4.1 3D Mode Selection
After hitting <3> and getting past the filename prompt and video mode
selection, you're presented with a "3d Mode Selection" screen. If you
wish to change the default for any of the following parameters, use the
cursor keys to move through the menu. When you're satisfied press
<Enter>.
Preview Mode: Preview mode provides a rapid look at your transformed
image using by skipping a lot of rows and filling the image in. Good
for quickly discovering the best parameters. Let's face it, the
Fractint authors most famous for "blazingly fast" code *DIDN'T* write
the 3D routines! [Pieter: "But they *are* picking away it and making
some progress in each release."]
Show Box: If you have selected Preview Mode you have another option to
worry about. This is the option to show the image box in scaled and
rotated coordinates x, y, and z. The box only appears in rectangular
transformations and shows how the final image will be oriented. If
you select light source in the next screen, it will also show you the
light source vector so you can tell where the light is coming from in
relation to your image. Sorry no head or tail on the vector yet.
Coarseness: This sets how many divisions the image will be divided into
in the y direction, if you select preview mode, ray tracing output,
or grid fill in the "Select Fill Type" screen.
Spherical Projection: The next question asks if you want a sphere
projection. This will take your image and map it onto a plane if you
answer "no" or a sphere if you answer "yes" as described above. Try
it and you'll see what we mean. See Spherical Projection (p. 114).
Stereo:
Stereo sound in Fractint? Well, not yet. Fractint now allows you to
create 3D images for use with red/blue glasses like 3D comics you may
have seen, or images like Captain EO.
Option 0 is normal old 3D you can look at with just your eyes.
Options 1 and 2 require the special red/blue-green glasses. They are
meant to be viewed right on the screen or on a color print off of the
screen. The image can be made to hover entirely or partially in front
of the screen. Great fun! These two options give a gray scale image
when viewed.
Option 1 gives 64 shades of gray but with half the spatial resolution
you have selected. It works by writing the red and blue images on
adjacent pixels, which is why it eats half your resolution. In
general, we recommend you use this only with resolutions above
640x350. Use this mode for continuous potential landscapes where you
*NEED* all those shades.
Option "2" gives you full spatial resolution but with only 16 shades
of gray. If the red and blue images overlap, the colors are mixed.
Good for wire-frame images (we call them surface grids), lorenz3d and
3D IFS. Works fine in 16 color modes.
Option 3 is for creating stereo pair images for view later with more
specialized equipment. It allows full color images to be presented in
glorious stereo. The left image presented on the screen first. You
may photograph it or save it. Then the second image is presented, you
may do the same as the first image. You can then take the two images
and convert them to a stereo image pair as outlined by Bruce Goren
(see below).
Option 4 places left and right images on the screen simultaneously as
a stereo pair. Also see Stereo 3D Viewing (p. 110).
Ray Tracing Output:
Fractint can create files of its 3d transformations which are
compatible with many ray tracing programs. Currently four are
supported directly: DKB (now obsolete), VIVID, MTV, and RAYSHADE. In
addition a "RAW" output is supported which can be relatively easily
transformed to be usable by many other products. One other option is
supported: ACROSPIN. This is not a ray tracer, but the same Fractint
options apply - see Acrospin (p. 203).
Option values:
0 disables the creation of ray tracing output
1 DKB format (obsolete-see below)
2 VIVID format
3 generic format (must be massaged externally)
4 MTV format
5 RAYSHADE format
6 ACROSPIN format
Users of POV-Ray can use the DKB output and convert to POV-Ray with
the DKB2POV utility that comes with POV-Ray. A better (faster)
approach is to create a RAW output file and convert to POV-Ray with
RAW2POV. A still better approach is to use POV-Ray's height field
feature to directly read the fractal .GIF or .POT file and do the 3D
transformation inside POV-Ray.
All ray tracing files consist of triangles which follow the surface
created by Fractint during the 3d transform. Triangles which lie
below the "water line" are not created in order to avoid causing
unnecessary work for the poor ray tracers which are already
overworked. A simple plane can be substituted by the user at the
waterline if needed.
The size (and therefore the number) of triangles created is
determined by the "coarse" parameter setting. While generating the
ray tracing file, you will view the image from above and watch it
partitioned into triangles.
The color of each triangle is the average of the color of its
verticies in the original image, unless BRIEF is selected.
If BRIEF is selected, a default color is assigned at the begining of
the file and is used for all triangles.
Also see Interfacing with Ray Tracing Programs (p. 117).
Brief output:
This is a ray tracing sub-option. When it is set to yes, Fractint
creates a considerably smaller and somewhat faster file. In this
mode, all triangles use the default color specified at the begining
of the file. This color should be edited to supply the color of your
choice.
Targa Output:
If you want any of the 3d transforms you select to be saved as a
Targa-24 file or overlayed onto one, select yes for this option. The
overlay option in the final screen determines whether you will create
a new file or overlay an existing one.
MAP File name:
Imediately after selecting the previous options, you will be given
the chance to select an alternate color MAP file. The default is to
use the current MAP. If you want another MAP used, then enter your
selection at this point.
Output File Name:
This is a ray tracing sub-option, used to specify the name of the
file to be written. The default name is FRACT001.RAY. The name is
incremented by one each time a file is written. If you have not set
"overwrite=yes" then the file name will also be automatically
incremented to avoid over-writing previous files.
When you are satisfied with your selections press enter to go to the
next parameter screen.