[Please choose a non-proportional font such as Courier to read this] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- USER INTERFACE MANUAL FOR HOP - FRACTALS IN MOTION Version 2.0 / 1994-99 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1994/99 Michael Peters & Randall Scott. All Rights Reserved This text describes in detail how to interact with HOP. This includes a reference and documentation of all hotkeys and of all items on the user interface pages, the palette editor, and so on. Who should read this? --------------------- You should read this text only if you want to learn how to make your own HOP animations and images. In this case, if you haven't read the file 'Quick Start' (quckstrt.txt), please do so first. ('Quick Start' will give you you a basic understanding of how HOP works, and of the most important hotkeys.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION USER INTERFACE PAGES: OVERVIEW USER INTERFACE PAGES: DETAILS COLOR PALETTE EDITOR GENERATE ANIMATION PARAMETERS HOTKEY LIST COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interacting with HOP -------------------- Most HOP users have installed HOP only as a screensaver, and never interact with HOP. They're missing a lot! There are two means to interact with HOP: 1. The hotkeys that can be pressed while the fractal is growing. 2. The menu-driven user interface (from which you can control all of HOP's many parameters) which runs in DOS text mode. You can't see the fractal from the user interface; you can't use the user interface menues while you see the fractal, so you will have to switch to the interface and back to the graphics every time. Hotkeys ------- With hotkeys, you can change the values of certain parameters while in graphics mode. There is also a number of hotkeys with special meaning, like saving or reading an image. Most of HOP's parameters can be controlled using keys as well as from the user interface pages/menues. Think of HOP as a fractal synthesizer with the hotkeys being all the parameter controls (filters, oscillators etc). You must invest a little time to learn all those functions, but then you will be able to play like a virtuoso and do amazing things - faster and with more feeling than someone who accesses the menues everytime a parameter must be changed. However, before learning the hotkeys, you need to know what can be done with HOP and how you can control HOP using the menues (see below). Only then will the hotkey list make sense to you. To learn how pressing the hotkeys affects the fractal values, press the 'v' hotkey. Most of HOP's parameters will be displayed on the left side of the screen (to really see all values, you have to use a resolution above 640*400), and they change as you press a hotkey. The user interface ------------------ Press the Enter key from the graphics screen to switch to the menues of the text mode user interface. The current image will be saved (you can switch off the save feature from the Configuration page of the user interface). The user interface consists of 8 pages (press PgUp/Dn to go to the next/previous page). If you don't immediately feel at home with this concept, take some time to play with it. HOP's user interface with its pages is no less logical than a Windows program main menu, it just looks different. On coming back from the user interface to the graphics screen, the fractal will either be restored and continued including the changes you applied, or it will be redrawn from the beginning (e.g. if you changed the formula). A little mark (*) in the upper right corner of the user interface pages indicates that the image will be redrawn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- USER INTERFACE PAGES: OVERVIEW -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What are the contents of those eight user interface pages ? Where can you find which functions ? * Modify the current image -------------------------- "Fractal Values" page: use this page to ... - choose a formula - change the constants for the fractal - set the current fractal's 'lifetime' "Mathematical Effects" page: use this page to ... - choose and set values for a number of HOP specific mathematical 'special effects' which modify the fractal shape "Graphical Effects" page: use this page to ... - choose optional background images - choose, combine and set values for a number of HOP specific background patterns and 'background fractals' (e.g. plasma clouds) - choose from a number of HOP specific special effects which change the look of the image in all sorts of manners "Colors" page: use this page to ... - choose color palettes and mapping methods - choose and set values for special color effects like color scrolling - choose special effects which modify the image after completion * Configure HOP --------------- "Tuning HOP" page: use this page to ... - set preferences "Configuration" page: use this page to ... - configure Hop's behaviour * Read and write files ---------------------- "Read" page: use this page to ... - playback demo sequences or parameter sets you designed yourself - display and reconstruct GIF images "Save" page: use this page to ... - save a parameter set or an image Navigating on the user interface pages -------------------------------------- While you can use the mouse, most people find it easier to use hotkeys to navigate: * PgUp/Dn - Move up/down inside a popup menu - Go to previous/next page * Tab/ShiftTab - Highlight next/previous button * Enter - Choose a menu item inside a popup menu - Return to graphics, - switch on the help screen, - go to the highlighted page, - or Quit (depending on which button is highlighted) * Up/down - Move up/down inside a popup menu - Move between data entry fields * Space Bar (or any other key) - Pop up a menu in a field - toggle On/Off * Del, Esc - Close an opened menu * F1 - Switch context sensitive help on/off * Mouse keys - Increment/decrement a numeric value while being pressed Context sensitive help ---------------------- There is context sensitive help for each of the data fields. Click on the Help button (or press Tab to highlight the Help button, then press Enter) to activate the help page. The help text will be displayed as you press Up/Down to move between the fields, or simply as you move the mouse across the fields. The pages in detail ------------------- The following pages will explain most of HOP's features along with their corresponding entry fields on the 8 user interface pages. For those features that can also be controlled directly on the graphics screen using hotkeys, the hotkeys will also be mentioned. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 1: FRACTAL VALUES -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On this page you can: - choose a fractal formula and change the constants that are part of the formula. The formula and its constants are the mathematical basis for the image you will get - determine the duration of the fractal growth, measured as number of pixels - determine magnification and screen position - determine if all pixels should stay visible, or if old pixels should be erased (erasing old pixels is necessary if you want to create an animation) - determine if each pixel should be drawn, or if only every second (third, fourth) pixel should be drawn (this can make a difference in symmetry) --Pixels Current-------------------------------------------------------- shows the number of pixels that have already been drawn for the current fractal. This is just a display and cannot be changed. --Max------------------------------------------------------------------- contains the maximum number of pixels, or the 'lifetime' of the current fractal. Minimum value is 1, maximum value is 99999999 pixels. A value of 0 indicates that the fractal should run without a limit, i.e. until it is stopped manually. 'Max' is set to 0 by pressing the Ins key, or by changing any of the parameters that affect the image (HOP assumes that if you change colors, effects etc., you want to experiment with the current fractal, so it sets the lifetime to 0, letting you decide when to end the fractal). When running in improvising mode, HOP sets the maximum number of pixels for each new fractal to a random value. This value is related to the value of 'No. of Pixels' which can be set on the TUNE page. HOTKEYS - ins = 'keep' this fractal (Max = set to 0) --Fractal type---------------------------------------------------------- Choices are: - None (use this if you want to play with background patterns (see page 3: Graphic Effects) - "Hopalong" or "Gumowski/Mira": These are the two attractor types used in HOP. The "Formula" menu (next field) contains formulas either of the "Hopalong" or of the "Gumowski/Mira" type. HOTKEYS - ctrl-f = switch between the two attractor types --Formula--------------------------------------------------------------- HOP generates images based on several dozen attractor formulas. The formulas are based either on the structure of Barry Martin's original Hopalong formula (which is included as 'Classic'), or on the original Gumowski/Mira formula (which is included as 'Plankton'). Most of HOP's formulas were invented for HOP and have never before appeared anywhere else. The names of the formulas ('Lozenge'. 'Cloud' etc.) are loosely based on the corresponding fractal shapes (although the fractals can look completely different with different fractal values or special effects). HOTKEYS - f/F = next/previous formula from the type chosen under Fractal Type --a,b,c,d--------------------------------------------------------------- are the values for the constants in the fractal formula. (Most formulas only contain a subset of these four constants. The unused constants for each formula are blank and cannot be entered.) For Hopalong formulas, typical values lie between -50 and +50. (0 is not allowed.) For Gumowski/Mira formulas, the value for "a" is usually 1.0 (or very close to 1.0); the value for "b" is usually between -1 and +0.5, depending on the formula. Entering the values manually while hunting for interesting images is very tiresome. Instead, press the '*' key from the graphics screen to set the constants to random values. This feature can be used to quickly get an idea of the multitude of forms produced by the current formula while keeping all other parameters (effects, etc.) unchanged. If the Transform effect is switched on, different values for the constants won't change the image very much. Press ctrl-t to switch Transform off. See 'Math Effects' for information about Transform. Press the '#' key from the graphics screen to resize/recenter an image (sometimes '#' has to be pressed several times to get the best result) after you have pressed '*', because with new random constants for the formula, the image can be too small or big or off the screen center. HOTKEYS - * = random values for a,b,c,d --Horizontal/Vertical Position------------------------------------------ Horizontal/vertical offset of the fractal. This is measured in pixels at 640*480 resolution (offsets at higher or lower resolutions are scaled appropriately), with 0 being the unmodified position of the very first pixel. Press the up/down/left/right cursor keys on the graphics screen to adjust the fractal position. Press ctrl-up/down/left/right for larger steps. If ctrl-up and ctrl-down don't work on your keyboard, try shift-up and shift-down instead. The position of the fractal will be symbolized by a rectangle that can be moved across the screen. Move the rectangle to the desired position, then press Enter to redraw the image. If the fractal is outside the screen borders, the borders will also be symbolized by a rectangle in the middle of the screen. This feature is helpful if you have lost track of the position of the fractal. If the screen is black and the action takes place outside of it, just press a cursor key and move the fractal rectangle back into the screen rectangle. HOTKEYS - left/right cursor keys = adjust position in small steps - shift-left/-right === adjust in larger steps - up/down cursor keys === adjust position in small steps - shift-up/-down === adjust in larger steps - # === correct size/position (try several times) --Zoom------------------------------------------------------------------ Zoom into the image by pressing the '+' or 'ctrl +' keys. Zoom out by pressing '-' or 'ctrl -' from the graphics screen. Unlike Mandelbrot fractals, Hopalongs don't have an infinite depth; with a 10:1 zoom-in, nothing much will be happening on your screen. Zooming will take place on a blank screen on which the fractal in its current state is represented by a rectangle. If the fractal becomes bigger than the screen itself, the screen will be represented by another rectangle. Press Enter to redraw the image. HOTKEYS - +/- === zoom in/out - ctrl+/ctrl- === zoom in/out in big steps - # === correct size/position (try several times) --Erase Oldest Pixels--------------------------------------------------- You'll need this setting if you want to create an animation, a "fractal in motion". If this setting is ON and the corresponding 'erase after' value is > 0, pixels will be erased as they "age". After the specified number of pixels has been displayed, the "oldest" ones will be erased. Theoretical maximum value is 32,000, but it depends on the amount of available memory. HOTKEYS - w toggle 'Erase Oldest Pixels' - ctrl-f5 set erase queue length to 1 - ctrl-f6 set erase queue length to maximum length - f5 decrement by 1 - f6 increment by 1 - shift-f5 decrement in bigger steps - shift-f6 increment in bigger steps All of these will also affect 'Pixels per Frame' and 'Color Frequency'. --Show Every Nth Pixel-------------------------------------------------- Usually, every computed pixel will be displayed. However, the structure and growth of symmetric fractals can be studied better if, for instance, only 1 out of 4 pixels is displayed (this can be accomplished by setting this variable to 4). If you manage to find a fractal with a triangular structure, try setting this value to 3. Interesting effects can be achieved in combination with Pixel Connect Type set to 'Colored Lines'. A setting of 1 (default value) will show all pixels. HOTKEYS - n = increment - N = decrement - ctrl-n = reset to 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 2: MATH EFFECTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On this page you can control the settings for three different 'mathematical effects' which can be used independently or in combination with each other: - Rotation: The image can be rotated - Transform: The Transformation of each specific attractor (determined by type, formula, and setting of constant values) produces an infinite series of entirely new attractors. Walk-thrus of such a series can be animated: Fractals in Motion. In addition, these animations can move through rotation axes. - Warp: Two different kinds of distortion can produce a variety of circular or spiral-like artifacts. This page is accessible only if a fractal formula was chosen. --Rotate Image---------------------------------------------------------- If ON, the image will be rotated in three dimensions according to the x, y, and z angles specified in the next fields. If OFF, the x, y, and z angle settings are ignored. In the current version, the center of the screen is not automatically the rotation center, instead the fractal is rotated around its starting position. Rotating a fractal can therefore result in a changed position which must then be modified by pressing the cursor keys. On the graphics screen, you can toggle Rotate with ctrl-r. To change the rotation angles of the fractal, press ctrl-pgup. This loads a rotation screen on which the current rotation angles are represented as a rotated rectangle on a blank screen with the rectangle sides drawn in different colors. Press Ins, Del, Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn to change rotation angles, Enter to redraw the fractal. HOTKEYS - ctrl-r = toggle Rotate - ctrl-pgup = change rotation angles --x,y,z----------------------------------------------------------------- If Rotate Image is ON, these values are used to rotate the image in three dimensions. Angle is measured in radians. HOTKEYS - ctrl-pgup = change rotation angles --Transform Fractal----------------------------------------------------- "Transform" is the most important "mathematical effect" in HOP. In Transform mode, each new attractor pixel is recalculated based on another simple formula which includes a real number constant (the Transform Factor). The result is an attractor image which is based on the untransformed attractor values, but looks entirely different. Incrementing/decrementing the transform factor slightly will alter the resulting image slightly. Between the limits of the transform factor (0, and 2 * pi = 6.28) lies, for each attractor formula value, an infinite but circular series of new attractor images (i.e., a transform factor of 2 * pi is equivalent to a transform factor of 0). HOTKEYS - ctrl-t = toggle Transform on/off --Transform Type-------------------------------------------------------- Determine the type of the Transform operation. Possible values for Transform type are: - Standard (this will usually display interesting attractors) - Distort1, 2, and 3 (these are experimental types which, if you try often enough, might produce interesting attractor variations, but only for Gumowski/Mira formulas.) HOTKEYS - ":" = next Transform type - ";" = previous Transform type --Transform Factor------------------------------------------------------ A real number constant (between 0 and 2 * pi = 6.28) which determines the image of a transformed attractor. (Higher and lower values entered are computed down to this range.) Changing this value will change the shape of the fractal. In fact, for each given attractor with a certain formula and a value for a, b, and c, the Transform operation produces a whole range of new fractal shapes. Similar values for the Transform Factor will produce similar shapes, and slowly incrementing the Factor will after a while reveal that the new shapes are forming a repeating series; one could say that they are 2-dimensional 'slices' of a 3-dimensional object. The 'Transform Animation' feature shows an animated succession of these 'slices'. HOTKEYS - t/T = increment/decrement the Transform factor - alt-t = set Transform factor to a random value --Transform Animation--------------------------------------------------- This unique kind of fractal animation draws consecutive "frames". In each frame, a transformed fractal is drawn based on a certain value for the Transform Factor. For the next frame, the Transform Factor is incremented or decremented by a certain value. Then, while the next frame is drawn, the previous frame is being erased pixel by pixel. The result is a series of fractals moving smoothly and changing shapes. The "Erase Oldest Pixels" setting must be ON for best results. The Animations come in different types (typical settings for math and graph effect parameters) which are preset and roughly hard-wired in the program although all parameters are controllable. (You can decide how often you want to see each of the different 'Animation Type' presets ('Dancing Beads', 'Kaleidoscope', etc) by changing their percentages on the Tune page.) HOTKEYS a = toggle Animation on/off --# Pixels per Frame---------------------------------------------------- If Pixels per Frame is set to a low value, the Transform Animation moves quickly, producing single pixels that jump or dance. If it is set to a very high value, the animation moves so slowly that it takes minutes to recognize it as an animation. HOTKEYS ctrl-f5 set #pixels per frame to 1 ctrl-f6 set #pixels per frame to maximum length f5 decrement by 1 f6 increment by 1 shift-f5 decrement in bigger steps shift-f6 increment in bigger steps If you use those hotkeys, # Pixels per Frame will be synchronized with the length of the Erase Queue and the Color Frequency. --Animation Speed------------------------------------------------------- This controls the increment or decrement size for the Transform Factor while in Transform Animation mode. This will determine the step rate and speed of the animation. --Animation Forward----------------------------------------------------- In Transform Animation mode, this setting determines if the Transform Factor will be incremented or decremented. HOTKEYS < / > toggle decrement / increment Transform Factor --Rotate Animation------------------------------------------------------ Determines if the animated fractal should also be rolling around its x, y, and/or z axis while it crawls across the screen. When set to ON, the setting of Rotation Axis determines the axes of the rotation HOTKEYS alt-a = toggle Animation Rotate --Rotation Animation Speed--------------------------------------------- Determines the speed of the rotation while in Transform Animation mode. Rotate Animation must be set to ON. --Rotation Animation Axis---------------------------------------------- Determines the axis of the rotation while in Transform Animation mode. Rotate Animation must be set to ON. The attractor can be rotated around the x, y, or z axes only, as well as around combinations of axes: x+y, x+z, y+z, x+y+z. Each setting produces very different results. HOTKEYS alt-r = next Animation Axis --Warp Type------------------------------------------------------------- The two kinds of "Warp" are HOP specific mathematical "special effects". Spirals: the fractal will 'explode' from the inside, developing spirals and tube extensions which can add quite dramatic effects. Eyes: the fractal will develop concentric rings and ellipses. Looks best without colorscroll and with very detailed palettes. The 'eyes' warp type uses a color mapping method that differs slightly from HOP's usual Linear color mapping: Color assignment is linked to Warp Frequency. HOTKEYS - k = toggle Warp = Spirals/Eyes - K = Warp off --Warp Frequency-------------------------------------------------------- With Warp = 'Spirals', Frequency determines the speed of the spiral growth and the resulting movements. With Warp = 'Eyes', it determines how often the fractal will jump into systems of concentric ellipses. HOTKEYS - ctrl-k = set a random value for warp frequency --Warp Depth------------------------------------------------------------ With Warp = 'Spirals', Depth determines the maximum length of the spirals With Warp = 'Eyes', it determines how strongly the fractal will be 'distorted' or altered by systems of concentric ellipses HOTKEYS - alt-k = set a random value for warp depth -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 3: GRAPHIC EFFECTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This page allows you to control a number of parameters that affect the graphical representation of HOP's mathematical results. This is the page for visual artists! Mathematical purists won't be interested in this stuff. On this page, you can choose a blank, colored, patterned, or image background; add shadows and lines; change the look of the fractal by using unusual pixel types or by mirroring the image. --GIF Image------------------------------------------------------------- A background chosen from this GIF Image menu will use any GIF image as background for a HOP fractal (this can be used to develop multi-fractal images). A GIF image loaded as background can also be modified by Plasma or Ant color patterns (see below). To load GIF images from the menu, they must be located in the GIF image directory that you specified on the Configuration page (see below). When you load a GIF image as background for a fractal, the image will be tiled. The palette that you have chosen will be overwritten by the palette contained in the image file - if the background image has a 256 color palette, the palette you have chosen will be overwritten completely, and if it has only 16 colors, only the first 16 colors of the palette you have chosen will be overwritten. The BACKG16x.GIF background images that come with HOP 2.0 contain 16 colors. One of the 'expert level' features of HOP is its ability to generate multiple images. Save a HOP image to a GIF file (see Save page) and load the resulting image file as the background for a new fractal - there you have a multiple image! Save the resulting image to another GIF file and repeat the process - and so on. All of this can even be automated (see Save page)! --Black/White Pattern--------------------------------------------------- A background chosen from the 'Black&White Pattern' submenu will draw one of 12 regular black+white stripes patterns, a starfield 'deep space' pattern, or concentric ellipses. The black/white patterns can be used as background patterns either for fractals or for a Plasma cloud. (Try b/w ellipses in combination with Plasma.) HOTKEYS - d/D = set next/previous black/white pattern - ctrl-d = no pattern --Color Pattern--------------------------------------------------------- A background chosen from the 'Color Pattern' submenu will display various colored background patterns. To open the submenu, press the spacebar. In the current version, HOP can draw 9 different background patterns (Plasma, Connett Circles, Rings, Squares, Horizontal, Vertical, Wheel, Ant, and Plane) some of which are already very complex in themselves and can be run alone, whereas others are just simple stripes that become complex when overlaid with other patterns. You can overlay several patterns by choosing more than one from the menu. Consecutively drawn patterns will be overlaid either in 'XOr' or in 'Or' mode. (The color number of each new pixel gets xor-ed or or-ed with the color number of the previous pixel). 'XOr' overlays look like complex systems of shrinking/growing rectangles. 'Or' overlays feature simple fractals of the Sierpinski triangle type. If you choose the 'And' overlay method, the previous color pattern will be overwritten. In their purest form, the XOr/Or overlay methods can be studied by overlaying the 'Horizontal' and 'Vertical' stripe patterns. After this, watch wandering groups of warped and squeezed Sierpinski triangles wander across the screen by simply overlaying 'Rings' and 'Horizontal' in 'Or' mode ! To choose a combination of color patterns: 1. open the color pattern submenu by pressing the spacebar 2. move in the submenu by pressing the cursor keys 3. for each desired pattern, press the spacebar 1 to 4 times to choose the overlay method, or to disable this pattern. 4. press Enter to set this combination of patterns, or press Esc to cancel. The resulting combination of patterns is displayed in a window containing the first letters of the nine pattern names (p c r s h v w a p) together with a letter which indicates if this particular pattern is set, and to which overlay mode (a=And, x=XOr, o=Or). The 9 different basic color patterns are: *Color Pattern 1. Plasma The Plasma clouds algorithm is based on a Pascal program source by Bret Mulvey distributed as PLASMA.ARC. Tim Wegner (one of the FRACTINT authors) modified the algorithm for Fractint. HOP uses a modified version of his version. For a better performance, HOP Plasma clouds can be symmetric. Fractint describes plasma clouds like this: "Random, cloud-like formations. Requires 4 or more colors. A recursive algorithm repeatedly subdivides the screen and colors pixels according to an average of surrounding pixels and a random color, less random as the grid size decreases." When experimenting with plasma clouds, hitting F10 (=set a new random seed and redraw) will redraw the plasma pattern with different shapes. The granularity of the Plasma clouds can be set on the 'Graphic Effects' page. A low value produces very smooth color surfaces. A high value for granularity will look very chaotic. Plasma clouds will react to what is already on the screen. Combinations with black/white patterns are very nice, but Plasma can also overlaid over a GIF image (just choose a GIF image name from the GIF image menu) - this works best with images that are very minimalistic. Additionally, Plasma clouds can be overlaid over a finished Hopalong fractal. See "Overlay" on the Colors page. *Color Pattern 2. Connett Circles were invented by John E. Connett (University of Minnesota). He found that interesting moire effects can be produced by simply associating the result of x*x + y*y (computed for each screen position) to colors. His findings were presented in A.K.Dewdney's Scientific American article along with Hopalong fractals. Connett Circles can be viewed with different values for 'Connett Circle Zoom' which can be set on the 'Graphic Effects' page. This zoom is actually inversed: A low value produces close-ups of the circles with very smooth colors. High values will result in a matrix of circle moires. *Color Pattern 3. Rings 'Rings' are nothing but concentric circles drawn with consecutive colors. *Color Pattern 4. Squares, 5. Horizontal, 6. Vertical These are simple but beautiful stripe patterns. Try different video resolutions. *Color Pattern 7. Wheel Consists of radial lines. If 'randomseed' (which can be changed by pressing hotkey F10) is an odd number, the wheel will cover the whole screen, else the lower half only (resembling an airport runway). *Color Pattern 8. Ant The Ant Automaton was described in the "Computer Recreations" column of the July 1994 Scientific American. The article attributes this automaton to Greg Turk of Stanford University, Leonid A. Bunivomitch of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and S. E. Troubetzkoy of the University of Bielefeld. The ant wanders around the screen, starting at the middle. A rule string ("Ant Rule"), consisting of 0's and 1's, determines the ant's direction. When the ant leaves a cell (a pixel on the screen) of color k, it turns right if the kth symbol in the rule string is a 1, or left otherwise. Then the color in the abandoned cell is incremented. Up to 64 Hop ants can run simultaneously, influencing each other's path. Try running Ants on top of a GIF image, a color pattern (best with line types <> 0), or a HOP generated fractal (press the "]" key to activate an Ant overlay, see colors page for a description of overlays). When using Ants, several Ant-specific hotkeys and settings apply: " or * = select a random Ant Rule string and redraw q = the ant will develop sideways ctrl-q = the ant will develop with a white border and behave differently on black/white background patterns w = 'old' ants will be erased o/O = on an empty screen, ants look nice with a 'background only' shadow / = determine if screen borders will bounce ants *Color Pattern 9. Plane This color pattern draws a 'horizon' type plane. Depending on the randomseed that was set by pressing F10, the plane can sometimes become mirrored, filling the complete screen, or tilted, or both. HOTKEYS for color patterns Switch pattern 1 - 9 to "and/xor/or/off" by pressing Alt-1 to Alt-9. Pressing a shift key at the same time will work the other way around. - alt-0 = drop formula and draw just a color pattern - (shift)alt-1 to (shift)alt-9 = color patterns --Plasma Symmetry------------------------------------------------------- If Plasma clouds are contained in the current pattern or overlay combination, they can either be rendered symmetrically (with the upper left quarter of the screen mirrored) or non-symmetrically (i.e. filling up the screen with one contiguous pattern). --Plasma Granularity---------------------------------------------------- If Plasma clouds are contained in the current pattern or overlay combination, this value determines the granularity of the clouds. A low value makes very smooth clouds, a high value will produce very grainy clouds. Values can range from 0 to 10000. --Connett Circle Zoom--------------------------------------------------- If Connett circles are contained in the current pattern combination, this value can be used to control their magnification. A low value will produce bigger circles. Try values between 100 and 500. The circles will look very different with different color maps. Maps with very smooth color shadings will produce the clearest circles. Values can range from 0 to 32767. --Ant Rule-------------------------------------------------------------- Applies - if you choose a Color Pattern that contains an "Ant" algorithm, or - if you choose "Ant" as pixel shape, or - if you choose an "Ant" overlay (see Colors page) The Ant Rule determines the ant's path. When the ant leaves a cell of color k, it turns right if the kth symbol in the rule is a 1, or left otherwise. Then the color in the abandoned cell is incremented. HOTKEYS " or * = select random Ant Rule and redraw --Ant MaxPixels-------------------------------------------------------- Applies - if you choose a Color Pattern that contains an "Ant" algorithm, or - if you choose "Ant" as pixel shape, or - if you choose an "Ant" overlay (see Colors page) You can decide here for how many pixels the ant will move. Enter 0 for unlimited growth. --# Ants----------------------------------------------------------------- Up to 64 ants can run across the screen and influence each other's path. --Pixel Mode------------------------------------------------------------- If Pixel Mode is Conditional, pixels are drawn only if their position isn't occupied by a previous pixel. This can make fuzzy, chaotic images look quite different. Another one of these options which need some experimenting. --Pixel Shape----------------------------------------------------------- Usually, the word 'pixel' stands for a dot on a computer screen. That meaning has been a little expanded here. In HOP, pixels can have different shapes. Changing the pixel shape will change the appearance of a fractal in a dramatic way. In addition, almost all pixel shapes are scalable ! Possible pixel shapes in this version are: * None means that no pixels will be drawn. (It may happen that you run HOP and the screen will stay blank. The reason could be that you accidentally switched Pixel Shape to None.) This setting can be useful in combination with the Grid effect, or with Lines. If you experiment with a Background Image (Connett Circle, Plasma, or GIF), you can switch off HOP's fractal drawing on purpose by setting Pixel Shape to None. * Pixel/Circle The classic dots as they are supposed to be (until you start blowing them up changing their Pixel Size, in which case they will turn to circles). You can also set 'Elliptic' to ON which will turn the circles into ellipses that change shape with size and position. Depending on the settings of 'Elliptic', 'Pixel Fill', and 'Reflection', you will get 3-D like beads or soapbubbles. * Rectangles Depending on the value of 'Elliptic', HOP will either draw squares or rectangles (that change shape with size and position). * Fourangles are parallelogram shaped pixels that change shape with size and position in a way that depends on the position of the previous pixel. Try with concentric fill style. * Tryangles are triangular pixels that change shape with size and position in a tumbling kind of way that can be watched best in a 'Dancing beads' type animation. * Triangles are triangular pixels that change shape with size and position in a way that depends on the position of the previous pixel. * SLines short lines which are oriented depending on their positions. * Lines a short line is drawn from the current pixel pointing towards the position of the previous pixel. This pixel shape will display some of the otherwise invisible dynamics of fractal growth. * Caterpillars bent lines which walk like caterpillars in alt-f4 'dancing beads' mode. Try big pixelsizes! * Flakes Spiky pixels that change shape with size and position. * Fuzzy Fuzzy clusters of pixels that look as if they were sprayed. At a closer look, they resemble crawling bugs. * Brush This pixel shape is similar to movements of a broad brush, or to soft chewing gum being pulled into strings. For each pixel drawn, the Brush algorithm searches its neighborhood for pixels of the same color and draws a line towards them. The intensity of the Brush shape effect depends on Pixel Size and on Color Frequency - the slower the colors move, the 'stickier' the chewing gum. Brush pixels tend to be slow! * Colorsquares squareshaped pixels of a fixed size. Each of the squares is a miniature copy of the palette editor 16 * 16 color matrix (see Palette Editor chapter) and contains all 256 VGA colors that are currently set. This feature allows you to create 16x16 'sprites' (tiny images that move across the screen) simply by designing an appropriate color map using HOP's palette editor which contains a 'drawing' feature. Sprite images don't have to be square shaped. Just switch off the unused parts of the square by assigning them an RGB value of (0,0,0) which is ordinary black. Those parts of the sprite that are *supposed* to be black can then be drawn with an RGB value of (0,0,1), which is almost black. * Comment This pixel type displays a text string instead of a dot. If the current fractal has already been assigned a comment (enter a comment on the 'Save' page), the comment will displayed, otherwise the text string will contain random characters. Text strings are written horizontally or vertically depending on the value of 'Elliptic'. * Ant Yes, the 'Ant' cellular automaton can be used as a HOP pixel shape! (The original algorithm was modified a little to make it look more interesting.) Use pixel sizes above 5. HOTKEYS - x / X = next / previous pixelshape - alt-x = 'pixel' shape - ctrl-x = no pixels --Elliptic-------------------------------------------------------------- With 'Elliptic' set to ON, - pixels of the 'Pixel/Circle' shape will appear elliptic instead of circular - pixels of the 'Rectangle' shape will appear as rectangles instead of squares - 'Lines' and 'Fourangle' pixels will point into a different direction - 'Comment' pixels will write vertical text strings. - 'Ant' pixels and patterns will develop sideways. HOTKEYS - q === toggle Elliptic Pixels --Pixel Size------------------------------------------------------------ This setting will determine the size of the pixels. Generally, the bigger they are, the slower HOP will run. HOTKEYS - i === increase pixel size - I === decrease pixel size - alt-i = reset pixel size to 1 and switch Oscillate off --Pixel Oscillate------------------------------------------------------- If set to ON, pixel sizes will oscillate between 1 and the size set in 'Pixel Size'. This can produce weird 3-D effects. (If Pixel Size is set to 1, the oscillations will be determined randomly.) The speed of the size oscillation is determined by the color frequency! With colors fastly changing, the oscillation will also be fast. HOTKEYS - ctrl-i = toggle Pixel Oscillate --Pixel Fill------------------------------------------------------------ Pixels of the types Pixel/Circle, Rectangles, Triangles and above a certain size will be filled with one of 13 fill patterns. The 'Connett' pattern is only available for Pixel/Circle. The 'Concentric' pattern is only available for Pixel/Circle and Rectangles. HOTKEYS - z / Z = next / previous fill pattern - ctrl-z = 'solid' fill --Reflection------------------------------------------------------------ With Reflection set to ON, circular/elliptic pixels will display a white reflection-like spot which will give them a striking 3-D look. Other pixel types will also display white spots in various ways, and Ant type patterns will look and behave differently. HOTKEYS - ctrl-q = toggle Reflection --Border---------------------------------------------------------------- Big pixels (circles, rectangles, triangles) will have their shape outlined in black with Border set to ON. HOTKEYS - alt-q = toggle Border --Symmetry-------------------------------------------------------------- Symmetry can either be None, Vertical, Horizontal, Cross, or Diagonal. Vertical means that each pixel is duplicated across the vertical axis; ie, for every pixel (x,y), a pixel is also drawn at (-x,y). Horizontal means that each pixel is duplicated across the horizontal axis. Cross is both. Diagonal duplicates each pixel diagonally. HOTKEYS - y / Y = next / previous symmetry type - ctrl-y = no symmetry --Pixel Connect Type---------------------------------------------------- Consecutive pixels can be connected by lines. Options (and their corresponding hotkeys) are: * Background (alt-l): lines of background color are invisible but they make the pixels that they cross "disappear". This looks like parts of the image are fading away. * Colored Lines (l): produce lattices, and sometimes a surface effect, as in "Kaleidoscope" type animations. * Conditional (L): colored lines that are drawn on background color only, thus not obscuring colored pixels. Slow! * NoErase: Same as Colored Lines, but the lines won't be deleted even if Erase Oldest Pixels is ON. There is only one situation in which using this line type will have an interesting result: If Erase Oldest Pixels is ON and Tie Colors (see below) is ON, like in Dancing Beads type animations. If you have Dancing Beads jumping across the screen, set 'Connect=NoErase'. The resulting lines will have tied colors. This looks somewhat different from Kaleidoscope type lines. * Polycolored (ctrl-l): draws lines not with one color per line but with many colors. Try "alt-f9" kaleidoscopes with this ! * Polycol2 and Polycol3 (ctrl-l) are different Polycolored line algorithms. HOTKEYS - alt-l = toggle 'Background' type lines - l === toggle 'Colored Lines' type lines - L === toggle 'Conditional' type lines - ctrl-l = next 'Polycolored' line type --Line Style------------------------------------------------------------ This determines the look of a line. A line style of 0 (default) is a solid line. Any other number will produce dotted lines with the dot pattern being a representation of the 'Line Style' number in a 16-bit format. (Try 43690 for a 1010101010101010 pattern. If you want to design your own line styles, take a calculator program, enter 16-digit binary numbers that look like the pattern you want, and enter their decimal values into Hop.) HOTKEYS - j = toggle Line Style = solid/dotted --Thick Lines----------------------------------------------------------- Lines can be thin or thick. This will affect some of the pixel shapes as well as the connecting lines and grids. Thick lines are slower than thin lines. Careful: using thick lines will also slow other things down. Most of the pixel types will be drawn considerably slower with thick lines especially if pixel size is higher than 2. HOTKEYS / = toggle line thickness --Shadow---------------------------------------------------------------- HOP can add a shadow to the fractal, or to each pixel. This is nothing but a simple graphic effect, but it changes the character of the image in a dramatic way, giving it depth and substance. Several shadow types are possible: * Background Only: a shadow pixel will be drawn only if its position isn't occupied by a colored pixel. This will produce a shadow underneath the fractal body, making it appear to hover above the ground unless black is the background color. If the background is black, this shadow type is useless because you cannot see it, but it will slow down performance a little anyway. If you use a color pattern or GIF background, this shadow type won't work because there is no screen position left blank. * Always : a black shadow pixel will be drawn even if this will obscure a fractal pixel. This will produce a strong 3-D effect, especially with pixel types that are bigger than a simple pixel (e.g. 'Bubble' pixels). This shadow will also be visible with a black background, as well as on color pattern or GIF image backgrounds. * BkColShadow/Same/Opposite: "shadows" drawn with background or drawing colors; only for rare special effects e.g. in combination with ant algorithms HOTKEYS - o = next shadow type - O = no shadow --Shadow x, y distance-------------------------------------------------- The Shadow X Distance and Shadow Y Distance values (measured in pixels) are used to determine the shadow placement. --Twinkle Frequency----------------------------------------------------- Determines how often pixels will "twinkle". This effect can look nice (especially on a dark background), but slows down performance considerably. If you have a slow computer, lowering this value will increase fractal growth speed. (You can set the "Slow Pixels" setting to a low value in the "Tune HOP" screen to limit how often this effect will be used.) HOTKEYS "." = toggle Twinkle effect --Grid------------------------------------------------------------------ The Grid effect - one of the rather experimental features of HOP - draws lines in addition to a pixel. Each line will extend from the pixel position across the screen until it meets another line. Grids can come in various types: * Barcodes go straight downward which gives the image a barcode look; * Squares and Hexagon add a certain Bauhausian touch; * Random this type looks like broken glass. * Vertical like Barcodes, but the vertical lines are drawn only if there are colored pixels below the current pixel HOTKEYS - g / G = next / previous grid type - ctrl-g = no grid -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 4: COLORS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOP's colors are based on the VGA 256 color system. HOP can also be run under a 16 color EGA system (it will display the first 16 colors out of the current VGA spectrum) but of course with considerably less appeal. In VGA and related color video systems, each pixel that is displayed on the screen is assigned not only a position but also a color number. Color numbers reach from 0 to 255. Each of the color numbers has a red, green, and blue component with intensity values reaching from 0 to 63. This is enough to create a multitude of colors. A set of 256 colors (0-255) is usually called a palette map. HOP palette maps can be read from and stored in ascii files; these files have the extension .MAP and are compatible with Fractint's map files. Fractint - the legendary multi-formula freeware fractal generator - is based in the Compuserve GRAPHDEV forum. There are also Fractint websites. There are hundreds of incredible color map files. HOP contains three different palette map generation algorithms, but most of the map files for Fractint are hand-designed and therefore much more interesting than automatically generated or random color maps. However, with HOP's palette editor you can design your own palette maps and save them as Fractint compatible .MAP files. Of HOP's 256 colors, only 253 are used to draw the fractal itself. - Color #0 is always the background color; - Color #1 is always white (its RBG values are set to 63,63,63) unless you change it manually using the palette editor. The white color of #1 must be white for various special effects (e.g. the light reflection on the Bubbles pixels) and for the values display. - Color #2 is always black (unless you change it manually) and is used to draw shadows. One of the amazing things you can do with VGA colors is a special effect called 'colorscroll'. The colors are scrolled simply by moving the RGB values of each of the color numbers to the previous number (with color 255 being set to what used to be color 0), adding another dimension of movement to HOP. --Frequency------------------------------------------------------------- Usually, the colors in HOP are assigned to the pixel in a sequential order. 'Color Frequency' represents the number of pixels of the same color that will be drawn before shifting to the next color in the palette. The lower the frequency, the faster the color will change. With a high frequency value, large parts of the image will be drawn with the same color. If color frequency is too high, colorscroll will begin to stutter; if it is too low, the colorscroll speed will give you a headache. On the graphics screen, press number keys between 0 and 9 to control the color frequency (0 means that colors will change for each pixel; 9 means color changes every 1000 pixels) or shift-up/down. Color frequency also determines oscillation speed. HOTKEYS - 0,1,2,..,9 === set color frequency to 1,..,1000 - shift-up/shift-down = inc/decrement color frequency --Palette Mode---------------------------------------------------------- HOP has three ways of producing random palettes, plus an option to read color palette .MAP files. * Periodic Periodic changes in hue with several overlaying frequencies. * Irregular Random color palettes that contain contrast colors, soft shades, and occasional stripes. * Continuous This palette mode is supposed to be used in combination with colorscroll. It produces a smooth (but somewhat granular) palette that doesn't repeat when scrolled, but rather keeps on changing. There are occasional complementary colors thrown in. * Fractint Map reads colors from a .MAP file. If there are such files on your harddisk (in the "Fractint MAP" directory specified on the Configuration page), you can choose from them in a popup menu. HOTKEYS - P = set periodic palette - p = set irregular palette - alt-p = set continuous palette - ctrl-p/P = load next/previous Fractint MAP - E = edit the current palette --MAP Filename---------------------------------------------------------- If a Fractint Map was chosen for Palette Mode, HOP loads a ready-made Fractint .MAP color file. These files must be located in the directory that you specified on the Configuration page. HOTKEYS - ctrl-p / P = load next / previous Fractint MAP --Color Mapping--------------------------------------------------------- * linear A 'linear' color mapping will assign colors to pixels in a sequential succession, as described above (n pixels will be drawn with color 27, then n pixels will be drawn with 28, and so on). If the 'Eyes' Warp effect is on, colors are also assigned in a sequential succession, but depending on the value of Warp Frequency. * vortex, radial, vortexd, radiald These mappings look as if the fractal was overlaid by color rings or spirals coming out of the center. The colors are assigned depending on the pixel's distance to the previous pixel. This looks best with fractals that have an interesting shape but lack an interesting inner structure, like 'plankton' formula fractals. * layered A layered mapping adds a very special kind of depth or density to the image, uncovering properties of the attractor that would usually go unnoticed. Pixels are drawn with the first color of the palette if the current screen position carries the background color. If there is already a colored pixel, its color number is incremented by the value of Color Frequency. The effect is that those parts of the attractor that are drawn more than once will be colored differently. Different parts of the attractor will show a different degree of intensity. You need a very smooth color map (e.g. one that slowly goes from white to black) to see this effect. Pixel mode must be set to Normal. HOTKEYS - h / H = next / previous Color Mapping --Colors tied----------------------------------------------------------- This setting is necessary for a 'Dancing Beads' type animation. 'Tying' the colors to the pixels has the effect that each pixel will keep its color while moving along. (Actually it will only keep its color number - switch colorscroll on/off with tied colors in 'Show Values' mode to see what this means. Technically, the color numbers are assigned to each pixel's position in the Erase queue.) With Erase Oldest Pixels switched off, this setting will simply give each consecutive pixel a new color. HOTKEYS - C = toggle Colors Tied (use capital C !) --Colorscroll----------------------------------------------------------- You can switch colorscroll on and off and determine its direction. Colorscroll speed depends directly on the Color Frequency. In HOP, the colors are scrolled *while the fractal grows*. HOTKEYS - c === toggle Colorscroll - alt-c = toggle Static Colorscroll (see below) - shift-left/shift-right = scroll up/down for 1 color If you change the default values for 'from' and 'to', the scrolling region of colors will be limited. Some parts of the image will stand still while others will move as their colors scroll. --Scroll Direction------------------------------------------------------ Controls the "direction" of the colorscroll motion, referring to the direction of the color palette's movement on the 'Show Values' window. If direction is set to "both", colors with even numbers scroll upwards, color with odd numbers scroll downwards or vice versa. HOTKEYS ctrl-c = next Colorscroll direction --Pulsate--------------------------------------------------------------- This effect makes the RGB values of each color bounce up and down. Red will turn to green and back to red, etc. Pulsation speed is determined by Color Frequency. It can be used independently of Colorscroll. HOTKEYS u = toggle color pulsation --Color Divide---------------------------------------------------------- If you use colored background patterns, the foreground fractal might be difficult to see because it shares its colors with the background. With Color Divide set to on, you can specify which subset of the color map (3 - n) will be used by the background and which (n+1 - 255) will be used by the foreground. Nice effects can be produced by combining this with a limited color scroll range. --Static Colorscroll --------------------------------------------------- With static colorscroll, fractal growth freezes while the colors are moving. This will make the colors scroll very smoothly - the program doesn't have to stop and think about the position of the next fractal pixel. A number > 0 entered on the 'Static Colorscroll' field will not turn on static colorscroll immediately. If you play a fractal from a parameter file, HOP will first develop the fractal as usual - it will draw n pixels with n=Maxpixels as specified on the 'Fractal Values' page. Then, if HOP finds that there is a value for 'Static Colorscroll', it will scroll the colors on the finished image. This will look great for very detailed colorful images. Colorscroll speed is determined by the 'Colorscroll Delay' configuration setting. HOTKEYS - alt-c = toggle static colorscroll During static colorscroll, you can use the hotkeys for color frequency, scroll direction, and palette modes. Every other key will switch off static colorscroll and then perform its function, if it is assigned a function. If you enter a value here, the fractal can't run forever: Maxpixels (specified on the 'Fractal Values' Page) must be > 0 ! --Overlay -------------------------------------------------------------- A fractal image (or any other image imported as GIF) can be overlaid by either a Plasma Cloud or an Ant pattern which will change the look of the image in a dramatic way. The overlay will be done after the fractal image is completed. After the overlay there will be a period of static colorscroll. Try Overlays on top of sparsely drawn fractals on black/white patterns, color line patterns (with line type <> 0), and grids, spiced with a palette mostly in grey colors ... This feature is only accessible if 'Static Colorscroll' has a value. HOTKEYS - [ = toggle Plasma overlay immediately - ] = toggle Ant overlay immediately -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 5: TUNING HOP (registered version only) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When not playing back a parameter file, HOP improvises freely. Unless you have changed parameters (causing HOP to stay with the current fractal), there will be a constant succession of random images and random animations, with many of HOP's special effects switched on in random combinations. All of these random decisions are weighted and based on certain percentages most of which you can modify on the Tune page. The next time you run HOP, it will remember your settings. This is called 'Tuning HOP'. --No. of Pixels----------------------------------(Default:64000)------ The average number of pixels that will be generated for a fractal before it moves on to the next image. Set this to a high value if you prefer to look at images for a long time. Set it to a low value if you are impatient. 'Average' indeed means that HOP will vary the number of pixels for each fractal, based on random and the number entered here. It also tries to adjust the value for slower running fractals. --Density------------------------------------------(Default:2)---------- Determines the complexity of animations (i.e. average frame length and erase queue). On slow PCs, animations involving many pixels won't run smoothly; on fast PCs, animations with few pixels run too fast. If you have a relatively slow 386 (or below), set Density to 1. Try a value of 5 or 10 for faster 486 systems, and even higher values for Pentiums etc. HOP tries to estimate the best density for your machine after the initial video installation. --Patterns Only%-----------------------------------(Default:2)---------- The percentage of color pattern combinations running instead of attractors. --Transform%---------------------------------------(Default:25)--------- The percentage of fractals that will employ the Transform effect. Set this to a low value if you are a 'fractal purist' who wants to see unmodified Hopalong-type fractals. --Animation%---------------------------------------(Default:35)--------- The percentage of fractals that will employ Animation. If you have a slow machine (especially if you have no math coprocessor), you should set this setting to a low value because animation is very floating-point intensive and looks good only on fast machines. --Warp Effects%------------------------------------(Default:25)--------- The percentage of fractals that will employ Warp Effects. Set this to a low value if you are a 'fractal purist' who wants to see unmodified Hopalong-type fractals. --Rotation%----------------------------------------(Default:50)--------- The percentage of fractals that will employ Rotation. Set this to a low value if you are a 'fractal purist' who wants to see unmodified Hopalong-type fractals. --Symmetry%----------------------------------------(Default:10)--------- The percentage of fractals that will employ Symmetry. Set this to a low value if you are a 'fractal purist' who wants to see unmodified Hopalong-type fractals. Set it to a high value if you like pretty ornaments, mandalas etc. --Slow Pixels%-------------------------------------(Default:1)---------- Some Pixel Types (Brush, Triangles, etc) and some pixel settings (Twinkle effect, Big Pixels, etc) take considerable processing overhead. This value controls the percentage of fractals that will employ these "slow" pixel techniques. If you have a slow machine, you should set this setting to a low value. --Shadow%------------------------------------------(Default:90)--------- The percentage of fractals with Shadows. --Colorscroll%-------------------------------------(Default:75)--------- The percentage of fractals that will employ Colorscroll. If you find that your screen flickers badly while scrolling the colors, you can set this setting to a low value or even to zero. (Then tomorrow morning go and buy a better video card and monitor, because you are missing some of HOP's best effects.) --Black Background%--------------------------------(Default:50)--------- The percentage of fractals with a black background. If you want to have the blackness of space as background for your fractals all the time, set this to 100%. If you like shadows, set it to a low value and Shadows% to a high value. --Slow Changes%------------------------------------(Default:50)--------- The percentage of animated fractals that will use the Slow Changes animation type. Slow Changes is good for the lovers of minimalism and ambient music. In this mode, the Erase Queue is long and Animation Speed (increment or decrement size for the Transform Factor) is small. HOTKEYS alt-f5 sets this animation type temporarily. --Fast Changes%------------------------------------(Default:10)--------- The percentage of animated fractals that will use the Fast Changes animation type. Fast Changes employs low values for # Pixels per Frame and high values for Animation Speed. Animations moves quickly. HOTKEYS alt-f6 sets this animation type temporarily. --Lines%-------------------------------------------(Default:10)--------- The percentage of animated fractals that will use the Lines animation type. This mode looks like a mesh of wandering lines. HOTKEYS alt-f7 sets this animation type temporarily. --Dancing Beads%-----------------------------------(Default:10)--------- The percentage of animated fractals that will use the Dancing Beads animation type. Dancing Beads look best with the 'Pixel/Circle' pixel shape, an Irregular palette, and Tied Colors. In this mode, # of Pixels per Frame must be the same as the Erase Queue length (synchronize these values by pressing F7). HOTKEYS alt-f8 sets this animation type temporarily. --Kaleidoscope%------------------------------------(Default:20)--------- The percentage of animated fractals that will use the Kaleidoscope animation type. Most people seem to like this animation type best. Good for generating Rorschach tests. Kaleidoscope uses colored Pixel Connect types, i.e. lines that are drawn between subsequent pixels. HOTKEYS alt-f9 sets this animation type temporarily. --Periodic Palette%--------------------------------(Default:20)--------- The percentage of fractals that will use the Periodic palette mode. --Irregular%---------------------------------------(Default:30)--------- The percentage of fractals that will use the Irregular palette mode. --Continuous%--------------------------------------(Default:20)--------- The percentage of fractals that will use the Continuous palette mode. --Fractint Map%------------------------------------(Default:30)--------- The percentage of fractals that will get their colors from a Fractint color map. If you have many Fractint maps, set this to a high value because generally, they are more interesting than the color palettes generated by HOP. If you have only a couple of map files, don't set it to a high value because then you will see the same colors most of the time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 6: CONFIGURATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOP's configuration items are stored in a file called HOP.INI. --VESA Compatible------------------------------------------------------- shows if your video card is VESA compatible, or if you have loaded a VESA driver. Just for your information. --Video Mode------------------------------------------------------------ The current version of HOP supports up to 8 different video modes. In the initial video test that was performed after installation, HOP tried to find out which of the possible video modes are supported by your hardware and the video driver of your choice. The Video Mode popup menu contains only the supported modes, plus an option to repeat the initial video test (which you should do if your hardware changes). Each mode is described by three numbers (e.g. 320 x 200 x 256); the two first numbers stand for the horizontal and vertical resolution in pixels, and the third number stands for the maximum number of colors (usually 256). Generally, the highest resolution will look best. HOTKEYS - m / M = next higher / lower resolution - alt-m = jump directly into this menu Resolutions above 640*480 are available in the registered version only. 640 * 480 looks ok, but you miss a lot! Register today to really get HOP going! --Show Values----------------------------------------------------------- If this setting is ON, the screen will be split and all parameters of the current fractal will be displayed (with low resolutions, only a subset can be displayed) while the fractal will develop in a window. The complete color map that is currently used is shown in a vertical bar, with the current color indicated by a little horizontal bar. You can watch certain values change on their own and other values change as you press the corresponding hotkeys. Especially in the beginning, this can be very helpful. HOTKEYS - v = toggle Show Values screen --Save Previous--------------------------------------------------------- If this setting is ON, the previous fractal will be saved to a special parameter file called PREVIOUS.HOP every time a fractal ends and a new one begins. There is a very short delay while HOP does this. Set 'Save Previous' to OFF if you are too impatient or if you want to run HOP from a writeprotected directory. Sometimes the random parameters will produce an incredible image, but because you are so enamored by the awe-inspiring effects of HOP, the screen clears and the next fractal starts before you press Ins to keep it. If Save Previous was ON, you can hit Backspace to recall your award-winning image. --Keep on Change-------------------------------------------------------- When ON, if you change any value (e.g. you tried different colors or pressed the + zoom key), HOP thinks you like the current image. It will set the Maximum # of Pixels to zero, to the effect that fractal will not end when it has reached its Maximum # of Pixels, but instead continue developing until you end it explicitly by pressing the space bar. If Keep On Change is OFF, the fractal will end when it has reached its Maximum # of Pixels (unless you have explicitly told HOP to continue the current image by pressing Ins). --Warning Beeps ------------------------------------------------------- Late at night and you are the only one still awake, mesmerized by HOP? It is considered polite to switch the beeps off. --Video Retrace--------------------------------------------------------- If your video screen flickers while the color palette is scrolled, you should experiment with this setting. If the flickering stays, you definitely need to get better video hardware. --FadeoutTime (msec)---------------------------------------------------- If > 0, HOP will fade the fractal image to black when moving on to the next image, and it will fade colors smoothly when you press a palette hotkey. Fading can be disabled/enabled by pressing F4. HOTKEYS - F4 = toggle fade on/off --'Norton' Mouse-------------------------------------------------------- HOP employs a "Windows style" mouse cursor. This cursor style can cause odd effects when running under DESQview or other multitaskers. You can switch back to a boring block mouse cursor by setting this value to OFF. --Image Save/Restore---------------------------------------------------- When ON, HOP will attempt to save the image before switching to the configuration screen. HOP will first try to save the image to the lower-memory heap, then to EMS memory, then to XMS memory, and finally to disk (if Save/Restore to Disk is ON). When returning from the configuration screen, the image will be restored (unless you have changed critical values in the configuration). If this setting is OFF, HOP will restart the fractal generation whenever you return from the text mode user interface. --Save/Rest. to Disk---------------------------------------------------- If ON, HOP will use the hard drive as a last resort for saving the fractal image. Since this can be slow, you can turn this OFF if you would rather regenerate the image from scratch than have HOP save to the hard drive. (If you have sufficient EMS or XMS, HOP will use that and this setting will not matter.) --Precomputing---------------------------------------------------------- A randomly generated fractal may be any size, and may be located anywhere on the screen. HOP will try to center the image and find the best magnification level. To do this, HOP computes the first few pixels of the new fractal before it actually draws them. This value controls how many pixels are precomputed. The higher the number of 'precomputed' values, the better the new fractal will fit on the screen, but the longer it will take before the image starts to draw. Default is 1000. --Delay (msec)---------------------------------------------------------- In general, the faster the machine the better HOP runs, but as hardware advances HOP may run too quickly. Does your quad-processor, 1000 MHz machine look like HOP on amphetamines? Set a delay factor if you like. Pixels will pause for milliseconds, making the whole thing move at a slower pace. --Titledisplay (msec)--------------------------------------------------- When displaying saved fractals from a .HOP file, the fractal titles will be displayed for seconds if you have specified -T+ on the command line, or Show Titles = ON on the Read page. --Slideshow Delay (sec)------------------------------------------------- If you run HOP as a GIF image slideshow (this can be done from the Read page, or by specifying SLIDESHOW on the command line), this setting will determine how long a GIF image is displayed. --Colorscroll Delay----------------------------------------------------- determines the speed of Static Colorscroll (see Color page) --User Name------------------------------------------------------------- You can exchange your fractal masterpieces with friends or on websites that are used by HOP enthusiasts. If you specify something here, it will be displayed on the titles along with the fractal names. --GIF Image Dir--------------------------------------------------------- Specify something here if you have all your GIF images in a special directory. If you leave this field empty, they will be stored in (and read from) the current directory. --Fractint MAP Dir------------------------------------------------------ Specify here where you keep your Fractint color .MAP files (if they aren't in the current directory). HOP will look in the specified directory for the map files. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 7: READ FILE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOP can read three types of files: * HOP parameter files each of which can contain a number of parameter sets. A parameter set is very short (it is a text of about 20 lines) but it contains all information HOP needs to restore an image or animation, along with the title, author name, and the palette map that belongs to the image. Parameter files can be edited with any text editor if this should be necessary. They are similar to, but not compatible with Fractint PAR parameter files. While HOP is in parameter file playback mode, some things are different from its 'improvisation' mode: When you press the space bar (or PgUp/PgDn), the previous/next image from the specified parameter file will be displayed. HOP will stay in playback mode until you close the file by pressing F8. * GIF image files which can be static images created with HOP, or any other GIF image. Image files that you create with HOP contain information about the image in a parameter set which is stored in the image file. This parameter set can be run just as if it were contained in a HOP parameter file, so if you display a HOP GIF image, you get 1. the image itself and 2. the fractal as it reruns and grows until it looks like the saved image (or further). * Fractint type palette maps They can be read from the Colors page. HOTKEYS r = read something Pressing this hotkey will display the Read Page. After choosing filename, fractalname, etc., just press Enter to run the parameter file or display the image. Press F8 anytime to close the file. --Read File Type ------------------------------------------------------- Choose if you want to read a HOP parameter file, or a GIF file. --Read Filename -------------------------------------------------------- Choose the file name of the .HOP parameter file or of the GIF image file you want to play/display. Choose (All) if you want to play parameter sets from all .HOP files in your HOP directory, or if you want a GIF slideshow (which you can also do from the command line). --Read Fractalname ----------------------------------------------------- Choose one of the fractals in the specified .HOP parameter file. Specify (All) if you want to see 'em all. Press f8 if you want to close the file and cancel the playback. --Show Title ----------------------------------------------------------- Specify if you want the fractal names (or GIF image file names) displayed. This corresponds to the -T command line switch (T+ is ON, T- is OFF). The setting you choose here will be remembered in HOP.INI and become the default value. --Repeat---------------------------------------------------------------- ON will repeat one fractal if you run one fractal, all fractals of the specified parameter file(s) if you chose (All), or the GIF slideshow. If OFF, you will be returned to the Read Page after playing/displaying if you started Read from here, or to the DOS prompt if you ran HOP in playback mode. This corresponds to the -R command line switch (R+ is ON, R- is OFF). The setting you choose here will be remembered in HOP.INI and become the default value. --Rerun GIF------------------------------------------------------------- If you display a GIF that was produced by HOP, the fractal parameters of the image will be read in from the GIF file. After displaying the GIF image, press a key to rerun the fractal from the start. --Adjust Color Frequency------------------------------------------------ If the parameter sets you want to play back were designed on another computer, the color frequency values might be too slow or too fast for your computer's speed. If you have a very fast computer and the parameter sets were composed on a slow computer, the resulting fractals will scroll colors at a very high speed, too fast to look nice. If you have a slow computer and the fractals were designed on a fast computer, the colors might scroll so slowly that it takes seconds for each color and the resulting movement isn't smooth enough. If you set 'Adjust Color Frequency' to ON, HOP will ignore the values for Color Frequency and try to find a value that fits your computer's speed. This might or might not look better, but it will very likely change the look of the resulting image, so set this setting to ON only if really necessary. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 8: SAVE FILE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOP can save data to three types of files: * HOP parameter files each of which can contain a number of parameter sets. A parameter set contains all information HOP needs to restore an image or animation. (see Page 7: Read File) * GIF image files These contain one static HOP image and the information to reconstruct this image. * Fractint type palette maps. HOTKEYS - s = save something Pressing the 's' hotkey will display the Save Page. ('s' also works as a hotkey while HOP runs as a screensaver!) After entering filenames, number of pixels, etc., press Enter to save. If you don't want to save, press the Tab key to highlight the 'Cancel' button instead of the 'Save' button, then press Enter (or click on the 'Cancel' button). --Save File Type ------------------------------------------------------- You can either save the current image parameters to a HOP parameter file, or save the current image to a GIF image file, or save the current color palette to a Fractint format MAP file. --Save Filename -------------------------------------------------------- Specify the name of the HOP parameter file that you want to save to. If the file exists, the current parameter set will be appended unless you choose to overwrite an existing parameter set. A HOP file can contain an unlimited number of parameter sets, but the larger a HOP file gets the longer it takes to read in. --Save Fractalname ----------------------------------------------------- Specify a name for the current fractal. You have 16 characters. --Pixels #-------------------------------------------------------------- Specify for how many pixels the saved fractal will develop when being played back. --AutoGIFSave----------------------------------------------------------- If you specify a GIF file name here, the current image will automatically be saved to a GIF file after being played back. The specified name will be the GIF file name. (The image will not be saved if a file with this name already exists.) This option can be used to make overlaid images, i.e. images that contain several fractals. Their parameter sets can be stored in one .HOP file; running the .HOP file will build up the overlaid image. The second fractal must use a GIF image of the first fractal as background, etc. --Comment--------------------------------------------------------------- Insert a comment here if the fractal needs to be saved with a comment. Also, the content of this line will be used as 'pixels' for HOP if the current pixeltype is 'Comment'. This will enable you to 'draw' with letters, words, and short sentences. If no comment has been entered and you have set 'Comment' as your pixeltype, a random combination of ascii characters will be used. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- COLOR PALETTE EDITOR (registered version only) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press E from the graphics screen to enter HOP's palette editor. The current 256 colors will be displayed as a 16 * 16 matrix. You can edit single colors or groups of colors, scroll the palette, save the current palette to a MAP file, and load a new MAP file. Each of the 256 colors (counted from 0 to 255) consists of a red, green, and blue component each of which has an intensity value between 0 and 63. Color #0 is the background color; color #1 is always white, and #2 always black. Colors #1 and #2 can be manually edited, but then several things don't work quite as they should: If #1 is edited, light reflections on Bubble pixels and similar effects won't be white anymore, and the text on the 'Show Values' screen might be unreadable. If #2 is edited, shadows won't be black anymore. Use the cursor keys to select one of the colors. Then press one of the palette editor hotkeys ... after modifying the palette, press Enter to return to the fractal. One of the interesting features of this palette editor is called 'drawing'. Press a shift key and move around using the cursor keys to see what this means. 'Drawing' is nice if you want to play with the 'colorsquare' pixel type which turns the current palette into a sprite. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PALETTE EDITOR HOTKEYS --GENERAL----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter returns to the graphics screen Esc exits to DOS --COLOR MODIFICATION------------------------------------------------------ Ins/Del Inc/dec the red component with shift = inc/dec by 8 Home/End Inc/dec the green component with shift = inc/dec by 8 PgUp/PgDn Inc/dec the blue component with shift = inc/dec by 8 alt-R Swap red and green alt-G Swap green and blue alt-B Swap blue and red shift- cursor keys Draw lines --PALETTE SHIFTING/SCROLLING---------------------------------------------- < > Scroll left/right by 16 , . Scroll left/right by 1 C colorscroll ctrl-C change colorscroll direction --COLOR GROUP OPERATIONS-------------------------------------------------- A Anchor (mark color #1) O Copy color #1 to color #2 W Swap color #1 and color #2 = Graduated shading between color #1 and color #2 ~ Granular shading between color #1 and color #2 --READ / SAVE PALETTES---------------------------------------------------- P set a periodic palette p set an irregular palette alt-P set a continuous palette ctrl-p Read next map file ctrl-shift-P Read previous map file R Read specific MAP file S Save to MAP file ctrl-bkspace restore palette (undo all changes) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- GENERATE ANIMATION PARAMETERS (registered version only) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOP can automatically create a series of successive GIF images. This is simply done by generating a parameter file containing the parameter sets for each of the GIF images. (One starts out from an existing parameter set and sets values for various parameter changes from one image to the next. The rest is generated automatically.) The parameter sets contain values for 'AutoGIFSave'. Running the parameter file will then automatically generate the GIF images. What is a series of successive GIF images good for? They can be used as input to an animation program which would use them to generate a movie file. Check out Dave Mason's DTA which produces FLC or FLI files, or Moviemaker by Vitas Ramanchausakas which produces AVI animations. Such animations resemble HOP's on-the-fly animations, but of course they can carry much more detail because they can be put together from series of highly detailed single images. This program feature can only be accessed from the DOS command line. Enter HOP GENPARMS to start it. Choose the parameter set that will create the first image of the series. The second page contains a number of data fields, most of them containing the step sizes for several parameters as they change from one image to the next. Enter the values and choose Ok. The parameter file will be generated and you can run it later. --No. of Images--------------------------------------------------------- Determine here how many parameter sets will be generated, i.e. how many GIF images will be created by HOP when running the generated parameter file. --#Pixels per Image----------------------------------------------------- Each of the generated images will be saved to a GIF file after a certain number of pixels. --.HOP filename--------------------------------------------------------- Enter the name of the .HOP parameter file that will now be generated as a basis for a series of GIF images. --Zoom------------------------------------------------------------------ If you enter a positive value here, the animation will zoom in just like the famous fractal zooms into the Mandelbrot set known from videos. Unfortunately, Hopalong fractals simply don't have an infinite depth. --Horizontal Shift------------------------------------------------------ Consecutive images will move left or right if you enter a value here. --Vertical Shift-------------------------------------------------------- Consecutive images will move up or down if you enter a value here. --Rotate x,y,z---------------------------------------------------------- Consecutive images will rotate along the x, y, and z axis if you enter values here. --Transform------------------------------------------------------------- Consecutive images when being played back with an animation program will change shapes just like in a HOP animation when you enter a value here. This value is probably the most interesting for animations. Be careful to choose small enough values to make the movement as smooth as possible. --Color Shift----------------------------------------------------------- If you enter a value here, the color palette will scroll as consecutive images will be displayed in the animation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOTKEY LIST -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As soon as you press one of the hotkeys that affects the image (or change values on the data entry screens) the current image will be kept and not be replaced by another image (unless you have set 'Keep On Change' to OFF). You can also press the Ins key to make the current image stay if you like it. Now the current fractal can be tailored until it is good enough for storing in a HOP parameter file. When you are tired of the current image, press the space bar or PgDn, and a new image will come up. Hotkeys that toggle a setting will beep high when the new value is ON and low when the new value is OFF. Many hotkeys are case sensitive ! ('c' and 'C' will have quite different results). Note that for a 'Pattern Only' formula, many hotkeys won't have any effect. The following overview can be displayed directly from the graphics screen by pressing F1. "^" = ctrl "@" = alt General Hotkeys ----------------------------------------------------------------------- esc exits to DOS enter loads user interface f1 display hotkey list f2 display current parameter set space bar ends the current fractal and starts next pgup/pgdn previous/next fractal backspace previous fractal ^backspace undo all changes ins keeps fractal r read parameter file / GIF image s save parameter file / GIF image / color map f8 close parameter file f9 truncate beginning of fractal f10 refresh/redraw with new random seed home refresh/redraw v 'Show Values' screen m/M next higher/lower videomode @m choose videomode Fractal Values / Math Effects ----------------------------------------------------------------------- f/F next / previous formula ctrl-f switch between Hopalong and Gumowski/Mira attractors * random values for formula constants cursor keys move fractal # re-center image +/- zoom in/out ^pgup change rotation angles ^r toggle rotate n/N show every nth pixel: increment / decrement n ^n show every pixel ^t toggle transform effect t/T increment / decrement transform factor @t random transform factor a toggle animation @a toggle animation rotate > < animate direction k toggle warp effect type (spirals/eyes) K no warp effect ctrl-k set a random value for warp frequency alt-k set a random value for warp depth @f1 set animation type = Slow Changes @f2 set animation type = Fast Changes @f3 set animation type = Lines @f4 set animation type = Dancing Beads @f5 set animation type = Kaleidoscope f7 synchronize erase queue length 'e' with transform frame length 'f' and color frequency 'c' f5 decrement efc f6 increment efc shift-f5 decrement efc by efc/2 shift-f6 increment efc by efc/2 ^f5 set efc = 1 ^f6 set efc = max Graphic Effects ----------------------------------------------------------------------- d/D next / previous black-white pattern ^d no background pattern @1 pattern = plasma @2 === connett circle @3 === rings @4 === squares @5 === horizontal lines @6 === vertical lines @7 === wheel @8 === ant @9 === plane " select random Rule string for Ant patterns / pixels [ ] toggle overlay plasma/ant w toggle 'Erase oldest Pixels' x/X next / previous pixel type @x pixeltype = pixel ^x no pixels q toggle elliptic pixelshape i/I increment / decrement pixelsize @i set pixelsize = 1 ^i toggle oscillate z/Z next / previous pixel fillpattern ^z pixel fillpattern = solidfill ^q toggle pixel reflection @q toggle pixel border y/Y next / previous symmetry ^y no symmetry l toggle connect = colored lines L toggle connect = conditional lines @l toggle connect = background color lines ^l connect = polycolored lines (3 varieties, press ^l for next) / line thickness j toggle linestyle = solid/dotted o toggle shadow type (background/always) O no shadow . toggle twinkle g/G next / previous grid ^g no grid Color Hotkeys ----------------------------------------------------------------------- e edit palette b/B colored/black backgrd 0-9 color frequency (0 = 1, 9 = 1000) shift-up/down decrement/increment color frequency shift-left/right scroll one color left/right h/H increment/decrement color mapping type C tie colors P periodic palette p irregular palette @p continuous palette \ add contrast color stripes ^p/^P load next/previous color MAP palette c toggle colorscroll u toggle color pulsating ^c scroll direction @c toggle static colorscroll -------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brackets [] indicate that these parameters are optional: HOP [filename [#n]] [RANDOMPLAY] [/R[+|-]] [/T[+|-]] [/C[+|-]] [SLIDESHOW [GIF filenames]] [GENPARMS] [PASSWORD] [REGISTER] [UNREGISTER] filename must be a valid .HOP parameter filename (wildcards can be used). The parameters contained in the specified file(s) will be played back. The filename can also be a GIF filename (wild- cards can be used) but .HOP parameter files are default. If you issue HOP BLAH on the command line, HOP will look for a BLAH.HOP parameter file. If there is no file with this name, it will look for a file called BLAH.GIF. If no GIF file of this name can be found, there will be an error message that BLAH.HOP could not be found. #n is the number of a specific parameter set that is to be played back (e.g. HOP EXAMPLE #3). RANDOMPLAY will play parameter sets in the specified file in random order. When no filename is specified, all parameter files in the current directory will be played back in random order. /R+ will play back the parameter sets in an endless loop (corresponds to the Repeat option on the Read page). /T+ will display the parameter set titles (corres- ponds to the Titledisplay option). /C+ will ignore the color frequency value of the parameter file and instead set it to a smooth value for your PC's speed. This will change the look of the resulting image ! (corresponds to 'Adjust Color Frequency') SLIDESHOW will run a GIF image slideshow (/R and /T also apply here). 'Slideshow' is an optional parameter (you can omit it if you issue GIF filenames that cannot be misunderstood as HOP parameter filenames). GIF filenames are GIF filename wildcards (e.g. HOP SLIDESHOW ANI*.GIF). GENPARMS (Generate Animation Parameters) will generate a series of parameter sets which will create a series of GIF files when being played back. These GIF files can then be used as input for an animation program. REGISTER must be specified when you want to register HOP. You will receive information about this feature when you contact one of the authors to register HOP. UNREGISTER can be used to unregister a previously registered copy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------eof