FAQ

Q0001. JWildfire freezes my system. What can I do?
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:
Q0002. What are params?
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 "<flame ...>" or "<flames>..."
The most simple approach to load params into JWildfire is to copy them into clipboard and then using the "From clipboard" button ion JWildfire.
Q0003. What are scripts and how they are used?
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.
Q0004. Isn't a Java program slow?
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.
Q0005: What are HDR files and how are they used?
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.
Q0006: How to change render size?
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.

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


Q0008: What is the Interactive Renderer for?
A0008: The interactive renderer serves two purposes: But beware, the interactive renderer never stops automatically and will render until hell freezes :-) You must always stop it manually or finish the program.

Q0009: There doesn't seem to be a button to change the output or even the quality in the movie maker tab. What am I missing?
A0009: To make the movie-generating-process more robust it is strictly divided into three steps:


Q0010: How do I render a transparent background where the black background usually shows?
A0010: Turn on transparency on the color tab, and use "Display/hide transparency" button at top of the preview window to visualize it


Q0011: I downloaded a font to my computer and it isn't showing up in JWildfire. What do I need to do? A0011: Once you install the font it should show in JWF. Close and restart the program to make sure it takes.