Friday, October 4th, 2013 Posted by Jim Thacker

Kai’s Power Tools veterans release Frax fractal explorer

Computer graphics veterans Ben Weiss and Kai Krause have released Frax, a new iOS app for viewing and exploring fractals that enables users to adjust standard 3D parameters to control the look of the results.

The duo previously worked together at MetaCreations in the 1990s, on – now-defunct, but then era-defining – graphics software like Kai’s Power Tools and Kai’s Photo Soap.

More controls than you can shake a Mandelbrot Set at
After generating the base form of a fractal, Frax assigns it height values, and illuminates it using two light sources to create glossy reflections. Overall, the app contains “almost 100 parameters and controls”.

The fractals can be navigated using standard iOS gestures, like pinching and swiping, while rotating and tilting the iPhone or iPad enables you to ‘fly into’ the image.

The results can also be rendered for print with the help of Frax Cloud, a pay-as-you-go online rendering service.

Pricing options
Frax comes in a standard edition for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, which costs $1.99; an HD edition for iPad only, which costs $3.99.

Both can be upgraded to Frax Pro, an in-app upgrade that provides access to all of the controls, and raises the maximum render size to 50 Megapixels. It costs a further $6.99 for Frax users, or $4.99 from Frax HD.

Read more about the apps on the Frax website
(Includes purchase links to the App Store)