Next Variation - strange behavior

I use "Next Variation" quite a lot. It is a super great feature (Topaz had it also, but stupidly dropped it in the Studio versions of it's filter).
Ever better in FF is the possibility to choose between Randomize levels : Strong, Medium and Little.
Now I experience a snag (bug?) :
I apply "Next Variation" in the "Strong randomize" mode. As soon as I get something I like, I switch to "Little randomize" mode. Now I'd expect the next variation to be quite close to what I had. Not so, the "Strong randomize" mode is applied once more, and then only with the next variation, the "Little randomize" mode is applied. But that is a close variant on the Strong Variation, that has taken me away from what I liked, so no use to stay close that that version then.
This defeats the purpose for me of having different Randomize levels.

I think the bug is that the Little Randomization is not effective as soon as it is selected, only after one more Randomize step. For me, this is a very big problem, as I cannot stay close to a variation that I have found and like.

I attach 3 images to show my case :

Random 1 is a variation I got with the "Strong randomize" mode. (shown in this post)
Then I switched to the "Little randomize" mode in the popUpMenu.
Random 2 (Low) is then taken with the "Little randomize" mode active. (shown in next post)Note that this image is completely different from Random 1.
Then I pressed the button "Next variation" again (still in "Little randomize" mode) and now FF does what it should do, making a variation (Random3 (low)) that is close to the previous one. But it is not close to Random1, which is what I want and need.

TheBeat

and here is Random3 (low)

Thanks emme. I will have to look into a bit more. I might have found more things, maybe also a way to go around the problem. Plus there is something with the (pseudo) random generator. I will get back on this important subject when I have done some more investigation (thanks for the IntSlider tip : I will look into that as well. Also Switches).

As soon as I know more and I still judge that is is a bug, I will switch to the BUGS & PROBLEMS part.

I will also put the 'error' in the bugs & problems, but first I want to get to the bottom of this.

Quote
emme wrote : Yup, I'm sure this is a bug and not intended behavior. It kinda ruins any fine control with the randomizer. I usually work around this by locking IntSliders when randomizing.

I agree and locking seems a good idea in these circumstances.

Quote
Are you sure the problem occurs with Sliders too? For me Sliders seem to work fine, but I might be wrong.

I find partly strange behavior with Sliders, as well as with IntSliders. They do not do exactly the same (of course also due to the randomization process, so only avergaes can be observed). My guess so far would be that the IntSlider moves position is about as much as the Slider, also in first move after switching to a lower Randomization.
I have only tested the two sliders controlling the input of 2 switches.

Another thing is the Pseudo Random generator. It seems that in advance a list of Randomized numbers is made. At least, if I do let's say 5 new variations (A, B, C ,D, E) and the step back, of course I get these in reversed order. But when I press New Variation again, I get again A, B, C ,D, E in exactly the same order and of course the same settings. I think that once you go forward ('New Variation'), you should get a New Variation

emme, yes please post this in Bugs & problems. Great.

Thanks GMM for clearing this up. Switching to another filter and back is not a problem for me. It's good to know when the random seed is invoked.

I have also upgraded to version 9 (took the life time upgrades, as FF is just an incredible tool for me) and did the testing in version 9. I will also look again.

I appreciate very much that the moderator is keeping in close touch with the community and in my experience always jumps in with technical info if needed

Quote
emme wrote : Beat, what version of FF are you using? I just installed FF9 and looks like this is fixed. I'll do some more testing later, but seems like the randomizer is working as expected now.

While testing I also found that the behavior of the randomizer is much better in FF 9. Many filters behave as expected now, but not all. With some filters I still get the old and odd behavior. I will see if I can pinpoint a specific component that might cause the problem sometimes.