Flame renders the frozen camera view. Return to Points to keep
exploring.
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Keep orbiting while sampled Solid converges; lighting responds
immediately.
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Quick previews sharpen after you stop moving; progress appears below.
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Transforms (4)
Geometry follows Auto-update; color changes apply immediately.
How edits affect renders
Flat Flame and Solid restart after an edit settles. With 4D or
Balloon geometry, changes apply the next time you enter that
renderer. Surface restarts without resetting the view; an
unsupported change returns to Points.
Adds and selects a new emitter transform.
How emitter shapes work
Emitter shapes and Surface → Shape trap use the same built-in
library and Custom shape composer for different purposes.
Select to edit
Xaos
Changes update Points immediately.
How Xaos works
Add an isolated block under Systems, then tune the links between
its transforms here. Leak controls make broad changes; the matrix
provides precise control.
Advanced: chaos matrixCloudScene color
Changes apply immediately in Points.
How Points color works
These controls color the Points view. Each other renderer has its
own Scene color section.
How W-depth color works
Cool and warm colors show opposite sides of W; dim gray is near
W = 0. Layers add where the projection overlaps.
Flat Color Mode stays saved. Use 4D Color here; Surface has its own
color controls.
Shared custom gradient; Balloon has its own.
Axis Colors
Balloon
Changes apply immediately in Points.
How Balloon affects renders
Balloon changes are immediate in Points and Solid. They restart
Flame. In Surface, on/off and palette changes restart the render;
size and tint stay live.
Balloon has its own custom gradient.
Tint 0%
Atmosphere
Shared custom gradient; Balloon has its own.
Backdrop Colors
Tint 0%
Symmetry · 4D
Changes apply immediately in Points.
How to add 4D symmetry
Set Order to at least 2-fold, then choose XW, YW, or ZW—or raise
Twist above 0. A change between 3D and 4D regenerates Points
before another renderer can use it.
Space tiling
Every render mode draws it; this hint updates to the active
renderer's timing.
How tiling works
A reflection group folds space into its fixed chamber, then
repeats the chamber's fractal piece; the mirrored lattice repeats
the piece in x and z (and w in 4D) across a bounded presentation
window. The optional content clip trims that piece; it does not
replace or reshape the chamber. A clip that admits nothing renders
an intentionally empty result — reported as such, never replaced
by the untiled attractor. Every render mode draws the tiled
object; the note below reports what the active one did with your
last edit.
Hybrid schedule
Choosing a source copies it; later source changes do not follow.
Changes update Points immediately.
How the schedule works
System B is an affine-only snapshot. Depth controls how many
randomly chosen B maps bend each plotted point after the main
system.
Depth
Aerial Haze and Eye-Dome Lighting are unavailable in 4D; those
choices stay saved. Use Glow, Depth of Field, or Depth fade.
Scene color
Shared custom gradient; Balloon has its own.
BlurScene color
Shared custom gradient; Balloon has its own.
Shared custom gradient; Balloon has its own.
Axis Colors
LevelLighting
Changes affect only Solid and apply immediately.
Floor
A world-space floor under sampled Solid. Balloon temporarily hides
it without clearing these settings.
Scene color
Shared custom gradient; Balloon has its own.
Shape copies
Shape trap
Choosing a shape restarts Surface; its pose and fade stay live.
How shape traps work
Trap shapes use the same library and Custom shape composer as
Transforms → Add emitter shape, but color or carve the Surface
instead of emitting points.
Geometry requires conformal folds; color trapping works on other
systems.
Lighting
Changes affect only Surface and apply immediately. Environment is
Surface-only.
Depth
Focus follows the Surface centre. Changes apply immediately without
retracing.
FloorQuality
Applies to settled renders and PNG saves; quick previews use 1
sample/pixel.
PerformanceView
Saved view
Camera framing is saved with links, scene files, Collection entries,
and Timeline keyframes, and restored on reload.
Saved view
Shift-drag rotates XW/YW; Shift-scroll rotates ZW. Rotation and
slice framing are saved with links, files, Collection entries,
Timeline keyframes, and restored on reload.
Points layoutThis session
X, Y, and Z keep the same size at every depth. Current stays
perspective.
X, Y, and Z stay axis-locked. Move a selected transform in any
pane; camera controls stay in Current. Bloom and EDL are shown in
Current-only Single view. Saved images capture Current.
Zoom keeps a safe distance from the orbit target, then narrows the
lens instead of crossing it. Right-drag or two-finger drag places
that target. Surface re-traces smaller detail and increases its
depth; Points and Solid magnify their existing sampled data.
The camera is frozen during Flame accumulation. An active mode can
still be reset or exited; return to another renderer to start one.
Surface parks automatic motion so the render can settle. Manual
camera turns and, in 4D, rotor and slice controls stay live; your
setting takes effect again in Points or Solid.
In 4D, tumble replaces automatic camera orbit to reveal hidden axes;
manual camera orbit remains available.
Systems
Replace or explore
Presets morph in Points, then open their saved renderer. Random
Drift stays in Points; Collection Drift follows each saved scene.
Combine systems
Adds a separate copy of the chosen system; later source changes do
not carry over. Edit its links in Xaos.
CollectionTimeline
Add keyframes, then play the sequence or export it as a video.
Capture
Used by the next capture. Changing it during Flame restarts the
render.
Share
Or drop a file anywhere on the page.
What is this?
Every shape here is the attractor of an
iterated function system (IFS) — a handful of
affine transforms: squashed, rotated, shifted copies of space. Each
wireframe guide box outlines where one transform squeezes the whole
scene.
The dots are drawn with the chaos game: drop a
point anywhere, then over and over pick one transform at random and
jump to where it sends the point, plotting every landing. The first
hundred hops are discarded while the point settles onto the
attractor (and a hop that flies off to infinity restarts from a
fresh random seed). Each hop looks random — yet because every
transform contracts space, the trail always condenses onto the same
shape.
More points just sample that same shape more densely. The Flame and
Solid modes run the very same game, accumulating hits into a glowing
2D exposure or a lit 3D density volume instead of dots.
Fractal Explorer is
open source
under the ISC license; the libraries it bundles keep their own —
third-party notices. Your scenes, gallery and preferences are saved in this browser
only; nothing is sent anywhere.
Collection
No saved systems yet. Roll “Surprise Me”, shape a system you like,
then ★ Save to collection to keep it here.
Evolution Lab
1 / 64 nodes
Pick a surrounding preview to make it the new center and generate
eight variations. Previews appear one at a time. Your exploration
history and A/B choices last only in this tab; reloading or closing
discards them.
Current scene is the lineage root.
About these previews
Previews show orbit geometry and By Transform identity color.
Surface finish and pattern, plus Flame/Solid color speed, appear
after loading the node in that renderer.
Collection saves only the current scene, not its branches or ancestry.
Compare and breed
A and B can name retained nodes or exact Collection scenes. Showing
either replaces only the canvas; the lineage selection and
Collection stay unchanged.
A · empty
B · empty
Pin the selected node as A or B to compare it full-canvas.
Pin both A and B to inspect crossover compatibility.
Future children must have a supported Surface route; degraded routes
are allowed.
Keep traits unchanged
Locks apply only to children generated next; retained nodes never
change.