Fractal Designer

This is an application to make fractal videos based on Qt(6.2.0), C++ and FFmpeg.

Version Information

This is version 6.0.9 updated in 2021/08/02.

Because the author is currently working on other projects of higher priorty, the development of this project is paused but it will be resumed when the author has free time.

What's new in beta2 version than beta1 version

• Add Linux support (tested on Ubuntu 20 using Qt 6.2.0 and Qt 6.1.2).
• Add terminal command playvideo.

Amazed to find effieiency on Ubuntu 20 is twice of that on Windows 10 under the same circumstance!

Please note

This version only supports source code and you need to compile it yourself. This shall be the final beta version and the next release version will be the official 6.0.9 version (support on Windows and Linux).

Visit our Fractal Designer Website for more information. The doxygen pages are generated based on beta1 version and has not been upgraded to beta2 version.

Build the Project

Besides the build version for Windows (using Qt 6.2.0), you can compile it yourself by following steps:

• Build project include/qscintilla.pro. On Windows, build with both Debug and Release mode; on Linux, build with Release mode.

• Open project src/Fractal_Designer.pro and release translations (lrelease). In Qt Creator, it is in Tools->External->Qt Languist.

• Build src/Fractal_Designer.pro with the same kit as that of building QScintilla.

• Get ffmpeg.

  • For Windows, Download shared version of ffmpeg and put all contents of directory bin it in the right directory. (They are bin/win/ffmpeg.exe, bin/win/ffplay.exe and dll dependencies.)
  • For Linux, download ffmpeg using sudo apt install ffmpeg.

• To distribute the project, you need to

  • Build in release mode.
  • Deploy with windeployqt, macdeployqt, linuxdeployqt or other methods to get the dependency files.
  • Copy the release dynamic library file of QScintilla (qscintilla2_qt6.dll on Windows, libqscintilla2_qt6.so and its symbolic links on Linux) to directory bin and delete directory lib, scintilla, include, tmp.

Use Fractal Designer

Type help in the terminal to get the list of all commands supported by Fractal Designer 6.0.9. Use the sample file to have a quick look at how the frd language is like. Details about frd language will be updated in the near future.

FRD Script

Here is the basic syntax of frd script:

• frd language is case-sensitive.
• Variable names are started with $, function names are started with % and class names are started with @.
• Each statement is ended with ; or a block (i.e. {}).
• Comments follow the C++ rule (i.e. // and /* */).
• No custom class name is allowed in this version.
• Members of a class are specified also.
• No quote mark is needed outside @string value.
• To assign an @formula value, use := instead of =.
• Currently a value can only be set during initialization. (Which seems to a bug of QJson)
• Variables are only valid in its scope block (like C++).
• @number values are actually stored as complex numbers.
• @array stores @number and @list stores @string.
• @array and @list values are set by using , to divide different elements. No {} should be used.
• Function now only support %CONFIGURE.

Note:

• Non Ascii characters can lead to the misplace of syntax highlight of variable, function and class names. [This will be fixed in the future.]
• Try to avoid syntax error or mathematics error. (For example, Ts in route should between 0 to 1 and Widths should not be negative.) The behaviour of the interpreter is undefined faced with these circumstances. [This will be improved in the future.]

FRD Terminal

• Currently you just need to use the Editor tab.
• Ctrl + O to open frd files. (The default directory will have a sample file.)
• Change the file location and image size information of sample file according to your need.
• Enter save in terminal or use Ctrl + S to save your changes.
• Enter run to interpret the script (Every time you change the file you need to run to get the data updated.)
• Enter preview (or F12) to view the preview image and closepreview to close the preview window.
• Enter createimages (or Ctrl + R) to create images. This process can be time-consuming.
• Enter createvideo to create the video. This process is much faster than that of creating images but the window will not respond until this process finishes.
• Enter playvideo to watch the video you generated using ffplay.
• Other useful commands:
  • help to view all commands. This can help you choose what command and argument to use.
  • clear to clear the screen.
  • history to view the command history.
  • info to view data stored in json format.
  • !! to repeat the previous command.

TODOs in Version 6.0

• Validity Check in frd script.
• Improve error indication of interpreter.
• Add termination control in preview, creating images and creating video.
• Add more terminal commands.
• Adapt GUI for Windows 11.

Sample Videos

Video Name	Watch on YouTube	Watch on Bilibili
Mandelbrot Set 1	https://youtu.be/LU9eL1-9V0E	https://b23.tv/BV1TU4y147ta
Mandelbrot Set 2	-	https://b23.tv/BV1qX4y1P74d
Mandelbrot Set 3	-	https://b23.tv/BV17K4y1J7XM
Mandelbrot Set 4	-	https://b23.tv/BV1Hy4y1T7MD
Julia Set 1	https://youtu.be/zaU_K-6NbLg	https://b23.tv/BV1wB4y1N7pU
Burning Ship Fractal 1	-	https://b23.tv/BV1RA41157kJ
Newton Fractal 1	-	https://b23.tv/BV1Tb4y1D7oN
FRD 6.0.9 Ubuntu 20 Test	-	https://b23.tv/BV1CL411n7F1

More videos are being uploaded.

Download Release

This beta2 version only provides build version for Windows. For other systems, please compile yourself.