This is a fractal renderer implemented in Python using the pixel fiddling tools provided by pxng. The Python solution is extremely slow so a binding to a Rust version of the calculation has been integrated. This improves the rendering time approximately 100 times. An additional rendering technique is also available, implemented with OpenGL Shaders, this one is at least 20 times faster than the Rust implementation.
Rust needs to be installed and a fairly new version of Python 3. Clone the repository and run the follow commands.
pip install pxng
make release
make release runs cargo build and copies the resulting dynamic library file into the Python package.
From the command line run the application by calling python fractal.py.
The application will start in Rust mode and show the Mandelbrot fractal. Press 2 to switch to calculating the fractal using Python. Pressing 3 uses GLSL shaders to render the fractal (this requires OpenGL version 4 support). Press 1 to get back to Rust.
Point the mouse at any point and scroll your mouse wheel to zoom into (or out of) the fractal. You can also use z and x for this. Hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse to pan around. Press j and i to decrease or increase the number of iterations. As you zoom in it is necessary to increase the number of iterations. Reset to the initial view by pressing space. Press t to print the current view to the terminal.
- OneLoneCoder and his YouTube movies (especially the one about fractals).
- Pål Grønås Drange for the terminal visualization