ManpLab - Modern Fractal Explorer - Release 1.5.1 (Educational Fork)

A modern WinUI 3 fractal explorer powered by Paul de Leeuw's production-grade rendering engine

🚀 Overview

ManpLab combines a modern, intuitive WinUI 3 interface with Paul de Leeuw's exceptional fractal rendering engine - featuring perturbation theory, BLA acceleration, and arbitrary-precision arithmetic for extreme deep zoom capabilities (magnification > 10^100).

Application Screenshot

ManpLab Application - Dark theme

Key Features

• ✨ Modern WinUI 3 Interface - Clean, responsive UI with MVVM architecture
• 🎨 324 Fractal Types - Extended from Paul's 246 originals with 78 new implementations
• 🔬 Deep Zoom Technology - Perturbation theory with magnifications exceeding 10^100
• ⚡ BLA Acceleration - Series approximation for extreme performance at deep zoom levels
• 🧮 Arbitrary Precision - MPFR, QD, and DD libraries for numerical accuracy
• 🎬 Animation Rendering - Create MP4 videos with FFmpeg integration
• 📚 Fractal Browser - Metadata, formulas, bookmarks, navigation history
• 🎨 Theme System - Light, Dark, Ocean Blue, and System themes
• 🖱️ Interactive Exploration - Mouse, keyboard, and touch navigation
• ⌨️ Full Keyboard Shortcuts

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│   ManpWinUI (WinUI 3 / .NET 10)        │
│   Modern UI, MVVM, Theme System         │
└──────────────────┬──────────────────────┘
                   │
┌──────────────────▼──────────────────────┐
│   Native C++ Fractal Engine             │
│   (Paul de Leeuw's Production Engine)   │
│   • Perturbation Theory                 │
│   • BLA Acceleration                    │
│   • Arbitrary Precision (MPFR/QD)       │
│   • 246 Original Fractal Types          │
│   • Extended to 324 Types in ManpLab    │
│   • Multithreaded Rendering             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

This educational fork makes Paul DeLeeuw's well-engineered rendering technology accessible through a modern, user-friendly interface designed for students, educators, and researchers.

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Fractal Samples

Mandelbrot Set rendered in the Spectrum palette

Classic Julia Set rendered in the Fire palette

Zoomed Tetrate rendered in the Psychedelic palette

2-Dimensional Hailstone Sequence with segments and point labels

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Quick Start

Pre-built Distributions

Download Latest Release →

Portable ZIP (Recommended) ✅

• No installation - extract and run ManpWinUI.exe
• No security warnings - runs immediately
• Self-contained - includes all dependencies
• Perfect for: Educational use, quick testing, no admin rights needed

MSIX Package (Alternative)

• Modern Windows app - clean install/uninstall via Settings
• ⚠️ Shows security warning - unsigned package (normal for open-source)
• See installation guide included in the download
• Best for: Users preferring managed apps with auto-update support

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/markhassellsmith/ManpLab.git
cd ManpLab
# Open ManpLab.sln in Visual Studio 2022 and build (F5)

All dependencies are included. The project builds without additional configuration.

Requirements:

• Windows 10 or 11 (x64)
• Visual Studio 2022 (Community Edition supported)
• .NET 10 SDK
• Git (for cloning)

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Educational Applications

ManpLab serves as a comprehensive platform for studying fractals, numerical methods, and computational mathematics:

Mathematics

• Complex dynamics: 324 fractal types including Mandelbrot, Julia sets, Newton fractals
• Perturbation theory and BLA series approximation
• Arbitrary-precision arithmetic (MPFR, QD, DD libraries)
• Newton-Raphson root finding and analytical derivatives

Computer Science

• WinUI 3 with MVVM pattern and C++/WinRT interop
• Large-scale C++ engine (156 source files, 6 CMake subprojects)
• Multithreaded rendering with progressive cancellation
• Template metaprogramming and cache optimization

Physics & Engineering

• Electrical: Chua's circuit, fractal antennas, chaos-based encryption
• Mechanical: Turbulent flow, nonlinear oscillators, fracture mechanics
• General: Strange attractors (Lorenz, Rössler, Hénon), bifurcation analysis, Lyapunov exponents

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Technical Features

Native C++ Rendering Engine

• Deep Zoom: Perturbation theory, BLA series expansion, arbitrary precision (MPFR), FloatExp extended exponent range
• Rendering: Multiple modes (escape-time, slope/derivative, distance estimation), orbit traps, biomorph coloring, 24-bit true color, bump mapping
• Performance: Multithreaded (all CPU cores), boundary tracing, progressive rendering, dynamic task distribution
• Formula System: Custom scripting language, VM bytecode execution, 100+ functions, Fractint compatibility

WinUI 3 Interface

• MVVM architecture with data binding
• Theme support (Light, Dark, Ocean Blue, System)
• Fractal metadata browser with favorites
• Animation timeline editor

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Fractal Categories (39 Categories)

Classic Fractals (20+): Mandelbrot variants, Julia sets, Burning Ship, Newton fractals, Magnet fractals

Advanced Variants (40+): MandelDerivatives, Mandelbar/Tricorn, Spider, Thorn, Tetration, Power Towers

Scientific Systems (30+): Strange attractors (Lorenz, Rössler, Hénon, Pickover, Chua), bifurcation diagrams, Lyapunov fractals

Hailstone Sequences: 2D integer lattice dynamics with cycle detection, 5 transformation presets

Geometric & IFS (20+): Sierpinski, Apollonius, Pascal triangle, L-Systems, Barnsley fern

Artistic Fractals (25+): BuddhaBrot, Popcorn, Hopalong, Plasma, DLA, Langton's ant

Tierazon Set (30+): Phoenix, Hypercomplex, Froth, Icon/Icon3D, function compositions

Research Fractals (15+): Perturbation-optimized, polynomial, rational maps, Kleinian groups

Custom: User-defined formulas via scripting language

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Project Structure

ManpLab/
├── ManpWinUI/              # WinUI 3 application (.NET 10)
│   ├── ViewModels/         # MVVM view models
│   ├── Views/              # XAML pages and controls
│   ├── Services/           # Business logic layer
│   └── Documentation/      # Comprehensive project docs
│
├── ManpCore.Services/      # Shared .NET services
│   └── FractalEngineWrapper.cs
│
├── ManpCore.Native/        # C++/WinRT interop layer
│   └── FractalEngineWrapper.cpp/.h
│
├── ManpWIN64/              # Native C++ rendering engine (156 files)
│   ├── Perturbation.cpp    # Perturbation algorithm
│   ├── Approximation.cpp   # BLA acceleration
│   ├── Slope.cpp           # Derivative shading
│   ├── BigComplex.cpp      # Arbitrary-precision complex
│   ├── Pixel.cpp           # Standard iteration engine
│   └── ...
│
├── parser/                 # Formula parser & VM (21 files)
├── qdlib/                  # Quad-double arithmetic
├── pnglib/                 # PNG export
├── ZLib/                   # Compression
└── external/               # MPFR, GMP, FFmpeg libraries

Key Source Categories (Native Engine)

Core Rendering: Pixel.cpp, BigPixel.cpp, Perturbation.cpp, PertEngine.cpp

Precision Types: Complex.cpp, BigComplex.cpp, DDComplex.cpp, QDComplex.cpp, ExpComplex.cpp

Algorithms: Approximation.cpp, Slope.cpp, FwdDiff.cpp, MandelDerivatives.cpp

Fractals: FractintFunctions.cpp, TierazonFunctions.cpp, Miscfrac.cpp, Bif.cpp

Color: Colour.cpp, Colour1.cpp, ColourMethod.cpp, TrueCol.cpp

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Student Project Ideas

Beginner (1-2 weeks)

1. Add custom color palettes
2. Implement parameter presets
3. Create keyboard shortcuts
4. Implement simple fractal variants

Intermediate (4-8 weeks)

5. Histogram-based coloring
6. Progressive rendering preview
7. Parameter animation system
8. Undo/redo navigation
9. New escape-time fractals
10. Distance estimation rendering
11. Statistical analysis tools
12. 3D lighting and shadows

Advanced (8-16 weeks)

13. GPU acceleration (CUDA/OpenCL)
14. Distributed rendering
15. SIMD optimization (AVX2/AVX-512)
16. Adaptive precision management
17. Automatic differentiation
18. Fractal dimension calculator
19. Plugin architecture
20. Cross-platform port (Linux/Mac)

Research-Level

21. Novel series approximation methods
22. Machine learning for exploration
23. Perturbation theory for complex formulas
24. Real-time deep zoom interaction

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Build Instructions

Requirements: Visual Studio 2022, C++ and .NET workloads, .NET 10 SDK

1. Clone: git clone https://github.com/markhassellsmith/ManpLab.git
2. Open ManpLab.sln in Visual Studio 2022
3. Build (F5)

All dependencies included - builds without additional configuration.

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Troubleshooting

Build Issues: Ensure C++ and .NET workloads installed, verify .NET 10 SDK, clean and rebuild if needed

Runtime: Use Release build (Debug is slower), ensure dependencies (MPFR, GMP) in output directory

Performance: Deep zoom auto-enables BLA/perturbation, reduce iterations for exploration, use progressive rendering

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Technology Stack

Frontend: .NET 10, WinUI 3, C#, XAML, MVVM Toolkit

Native Engine: C++17, Win32 API, CMake 3.23+

Mathematical Libraries: MPFR 4.2.2, GMP 6.3.0, QD Library, DD Arithmetic

Media: FFmpeg (animation export), libpng, ZLib

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Learning Resources

Books:

• Mandelbrot, The Fractal Geometry of Nature
• Peitgen et al., Chaos and Fractals
• Pickover, Computers, Pattern, Chaos and Beauty

Online:

• FractalForums.org
• Kalles Fraktaler
• Inigo Quilez - Distance Estimation

Papers:

• Hart, "Distance Estimation for Fractals"
• Claude Heiland-Allen, perturbation theory articles
• Lorenz (1963), "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow"

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome from students, educators, and researchers.

Guidelines:

• Test Debug and Release builds
• Keep dependencies in external/ directory
• Follow existing code style
• Document significant changes
• Maintain backward compatibility

Development Workflow:

1. Fork repository
2. Create feature branch
3. Make changes and test
4. Submit pull request with description

Priority Areas:

• GPU acceleration, additional fractals, performance optimizations
• Documentation, tutorials, unit tests
• Novel algorithms, research contributions

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Credits

Paul de Leeuw (Paul the LionHeart) - Native rendering engine with perturbation theory, BLA acceleration, and 246 original fractal implementations

Mark Hassell Smith - Modern WinUI 3 interface, MVVM architecture, 78 new fractals, metadata system, and educational materials

GitHub Copilot - Development assistance and documentation support

Special thanks to the fractal community at FractalForums.org for continued inspiration and technical contributions.

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License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.

This project includes third-party libraries with their own licenses (MPFR, GMP, libpng, ZLib).

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Version History

v1.5.1 (2026) - Educational fork with WinUI 3 interface, 324 fractal types (extended from Paul de Leeuw's 246), metadata system, animation rendering, theme system

Original ManpWIN - Paul de Leeuw (1990s-2010s) - Deep zoom, perturbation theory, BLA acceleration, 246 fractals, arbitrary-precision arithmetic

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Appendix: Complete Fractal Catalog

ManpLab includes 324 unique fractals organized into 39 categories. This comprehensive catalog spans classic mathematical fractals, strange attractors, physical systems, and experimental variations.

Attractors (7)

• Aizawa Attractor
• Chen-Lee Attractor
• Dadras Attractor
• Halvorsen Attractor
• Lorenz Attractor
• Pickover Attractor
• Thomas Attractor

Barnsley (6)

• Barnsley J1
• Barnsley J2
• Barnsley J3
• Barnsley M1
• Barnsley M2
• Barnsley M3

Bifurcation (7)

• Henon Bifurcation
• Henon Parameter Space
• Lambda Bifurcation
• Lambda Parameter Space
• Logistic Bifurcation
• Mandelbrot Parameter Space
• Orbit Diagram

Burning Ship Family (2)

• Burning Ship (Power 3)
• Burning Ship (Power 4)

Burning Ship Variants (12)

• Bird of Prey
• Buffalo Burning Ship
• Burning Ship Cubic
• Burning Ship Quartic
• Burning Ship Quintic
• Celtic Burning Ship
• Diagonal Burning Ship
• Partial Burning Ship
• Perpendicular Burning Ship
• Reverse Burning Ship
• Shark Burning Ship
• Vertical Burning Ship

Chaotic Maps (4)

• Arneodo Attractor
• Liu-Chen Attractor
• Rabinovich-Fabrikant Attractor
• Sprott B Attractor

Chemical Engineering (4)

• Arrhenius Kinetics (Thermal Activation)
• Cahn-Hilliard Phase Separation
• Gray-Scott Reaction-Diffusion
• Langmuir-Hinshelwood Surface Catalysis

Classical Polynomials (1)

• Legendre Polynomial

Complex Functions (10)

• 1/sin(z)²
• cos(z)/tan(z)
• Square + Trig
• Tetration (z^z)
• Trig + Trig
• Trig Squared
• Trig × Trig
• z·sin(z) + z
• Trig Square Root
• Trig Trig

Discrete Mathematics (3)

• Chebyshev Polynomial
• Combinatorial Mandelbrot
• Inverse Combinatorial

Distance Estimator (4)

• Burning Ship (Distance Estimator)
• Julia (Distance Estimator)
• Mandelbrot (Distance Estimator)
• Tricorn (Distance Estimator)

Elliptic Functions (4)

• Jacobi Elliptic sn
• Weierstrass ζ-function
• Weierstrass σ-function
• Weierstrass ℘-function

Exotic (8)

• Buffalo Fractal
• Celtic Mandelbrot
• Heart Mandelbrot
• Perpendicular Mandelbrot
• Quasi-Perpendicular
• Shark Fin
• Wavy
• Zubieta

Exotic Fractals (3)

• Magnet I
• Magnet II
• Phoenix Fractal

Exponential Fractals (12)

• Complex Power
• Exponential Fractal
• Exponential Julia
• Exponential Logarithmic
• Exponential Square
• Lambda Lambda Exponential
• Lambda Mandel Exponential
• Logarithm Fractal
• Logarithmic Mandelbrot
• Mandelbrot Exponential
• Power Tower (z^z)
• z^z + c

Historical Fractals (8)

• Chip Map
• Collatz Fractal
• Duffing Map
• Martin Map
• Pickover Biomorphs
• Pickover Stalks
• Quaternion Julia (2D Slice)
• Sinusoidal Fractal

Hybrid Fractals (18)

• Bifurcation-Mandelbrot
• Burning Mandelbrot Hybrid
• Celtic Mandelbrot (Hybrid)
• Celtic-Burning Ship Hybrid
• Collatz-Style Hybrid
• Exponential-Mandelbrot Blend
• Exponential-Mandelbrot Hybrid
• Magnet-Mandelbrot Hybrid
• Mandelbrot-Burning Ship Hybrid
• Mandelbrot-Lambda Mix
• Multi-Power Cycle
• Mutant Mandelbrot (Power Evolution)
• Newton-Mandelbrot Blend
• Perturbed Newton
• Sierpinski-Mandelbrot Cross
• Sine-Mandelbrot Hybrid
• Tricorn-Phoenix Hybrid
• Trig-Mandelbrot Blend

Iterated Function Systems (5)

• Barnsley Fern (IFS)
• Dragon Curve (IFS)
• Pentagon (IFS)
• Sierpinski Triangle (IFS)
• Tree (IFS)

Julia Presets (23)

• Julia - Airplane
• Julia - Backbone
• Julia - Cauliflower
• Julia - Crystal
• Julia - Dendrite (Preset)
• Julia - Dragon (Preset)
• Julia - Eye
• Julia - Feigenbaum Point
• Julia - Flower
• Julia - Fractal Tree
• Julia - Fuzzy Blob
• Julia - Golden Ratio
• Julia - Heart
• Julia - Lightning
• Julia - Medusa
• Julia - Neurons
• Julia - Paisley
• Julia - Seahorse Valley
• Julia - Snowflake
• Julia - Spiral Galaxy
• Julia - Spiral (Preset)
• Julia - Triple Spiral
• Julia - Twisted Cross

Julia Sets (21)

• Julia - Burning Ship
• Julia - Classic
• Julia - Cubic
• Julia - Custom
• Julia - Dendrite
• Julia - Douady Rabbit
• Julia - Dragon
• Julia - Exponential
• Julia - Lambda
• Julia - Lambda (Alt)
• Julia - Magnet
• Julia - Multibrot 3
• Julia - Multibrot 4
• Julia - Phoenix
• Julia - Power 5
• Julia - Power 6
• Julia - San Marco
• Julia - Siegel Disk
• Julia - Siegel Disk (Alt)
• Julia - Sine
• Julia - Spiral

L-Systems (7)

• Dragon Curve
• Fractal Plant
• Hilbert Curve
• Koch Curve
• Koch Snowflake
• Peano Curve
• Sierpinski Triangle

Lambda Fractals (8)

• Lambda Flip
• Lambda Modified
• Lambda Phoenix
• Lambda Power 3
• Lambda Power 4
• Lambda Squared
• Lambda Tan
• Lambda Tanh

Magnet Fractals (4)

• Magnet I Cubic
• Magnet I Julia
• Magnet II Cubic
• Magnet II Julia

Mandelbrot Variants (27)

• Burning Ship
• Celtic Buffalo
• Celtic Heart
• Heart Mandelbrot (Sine)
• Julia Power 4
• Mandelbar
• Mandelbar (Conjugate)
• Mandelbrot Power 4
• Mandelbrot-Lambda
• Manowar
• Marks Julia
• Marks Mandelbrot
• Marks Mandelbrot (Classic)
• Multibrot (Power 6)
• Multibrot (Power 7)
• Multibrot (Power 8)
• Multibrot⁴ (Quartic)
• Multibrot⁵ (Quintic)
• Multibrot³ (Cubic)
• Perpendicular Mandelbrot (Abs First)
• Shark Fin Mandelbrot
• Spider
• Spider Variant
• Thorn
• Thorn (Classic)
• Tricorn (Mandelbar)
• Wavy Mandelbrot

Mechanical Engineering (5)

• Basquin Fatigue Power Law (S-N Curve)
• Euler-Bernoulli Buckling (Beam Deflection)
• Ramberg-Osgood Plastic Deformation (Malleability)
• Stefan-Boltzmann Radiative Cooling (Heat Flow)
• Torsional Twist (Angle of Twist)

Multibrot Powers (8)

• Buffalo (Polynomial)
• Multibrot-10 (Decic)
• Multibrot-3 (Cubic)
• Multibrot-4 (Quartic)
• Multibrot-5 (Quintic)
• Multibrot-6 (Sextic)
• Multibrot-8 (Octic)
• Tricorn (Polynomial)

Newton's Method (8)

• Newton (z³-1)
• Newton Basin (z³-1)
• Newton Cosh
• Newton Quartic (z⁴-1)
• Newton Quintic (z⁵-1)
• Newton Sextic (z⁶-1)
• Newton Sine
• Nova

Orbit Statistics (4)

• Angle Average
• Average Distance
• Maximum Distance
• Minimum Distance

Orbit Trap (4)

• Orbit Trap (Circle)
• Orbit Trap (Cross)
• Orbit Trap (Point)
• Orbit Trap (Square)

Orbital Advanced (10)

• Circular Orbit Trap
• Cross Orbit Trap
• Delta Magnitude Tracking
• Orbit Angle Accumulation
• Orbital Curvature Tracking
• Point-Line Orbit Trap
• Smoothed Orbit (Running Average)
• Stalks (Conditional)
• Stripe Average Coloring
• Triangle Orbit Trap

Phoenix Fractals (8)

• Phoenix Complex Feedback
• Phoenix Cosh
• Phoenix Cubic
• Phoenix Julia
• Phoenix Lambda
• Phoenix Mandelbrot
• Phoenix Quartic
• Phoenix Sine

Polynomial Variants (8)

• Biomorph
• Cubic Mandelbrot
• Polynomial z⁴+z³+c
• Polynomial z³-z+c
• Quartic Mandelbrot
• Quintic Mandelbrot
• Rational R1
• Sextic Mandelbrot

Rational Function Fractals (8)

• Halley's Method z³-1
• Möbius Fractal
• Newton z³-1
• Newton z⁴-1
• Newton z⁵-1
• Rational (z²+c)/(z²-c)
• Rational z²/(z³+c)
• Rational z³/(z³+c)

Special (7)

• 2-D Hailstone Trajectory
• Buddhabrot
• Hailstone Sequence
• Lyapunov
• Nebulabrot (Dramatic RGB)
• NumFractal
• Tetration (Classic)

Special Function Fractals (15)

• Bessel-like Oscillatory
• Bose-Einstein Distribution
• Continued Fraction Fractal
• Damped Harmonic Oscillator
• Digamma Function ψ(z)
• Error Function (erf) Fractal
• Fermi-Dirac Distribution
• Gamma Function Fractal
• Hyperbolic Combination
• Lambert W Function
• Planck Distribution
• RLC Circuit Resonance
• Root Locus (Control Systems)
• Tetration (Power Tower)
• Trigamma Function ψ'(z)

Strange Attractors (6)

• Bedhead Attractor
• Clifford Attractor
• De Jong Attractor
• Duffing Attractor
• Svensson Attractor
• Tinkerbell Attractor

Tricorn Family (2)

• Tricorn (Power 3)
• Tricorn (Power 4)

Trigonometric (8)

• Cosecant Mandelbrot
• Cosh Mandelbrot
• Cotangent Mandelbrot
• Mandel Trig
• Secant Mandelbrot
• Sech Mandelbrot
• Sinh Mandelbrot
• Tanh Mandelbrot

Trigonometric Fractals (12)

• Cos(z) + c
• Lambda Lambda Cosh
• Lambda Lambda Cosine
• Lambda Lambda Sine
• Lambda Lambda Sinh
• Lambda Mandel Cosh
• Lambda Mandel Cosine
• Lambda Mandel Sine
• Lambda Mandel Sinh
• Mandelbrot Trig
• Sin(z) + c
• Sine Fractal

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Categories: 39 families | Total Fractals: 324

This catalog represents the current state of ManpLab v1.5.1, combining Paul de Leeuw's original 246 fractals with 78 new implementations spanning mathematical functions, physical systems, and experimental variations.