The Program F.A.Q.Page

FAQ Questions
 * Q0001. JWildfire freezes my system. What can I do?
 * Q0002. What are params?
 * Q0003. What are scripts and how they are used.
 * Q0004. Isn't a Java program slow?
 * Q0005. What are HDR files and how are they used?


 * Q0006. How to change render size?


 * Q0007. How can we add plugins? I'd like to use the "snowflake" plugin but i'm not sure how they work with JWildfire.

Note that a more recent version of this FAQ can usually be found at the JWildfire's users group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/jwildfire/ Answers

decrease the process priority of JWildfire in the task manager (reduces system freeze, but not JWildfire user interface freeze) increase your memory (hardware or virtual memory if hardware is not possible) increase the heap size in the startup options use the interactive renderer (which does not use oversample and uses less memory then the normal renderer)
 * A0001. JWildfire never freezes your system by itself. Being a Java application it uses a fixed pool of memory. This pool of memory is managed by a so-called "garbage collector". If your memory pool is very large or your pool is used to the limit (if you are low at memory) your system my occur freezed from time to time if the garbage collector is working. The following can help to reduce those freezes:
 * A0002. "Params" are definitions of fractal flames you can excange with other people or save to disk. These are XML files you can post as text. You can recognize them by starting with either "  or " ...". The most simple approach to load params into JWildfire is to copy them into clipboard and then using the "From clipboard" button ion JWildfire.


 * A0003. Scripts are just small programs which help you to automate things you could also do manually. The most popular scripts for JWildfire (or Apophysis) create or modify fractal flames. You may ask "Why not just load a flame file?". You are right then, but scripts can include random numbers. I. E. they can be used to create randomly computed results. In the most cases the used random values are in a certain range and not totally random. But the script will still create an infinite number of results!  JWildfire scripts are written in Java, were JWildfire exposes all properties of a fractal flame to be used in scripts. This way you can even create random flames generators on your own. Just have a look at te various examples supplied at the "Script" tab.


 * A0004. No, it isn't. Compared to a native app like Apophysis it is a little bit slower because a native app can use all stuff like graphics display or mathematical functions in a more direct or "shorter" way. Regarding only the "hard facts" the current release behaves really stunning, you can render images at really high resolutions in an always adequate time. If you are interested in technical performance measurements: I did some test renders in JWildfire and Apophysis and compared the results: http://www.andreas-maschke.com/?page_id=1345  But what always was very important for me was the overall performance rather than the technical render performance. So I designed the interface to be as much user-friendly as possible and the app as much stable as possible. So that the user can focus on creating his/her art.


 * A0005: HDR stands for "high dynamic range" and is a term for images with a huge amount of different shades of different colors. So many colors that no device can display them. Imagine a scene in a forrest where sunbeams break through the tree crowns. There you have both many different shades of darker colors (tree trunks, ground, flowers, ...) and many different shades of bright colors (sun beam, tree crowns)  The HDR images generated by JWildfire have a precision of 32 bits per color channels and represent the raw iteration data. (So one could say that they are te real raw fractals)  To make a HDR image visible on a computer screen you must reduce its color range. This process is called tonemapping. Tonemapping in detail is a whole field of science and is beyond the scope of this FAQ. But there are many programs which can do it, e.g. LuminanceHDR, Photomatix or Photoshop, where LuminanceHDR is free software.


 * A0006: Render sizes are defined in so-called "resolution profiles". There are some predefined resolution profiles but you can define any number of own profiles. Those resolution profiles can then used in all parts of the program where you choose a render size (Flame editor, Interactive renderer, Movie maker and Batc renderer) The resolution profiles are defined and modified on the main tab using the detail button right of the resolution combobobx in the right upper edge of the window.


 * A0007: The Apophysis-plugins are compiled 32Bit-Windows-binaries and do not work directly in JWildfire. They must be rewritten in Java so that they can be used in JWildfire. This is usually very easy if the original source code (which is usually included) is available. Please note that it is not sufficient to know the mathematical formula or concept behind a variation to make it work 1:1 in JWildfire. The "snowflake" plugin is a good example, there is no way to build it from scratch because the term "snowflake" does not describe all of the necessary details.


 * There is a document at the JWildfire users group where you can add missing plugins: http://www.facebook.com/groups/jwildfire/doc/418984591455854/