Fractals

A project for AP CS, where we render 3D fractals using distance estimators and ray marching.

Fractals Implemented

We currently have 4 fractals implemented into the program.

Number (key)	Fractal
1	Mandelbulb
2	Mandelbox
3	Menger Sponge
4	Koch Snowflake

Keyboard Inputs

List of all keyboard functions in the Fracal program

Key	Function
W	Move Camera Forward
S	Move Camera Backwards
A	Move Camera Left
D	Move Camera Right
Space	Move Camera Up
Left Shift	Move Camera Down
Control +	Increase Movement Speed
Control -	Decrease Movement Speed
E	Export Render
R	Export HD Render
T (hold)	Export GIF Frames
Q	Quit Program
P	Pause/Play Animation
+	Increase Max Fractal Iterations
-	Decrease Max Fractal Iterations
Alt +	Increase Antialias Level
Alt -	Decrease Antialias Level
Right Shift +	Increase Ray Iterations
Right Shift -	Decrease Ray Iterations
Escape	Release Mouse
Click on Window	Recapture Mouse
C	Print Camera Location to Console
. (period)	Toggle Double Precision
1	Display Mandelbulb Fractal
2	Display Mandelbox Fractal
3	Display Menger Sponge Fractal
4	Display Koch Snowflake Fractal

Instructions for building from source

• Download the lwjgl-release-custom-zip file that corresponds to your os
• Go here: https://www.lwjgl.org/customize and click load config
• Upload the lwjgl-release-custom-zip file
• Download the zip
• Create a new project
• Follow these instructions for installing the library into the project: https://github.com/LWJGL/lwjgl3-wiki/wiki/1.2.-Install
• In the src folder, clone this repo.

Project Log

Week 1 Update (4/11)

• GUI/rendering somewhat working
• Some GUI features including: changing the color of a single pixel, creating a colored rectangle on the screen
• Keyboard and mouse controls implemented, but need to be connected to the computing classes
• Vector3D, UnitVector3D, and Camera classes done
• Vector classes have a variety of common vector math methods
• Camera class has methods to translate keyboard and mouse input to movement relative to direction vector

Week 2 Update (4/18)

• Mouse and Keyboard input implemented, but still have issues
• Basic kernel written to render a sphere using raymarching (still has bugs)
• Compute and GUI handlers consolidated into one file
• Full kernel integration: frames are now rendered using openCL and displayed properly, and input is translated into position/direction changes in the camera class, which is then sent back to the kernel for the next frame

Week 3 Update (4/26)

• Some OpenGL implementation drawing simple 2d shapes, but still has bugs and doesn't work
• The kernel now properly shades the rendered images based on the number of iterations required per pixel. Here is a sample image of a torus and a sphere:

  

• Mouse input issue fixed - the screen no longer shakes incessantly

Week 4 Update (5/4)

• Not much work was done this week because of preparation for AP tests
• Folding space was tested and worked successfully. Here is a sample image of a world filled with infinite toruses:

  

• Minor optimisations such as the vertex and fragment shader sources being moved to separate files
• Window can be resized, and automatically recompiles the kernel with the new resolution (only works on windows for some reason)
• The mouse can be released by pressing ESC and recaptured by clicking anywhere in the window
• Lots of distortion is present along the Z axis (when rendering objects above and below the camera) but none along the X and Y axes for some reason

Week 5 Update (5/10)

• All distortion eliminated
• First Fractals! Here is a Mandelbulb rendering that we are quite proud of:

  

• Work is being done on coloring fractals, making them more detailed and some preliminary GUI stuff

Week 6 Update (5/18)

• Added a time variable that increments frame by frame, allowing fractals to be animated:

  

• Added mandelbox fractal:

  

• Fractals are colored based on distance from the origin, more sophisticated coloring that emphasizes the structure of the fractal to be added later.
• More control over the renderer: +/- adjusts the number of iterations for the fractal and shift +/- adjusts the number of iterations per ray. p also plays/pauses the animation.

Week 7 Update (5/24)

• Added antialiasing
• Added 3d Koch Snowflake Fractal
• Added the ability to export a frame
• Ctrl +/- to increase/decrease movement speed

Week 8 Update (5/31)

• Added arbitrarily high resolution image export
• Added fractal hotkeys to quickly change between fractals
• Added support for multiple GPU systems