02 main window

Main window

The main window is titled FractalFlow. The header bar shows FractalFlow and the subtitle — HLSL fractal renderer. Below that is the tab strip.

Explore: formula selection, guided starters, and seed cards.

The six tabs

Tab	What it is for
Explore	Browse formula families, Generate seeds, inspect thumbnails, open Seed fine tune, heart seeds for Compose.
Compose	Build a timed composition from hearted seeds: mix or layer them, edit camera and parameter animation, preview, Save composition.
Render	Pick a saved composition, set output size, fill the Render queue, start native HLSL/CPU rendering to PNG + video.
Videos	Video library of finished clips plus four workspaces: Clip Studio, Live FX (Psychedelia Live), Generator Lab (Animation Lab), Shader Lab.
Auto	Two modes: Auto Builder (generate clips automatically) and API Lab (send the same HTTP contract the api server exposes).
Resources	CPU workers, GPU concurrency, Compose preview size, Final output, Keep PNG frame sequence, GPU enable/disable.

Tabs that are expensive to construct (Compose, Render, Videos, Auto, Resources) are created the first time you click them.

How work flows through the tabs

1. Explore creates candidate looks. Heart the ones you want to keep.
2. Compose only lists hearted seeds in its Library / Seeds list. Build motion and layers, then Save composition.
3. Render lists those saved compositions. Queue them and render.
4. Finished jobs appear in the Videos tab Video library. Open one in Clip Studio to trim, retime, add post effects, and Save export.
5. Independently, Live FX (Psychedelia Live), Generator Lab, and Shader Lab can Render final output straight into the same Video library.
6. Auto Builder can run either the native fractal route (same as Render) or a procedural Videos engine, and drop results into Compose / Render / Videos.

Nothing on Explore is a finished video. A hearted seed is a still (plus optional saved seed animation) waiting to be composed or rendered.

Window size

Default size is large (about 1500×950). Minimum is 760×720. Toolbars wrap rather than clip when the window is narrowed. On Compose and Videos, a thin < strip collapses the left library so the editor can use the full width.

Keyboard and numeric editing

• Ctrl+G generates another Explore seed batch when Explore handles the shortcut.
• Tab / Shift+Tab move between controls. Enter commits a typed number; leaving a number field also commits it.
• Numeric spinners accept direct typing and their up/down arrows. Hold Shift for the larger step shown in that control's tooltip. Bounds depend on the parameter; an iteration count and a color channel do not share the same range.
• Open a dropdown before using its mouse wheel to browse choices. Scroll in the editor pane to reach lower sections; each library, editor, and expanded preview can have its own scrollbar.
• On Compose, drag the column/row dividers to allocate space. Below the wide-layout threshold, the animation editor stacks below the sources. The expanded timeline has its own vertical scrolling and the save footer stays outside it.

What this window is not

• There is no separate Preferences window. Persistent settings live on Resources and in data\config.json.
• There is no menu bar. Actions live on each tab.
• CLI/api work does not require this window. Launching with a verb bypasses it.

Next: Explore.