K (30720×17280) where tested
      without any problems so far. You can cancel/resume the rendering-process at tile-level.
      Please note: Due to the nature of the flame-fractal-algorithm, the rendering of each tile may take as long as you
      would render the whole image at once. So, this method is not efficient, but effective.
      A 16K render on a modern computer can take about 12 hours, but you will usually get an awesome result with endless details.
    • new button to easily import-scripts at the “Scripts and Custom-Buttoms”-tab. This function accepts all *.zip-files containing at least one script file (with the extension *.jwfscript). Associated text-files (descriptions) and any *.ugr-gradients are imported as well.
      Any other files are ignored. If the *.zip-file contains sub-folders, only the scripts inside the folders are extracted, but not
      the folder-structure itself. The function warns before overwriting files.
    • the flame-thumbnails on the left may now be properly scrolled using the mousewheel
    • selecting (double- or right-clicking) a frame from the thumbnail-bar now works much more reliable
    • many new variations:
      • metaballs3d_wf (somewhat slow, but can generate very nice organic shapes)
      • pointgrid_wf (flat random grid of points)
      • pointgrid3d_wf (3d-array of points)
      • invpolar (Brad Stefanov)
      • stripfit (Dark Beam, Brad Stefanov)
      • hypershift2 (Tatasz, Brad Stefanov)
      • hypercrop (Tatasz, Brad Stefanov)
      • truchet2 (Tatasz, Brad Stefanov, Jesus Sosa)
      • arcsinh (Tatasz, DarkBeam)
      • arcsech2 (Tatasz, DarkBeam)
      • arctanh (Tatasz, DarkBeam)
      • invsquircular (DarkBeam, Jesus Sosa)
      • squircular (DarkBeam, Jesus Sosa)
      • pyramid (Dark Beam, Brad Stefanov)
      • corners (Whittaker Courtney)
      • csc_squared (Whittaker Courtney)
      • atan2_spirals (Whittaker Courtney)
      • inverted_julia (Whittaker Courtney, Brad Stefanov)
      • acosech (Whittaker Courtney, Tatasz, DarkBeam)
      • acoth (Whittaker Courtney, Tatasz, DarkBeam)
      • acosh (Whittaker Courtney, Tatasz, DarkBeam)
      • intersection (Brad Stefanov)
      • curliecue (Jesus Sosa)
      • curliecue2 (Jesus Sosa)
      • szubieta (Jesus Sosa)
      • starfractal (Jesus Sosa)
      • triantruchet (Jesus Sosa)
      • arctruchet (Jesus Sosa)
      • swirl3D_wf (Jesus Sosa)
      • mandala (Jesus Sosa)
      • mandala2 (Jesus Sosa)
      • jac_asn (Jesus Sosa)
      • colordomain (Jesus Sosa)
      • ducks (Jesus Sosa)
      • bipolar2 (Brad Stefanov)
      • elliptic2 (Brad Stefanov)
    • new GLSL-family of variations by Jesus Sosa:
      After implementing a set of java functions that simulate almost the bunch of functions used in GLSL code for fragment shaders,
      I start to develop a set of JWF variations using the implemented functions, so I have translated fragment shaders (GLSL code)
      to java, using examples found in shadertoy.com and glslsandbox.com sites.

      • glsl_mandala
      • glsl_apollonian
      • glsl_fractaldots
      • glsl_circuits
      • glsl_mandelbox2D
      • glsl_hoshi
      • glsl_kaleidocomplex
      • glsl_starsfield
      • glsl_kaleidoscopic
      • glsl_randomoctree
      • glsl_acrilic
      • glsl_circlesblue
      • glsl_kaliset
      • glsl_kaliset2
      • glsl_grid3D
      • glsl_hyperbolictile
      • glsl_squares
      • glsl_code (to try out own stuff)
    • updated variations:
      • splits (new shear-parameters, Dark Beam, Brad Stefanov)
    • many awesome scripts, provided my Michael Bourne:
      • “UmmaGumma”-scripts (see new scripts starting with “UG-” in “Built-In-scripts”-category)
      • “Hubble”-scripts (see new scripts starting with “HB-” in “Built-In-scripts”-category)
      • “Samhain Splits”-scripts (see new scripts starting with “SX-” in “Built-In-scripts”-category)
    •  removed the dialog-options from the following built-in scripts, so they can executed in a more quick and simple
      manner (required paramerers are chosen randomly, instead of asking the user):

      • “Oily_Juliascope_Rev1”
      • “Oily_Rev3”
      • “Plastic”
      • “HypertilePoincare_Rev2”
      • “SphericalCross_Rev2”
      • “SuperSusan_Rev1”
      • “Textured_Cylinders_Rev01_by_MH”
      • “TomsSpiralSpiral_Rev3”
    • scripts can also be executed by simply double-clicking at them
    • new “JulianRings”-random-flame-generator
    • Main-Editor: there are now new three buttons at the left to easily open Interactive Renderer, Movie-Maker or Flame-Browser
      (the two buttons “Send to IR” and “Send to MovieMaker” are replaced by them)
    • new “reset clr”-button the “Gradient”-tab to reset all color-values and color-speed-values to 0
    • render-priority in the ui should now be set to low
    • bug-fix regarding rendering with enabled post-symmetry (Rick Sidwell):
      When Post symmetry is enabled, the result of clicking Render was dimmer
      than using Interactive Render, especially with large Symmetry order
      values. This change makes Render Fractal and Interactive Render produce
      the same results when Post symmetry is enabled.
    • bug fix EasyMovieMaker: when using multiple flames to morph between the slider at the bottom covered the edit, replace, remove buttons
    • internal scripts may provide their own gradients now
    • moved the “Misc”-tab to the bottom, the “Script”-tab was renamed into “Scripts and Custom-Buttoms” to give it more attention
    • improved the “Solid Labyrinth”-random-flame-generator
    • contributed two new images to the Launcher

    Just click the “Random flames” button to start playing around and have fun 🙂


  • JWildfire 3.50 release: big update!

    Just released JWildfire V3.50 which is a rather big update. Again, thanks Rick Sidwell, Jesus Sosa and Brad Stefanov for their valuable contributions!

    Changes in short:

    • simplified and faster user interface, no more nested windows
    • support for Java 10 (but you can still use Java 8)
    • affine3D-transform and affine3D-random-flame-generator which creates nice 3d-shapes
    • lots of new variations/transforms/formulas
    • lots of optimizations

    Complete changes (you can also see this list inside the program at the any time, see Help->List of changes ):

    • removed the desktop and the Navigator-window in order to simplify and speed-up the user-interface
    • faster app-startup, there are now 3 random flames generated at start (and it is still faster than before)
    • improved the resize-behaviour/speed of the main-editor-window
    • support for Java 10 (Please note, that JWildfire still works with Java 8 and Java 8 ist still supported by Oracle.
      But, Java 10 is also supported now, and when you want to use the UI-scaling-feature, you will need Java 10.)
    • many new variations:
      • affine3D (ported from Flamelet)
      • anamorphcyl (Jesus Sosa)
      • dc_kaleidotile (Brad Stefanov)
      • disc3 (Brad Stefanov)
      • glynns3subfl (Jesus Sosa)
      • gpattern (Jesus Sosa)
      • hyperbolicellipse (Jesus Sosa)
      • lazysensen (Brad Stefanov)
      • lozi (Brad Stefanov)
      • nsudoku (Jesus Sosa)
      • projective (Brad Stefanov)
      • pulse (Brad Stefanov)
      • pTransform (Rick Sidwell)
      • q_ode (Brad Stefanov)
      • ringsubflame (Jesus Sosa)
      • sunflower (Jesus Sosa)
      • sunvoroni (Jesus Sosa)
      • taprats (Jesus Sosa)
      • terrain3D (Jesus Sosa)
      • vibration2 (Brad Stefanov)
      • wangtiles (Jesus Sosa)
    • new “Affine3D”-random-flame-generator (also taken from Flamelet)
    • updated the jsyntaxpane-library (used for syntax-highlighting while editing text) to version 1.1.5
    • increased the default font size for the script-editor inside JWildfire
    • internal optimization/API-changes: extended the API of variations:
      there is now an initOnce()-Event which is only called once for the
      first thread (unlike to init() which is called for each thread).
      This new event should be used for heavy init-operations (like loading and parsing a file)
    • the following variations use the new API and should behave more smooth (=use less memory and CPU)
      when initializing for a render:

      • wangtiles
      • terrain3D
      • dla_wf
      • dla3d_wf
      • knots3D
      • sattractor3D
    • improved the speed of the following variations:
      • dustpoint
      • knots3D
      • sattractor3D
    • improved the stability of the following variations (Rick Sidwell):
      • brownian_js
      • dragon_js
      • glynnsim3
      • ghosperisland
      • hilbert_js
      • htree_js
      • koch_js
      • lsystem_js
      • rsquares_js
      • tree_js
      • new property tinaLSystemMaxLength in the prefs to specify maximum size of the generated string for the L-System variation
    • bug fixes for symmetry order and animation control update
    • fixed a bug regarding rendering motion-blur

    Just click the “Random flames” button to start playing around and have fun 🙂


  • JWildfire 3.31 release: Happy Easter!

    Just released JWildfire V3.31 – again with MUCH help of our contributors Rick Sidwell, Jesus Sosa and Brad Stefanov. Thank you, guys!

    Complete list of changes (you can also see this list inside the program at the any time, see Help->List of changes ):

    • new variations:
      • apollony (Jesus Sosa)
      • chrysanthemum (Jesus Sosa)
      • dc_dmodulus (Jesus Sosa, Rick Sidwell, and Brad Stefanov)
      • dc_gnarly (Rick Sidwell, and Brad Stefanov)
      • dustpoint (Jesus Sosa)
      • iconattractor (Jesus Sosa)
      • knots3D_js (Jesus Sosa)
      • macmillan_js (Jesus Sosa)
      • recurrenceplot_js (Jesus Sosa)
      • seashell3D (Jesus Sosa)
      • sattractor3d (Jesus Sosa)
      • threepoint (Jesus Sosa)
      • prepost_circlize (Rick Sidwell)
      • prepost_affine (Rick Sidwell)
      • prepost_mobius (Rick Sidwell)
        • Prepost variations are executed both before the other variations (along with other pre_ variations) and after the other variations (along with other post_ variations). One of the two will be an inverse function, calling invtransform instead of transform. Prepost variations are identified with priority 2 (calls invtransform for pre and transform for post) or -2 (calls transform for pre and invtransform for post).—
    • updated variations:
      • hamid_js – added more variables
      • jubiq – made it respect other 3D objects instead of making it flat
      • siercarpet_js – added preserveZ
      • parplot2d_wf – added a solid variable by default no new changes. Set to 0 they react more like traditional flames
      • pre_stabilize – Added a direct color option to pre_stabilize for coloring glitch flames
    • general changes/fixes:
      • changed the default filter to the same that is used by Flamelet which creates nice sharp images,changed the default filter to the same that is used by Flamelet which creates nice sharp images,  if you do not like it, you may change it in the Preferences
      • fixed the problem with the Mac-version, which could not be installed on many Macs in previous versions (because the new APFS was used due to a bug in the build tool)
      • optimed some default settings in order to allow faster editing
      • Make random gradients without fade colors use the right number of colors.
      • Bug fixes and enhancements to parameter list
        • 1. Pre button for variation 11 didn’t work
        • 2. Slider for params with dynamic parameter expansion didn’t work
        • 3. Added tool tip with full name when parameter name is truncated
      • Fix bugs with duplicate transform
        • 1. Final transforms now duplicate as final transforms
        • 2. Normal transforms now duplicate From Xaos as well as To Xaos
      • Fix UGR gradient loading for gradients saved by Ultra Fractal
        • 1. Newer version of Ultra Fractal don’t use numnodes, so the number of colors it contains is used to determine whether interpolation is needed instead.
        • 2. The UGR parameter “smooth=yes” indicates that the curves used to fade the gradient are smoothed, not that the gradient isn’t faded. The setColorsSmooth function was changed to reflect this.
      • Make the “Add linked transform” button copy xaos
      • Fixed bug with dynamic parameter expansion
      • Stereo3d bug fixes
      • Made labels reflect the current edit plane
        • Specifically, when the edit plane is changed, the affine labels (X1, X2, Y1, Y2) and the labels on the triangles (or rectangles) now change to match the new edit plane. This will make it easier to identify just what the modified values will affect.
      • Bug fix:gradient reset button breaks range editing
      • Made random gradient generator use variable widths for the colors

    Just click the “Random flames” button to start playing around and have fun 🙂 Happy Easter!


  • JWildfire 3.30 release: Merry Christmas!

    Just released JWildfire V3.30 – with MUCH help of our contributors Gregg Helt, Rick Sidwell, Jesus Sosa and Brad Stefanov. Thank you, guys!

    Again, there are  a lot of new variations – we have now more than 500! So, you will probably also like another new feature, allowing you to (de)activate rarely used variations (on the fly).

    Complete list of changes (you can also see this list inside the program at the any time, see Help->List of changes ):

    • new variations provided by Gregg Helt, Rick Sidwell, Jesus Sosa and Brad Stefanov:
      • dc_triTile, crop3D, spherecrop, loq
      • jubiQ, complex, quaternion
      • lsystem_js, lsystem3D_js, lorenz_js
      • brownian_js, dragon_js, gosperisland_js, hamid_js
      • hilbert_js, htree_js, koch_js, rsquares_js, tree_js
      • sattractor_js, wallpaper_js, hadamard_js, crown_js
      • apocarpet_js, invtree_js, siercarpet_js, woggle_js
      • lace_js, harmonograph_js, clifford_js, svensson_js
      • pre_stabilize to help stabilize glitch flames
      • pre_spherical, post_spherical
      • klein_group, inversion
    • new window to (de)active rarely used variations. When you are loading a flame (from disc or from the random generator),
      and a deactivated variation is detected, this variation will be enabled for this flame. So, you have not to worry about
      old flames or flames made by others (using another set of variations).
      Deactivated variations are indicated by a label having a font in strikethrough style.
      You may activate/deactivate variations at any time, in some cases you will have to reload the flame when you do this while
      editing.
    • new “Raster”-random-flame-generator
    • new “Outlines”-random-flame-generator
    • new “Bold”-random-gradient-generator
    • changed the distribution of random gradient generators inside the “All”-random-gradient-generator (affects random flames)
    • increased flame-thumbnail-size from 90×68 to 120×68 (16:9)
    • Experimental “Mirror Translation” toggle-button to the Affine tab. The toggle applies to all three planes XY, YZ, and ZX.
      When toggled on, if viewing pre-affine, changing translation (01 or 02 coefficients) is mirrored by reversing the translation
      (setting post-affine to -01 and -02). And vice-versa if viewing post-affine. This mirroring is very handy for some of the new
      variations I’ve added such as Inversion and KleinGroup and for existing variations such as Spherical, which use mathematical
      operations that typically in other contexts are composed with a translation T and its inverse T’ to move their center from the
      origin: G_shifted = T(G(T’)). A boolean is added to the transform in the flame so that the mirror toggle state is saved to
      and restored from flame files.

    Just click the “Random flames” button to start playing around and have fun 🙂 Merry Christmas!


  • JWildfire 3.21 release: many new variations

    Just released JWildfire V3.21 – most work was done by Brad Stefanov, Darkbeam, Gregg Helt and Rick Sidwell this time – thanks a bunch, guys!

    Complete list of changes (you can also see this list inside the program at the any time, see Help->List of changes ):

    • Add setBGTransparency line to scripts converted from flames. When a script creates a new flame, it sets bgTransparency to true by
      default, so scripts converted from flames didn’t preserve the setting from the flame. Added a setBGTransparency call to do so. By Rick Sidwell
    • Compatibility for addLinkedXForm. Made addLinkedXForm set the draw mode of the from xform to HIDDEN and the symmetry
      of the to xform to 1. This matches the behavior of Apophysis, making it easier to follow tutorials for that program. By Rick Sidwell
    • New variations (Thanks to Gregg Helt, dark-beam (Luca), Rick Sidwell and Brad Stefanov for conversions and new variations):
      • MaurerLines, MaurerRose, Minkowskope, TruchetFill, Panorama2, Panorama1, SphTiling3V2, TruchetAE, R_Circleblur, MinkQM, Sigmoid, BlurLinear, Gridout2, Gridout, Crob, Hole2, Cpow2, Cpow3_wf and DCCracklePWF.
      • Added Apo Cpow3 and had to rename previous Cpow3 by Gregg Helt too Cpow3_wf
      • Bugfix on isoplot variation formula 26
    • Even more work on variations, contributed by Rick Sidwell:
      • dc_cylinder
      • dc_cylinder2
      • swirl3
      • cardiod
      • shredrad
      • improved backwards-compatibility for oscilloscope and oscilloscope2
    • experimental “UI scale”-setting in the launcher. Works only since Java9. Scales up the UI, in a consistent manner, by the given factor.
      (To use Java9: install it from oracle, then in the launcher chose “Add runtime”. Navigate to “C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-9\bin” and select “java.exe”)
      (For good results, you should reset the value of “tina.general.font_scale” in the Preferences to 1, if you used a higher value)
      (Please note, that Java 9 is not officially supported, yet – there are already known problems (e. g. custom gradiens seem not to work).
    • fixed the font-size of the edit-plane-buttons

    Just click the “Random flames” button to start playing around and have fun 🙂