Mandelbulb Fractal Renderer

This project augments the original assignment by introducing a Mandelbulb fractal renderer using signed distance field (SDF) ray marching. The Mandelbulb is a 3D fractal defined by the iterative formula z_{n+1} = z_n^8 + c. The renderer features:

• Distance Estimator (DE): Implements the Mandelbulb DE in the fragment shader to calculate the distance to the fractal surface. (See mandelbulb.cpp, fs_src shader code.)
• Ray Marching: Performs iterative ray marching to approximate the intersection with the fractal surface. (See mandelbulb.cpp, march function.)
• Dynamic Coloring: Adds a vibrant, animated rainbow palette based on the fractal’s orbit trap. (See mandelbulb.cpp, palette and shade functions.)
• Lighting and AO: Includes diffuse lighting, Fresnel reflections, and ambient occlusion for realistic shading. (See mandelbulb.cpp, shade function.)
• Camera Controls: Supports user-controlled orbit/zoom via libigl’s trackball and adds gentle auto-rotation for dynamic visualization. (See mandelbulb.cpp, callback_pre_draw.)
• Sky Gradient: Renders a dynamic sky gradient as the background. (See mandelbulb.cpp, main function in fs_src.)

Acknowledgements

• Libraries: This project uses libigl for windowing and camera controls, and GLFW for OpenGL context management.
• References: The Mandelbulb distance estimator and ray marching techniques are inspired by Inigo Quilez’s articles on fractals.
• Tools: Built with CMake and Visual Studio 2022.