Tips and Tricks
- Almost all text fields parse formulas (which can include user-defined parameters and definitions).
- Setting unused textures to any of the builtin textures saves smaller files (saves only a 4-byte ID, not the image data).
- ⌘C on the graph view copies the graph as an image, which can be pasted into any graphics program, emails or saved from Preview.app.
- Transparency of the background color affects the icon and the copied image.
- The highest quality setting is almost always overkill (it draws up to 1,000,000 triangles) and should be avoided if you want smooth
parameter animation.
- Complex values in real plot modes are considered undefined (like √-1). If imprecisions yield imaginary parts in functions that
should be real, plotting re(f) instead can help.
- Swiping with three fingers on the trackpad instead of two can make for much smoother rotation (something strange in the trackpad driver
probably).
- Adding a real parameter t and plotting cblend(z, f(z), t) makes t animate between the identity and f. This can be helpful in understanding
how f works. Especially in image mode.
- To visualize a set of the form {(x,y) with f(x,y) > 0} plot "f(x,y) > 0" in ℝ² → ℝ graph mode.
More complex logical formulas can be mapped like this: For two logical values (0/1 for false/true) p and q, pq is "p and q", 1-p is "not p"
and 1-(1-p)(1-q) = p+q-pq is "p or q". This last one can also be written as mix(1, p, q) = q∙1 + (1-q)∙p = p+q-pq.
- Real textures tend to look a lot better than the builtins. The gallery files use the builtins mainly to keep the file size down.