1.12 View Window
The <V> command is used to set the view window parameters described
below. These parameters can be used to:
o Define a small window on the screen which is to contain the generated
images. Using a small window speeds up calculation time (there are
fewer pixels to generate). You can use a small window to explore
quickly, then turn the view window off to recalculate the image at
full screen size.
o Generate an image with a different "aspect ratio"; e.g. in a square
window or in a tall skinny rectangle.
o View saved GIF images which have pixel dimensions different from any
mode supported by your hardware. This use of view windows occurs
automatically when you restore such an image.
o Define a disk video mode up to 32767x32767. First select a disk
video mode using <del>. Then on the <v> screen enter both an X and a
Y value at the Virtual Screen Total Pixels prompts.
o Define a virtual video mode up to the size that fits in video memory.
First select a VESA video mode (dotmode=28) using <del>. Then on the
<v> screen enter both an X and a Y value at the Virtual Screen Total
Pixels prompts. The Keep Aspect prompt is used if the asked for
virtual screen is larger than video memory. If set, the X and Y
values will both be reduced such that the ratio between them is
maintained. If not set, just the Y value will be reduced.
"Preview display"
Set this to "yes" to turn on view window, "no" for full screen display.
While this is "no", the only view parameter which has any affect is
"final media aspect ratio". When a view window is being used, all other
Fractint functions continue to operate normally - you can zoom, color-
cycle, and all the rest.
"Reduction factor"
When an explicit size is not given, this determines the view window
size, as a factor of the screen size. E.g. a reduction factor of 2
makes the window 1/2 as big as the screen in both dimensions.
"Final media aspect ratio"
This is the height of the final image you want, divided by the width.
The default is 0.75 because standard PC monitors have a height:width
ratio of 3:4. E.g. set this to 2.0 for an image twice as high as it is
wide. The effect of this parameter is visible only when "preview
display" is enabled. If the explicit size of both x and y are set,
setting this value to 0 will cause the appropriate value to be
calculated based on x and y.
"Crop starting coordinates"
This parameter affects what happens when you change the aspect ratio. If
set to "no", then when you change aspect ratio, the prior image will be
squeezed or stretched to fit into the new shape. If set to "yes", the
prior image is "cropped" to avoid squeezing or stretching.
"Explicit size"
Setting these to non-zero values over-rides the "reduction factor" with
explicit sizes in pixels. If only the "x pixels" size is specified, the
"y pixels" size is calculated automatically based on x and the aspect
ratio.
The following option is available when using disk video or virtual
screen modes:
"Virtual screen"
Setting these allow defining a virtual screen as large as the available
video memory will permit.
The following options are available when using virtual screen modes:
"Keep aspect"
If this is set, when the asked for virtual screen is larger than video
memory the X and Y values will both be reduced such that the ratio
between them is maintained. If not set, just the Y value will be
reduced.
"Zoombox scrolling"
The fixed setting tries to maintain the zoombox in the center of the
screen by moving the virtual image. The relaxed setting moves the
virtual image when the zoombox reached the edges of the screen.
More about final aspect ratio: If you want to produce a high quality
hard-copy image which is say 8" high by 5" down, based on a vertical
"slice" of an existing image, you could use a procedure like the
following. You'll need some method of converting a GIF image to your
final media (slide or whatever) - Fractint can only do the whole job
with a PostScript printer, it does not preserve aspect ratio with other
printers.
o restore the existing image
o set view parameters: preview to yes, reduction to anything (say 2),
aspect ratio to 1.6, and crop to yes
o zoom, rotate, whatever, till you get the desired final image
o set preview display back to no
o trigger final calculation in some high res disk video mode, using the
appropriate video mode function key
o print directly to a PostScript printer, or save the result as a GIF
file and use external utilities to convert to hard copy.