Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => Arts & Talents => Topic started by: watsisname on September 23, 2006, 07:56:10 pm

Title: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on September 23, 2006, 07:56:10 pm
It doesn't appear that there are any threads here dealing on this subject, so I thought I'd start one. :D

Currently I'm playing around with a pretty nice program called Apophysis, which can be found here:  http://www.apophysis.org/ (http://www.apophysis.org/)
Here's a few of my own images I've created thus far using Apophysis:

Feather Spiral. (my very first one :D)
(http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/8108/featherspiraltf9.th.jpg) (http://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=featherspiraltf9.jpg)

Spiral Fern.
(http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/1391/spiralfernxa4.th.jpg) (http://img133.imageshack.us/my.php?image=spiralfernxa4.jpg)

Solar Nebula.  My favorite thus far.
(http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/7223/solarnebuladd1.th.jpg) (http://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=solarnebuladd1.jpg)

Edit:  Got a new one, crystal flower.
(http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/179/crystalflowergn8.jpg)


Please feel free to post any fractal art you may have, too. :)  And comments/suggestions/critcisms are always appreciated.
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on September 28, 2006, 04:44:14 pm
Hrm, guess nobody else has a big interest in this stuff.  Ah well, it was worth a shot.  :p
P.S.  Instead of flooding the forum with more pictures, I'll just say that if anyone wants to check out more images, you can find my work at www.watsisname.deviantart.com (http://www.watsisname.deviantart.com)
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Scooby_Doo on September 28, 2006, 05:29:55 pm
The last one looks like it's made out of silk.  :nod:
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: CP5670 on September 28, 2006, 05:41:28 pm
Awesome stuff, I didn't notice this thread earlier. Are the first two things Julia sets? I need to play around with that program when I get some more time.
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on September 28, 2006, 06:09:15 pm
They're not Julia sets, though Apophysis does have a feature for exploring those, as well.  These are using IFS, (iterated fuction system), where x'=ax+by+e, and y'=cx+dy+f.  (x',y') is the new point plotted in an iteration, (x,y) is the old point, and a,b,c,d,e, and f are all variables which can be modified by the user.  (That's assuming I understand this correctly.)  I find it amazing that such a simple set of equations is able to make such beautiful and detailed pictures.  8)

Scooby:  Hmm, does kind of look like silk, now that you mention it. ;)

Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Ashrak on September 29, 2006, 12:45:01 am
can you make em in 1600x1200?
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on September 29, 2006, 01:48:04 am
Yeah, no problem. :) 

Edit:  Ok, here's one in 1600x1200 size.  I'll add more in a bit.
Crystal Flower (New version):  http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3614/crystalflowerwam9.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3614/crystalflowerwam9.jpg)
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: CP5670 on September 29, 2006, 09:56:47 am
Quote
I find it amazing that such a simple set of equations is able to make such beautiful and detailed pictures.

Wow, that's just a linear system? It's interesting because the behavior of linear functions is actually very simple in one complex variable (basically, when a+c=b+d, the attracting set is just a single point), so it looks like a slight change in those parameters causes all that strange behavior.

Quote
Crystal Flower (New version):  http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3614/crystalflowerwam9.jpg

That just became my new desktop background. :D
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 29, 2006, 10:11:28 am
The ideas to post one of your own yes?

Here we go then :)

(Made with Chaoscape, from a previous thred)

(http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7499/backgroundxb6.th.png) (http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=backgroundxb6.png)


^Click for larger........
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on September 30, 2006, 04:23:54 am
Mmm, very nice.  :)
Which equation set did you use for that?  I've not encountered shapes like that yet with Chaoscope.

Here's another 1600x1200 for ya.  Call it flame crystal.  Behold the power. ;)  (http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/9061/flamecrystalwim7.th.jpg) (http://img91.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flamecrystalwim7.jpg)
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Scooby_Doo on September 30, 2006, 04:46:53 am
Ohhh that one could almost be used as a weapons effect.
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Ashrak on September 30, 2006, 05:37:59 am
cheers keep em coming hehehe :)
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on September 30, 2006, 08:56:34 pm
Hmm, it'd be a bit different from the usual weapons, but maybe with a trail effect and some animation it might look pretty nice, maybe as some kind of shivan laser weapon thingy?  Apophysis has an animation feature, so I'll see if I figure out how to record/save one.

Lately I've tried making some spiraly self-similar fractals... like the ones typically made by fractal artists.  I've got one made but I'm not very happy with it... hopefully I'll get something good done soon, though. :)

CP:  The basic IFS equation set is that linear system that I posted earlier, and variations can be made with different functions within those sets.  To clarify, a simple example would be the sinusoidal variant, where
V(x,y) = Sin(x), Sin(y)
*I'm guessing they use "V" to mean "Variant"*
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Scooby_Doo on September 30, 2006, 09:26:51 pm
Don't limit yourself on mere shivan/terran/vas stuff :-)

Which program are you using and is it free? :-P

Could you do more of these cool pics but with more effects toward the  center like this last pic?
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: achtung on October 01, 2006, 01:03:46 am
Not mine o' course, but still neat.

http://fractalairforce.ytmnd.com/
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on October 01, 2006, 11:24:29 pm
The program is called apophysis, and it's free to download from the link in my first post.  Another good program is Chaoscope, but that program is a bit different in what it does and how it functions (see my "Chaoscope and possible new warp effect" thread for details and link).  There's quite a few other fractal programs out there, many of which can probably be found with a simple google search.

As for more pics, I'm still trying to get some pretty spiraly stuff... something remotely like this (http://www.fractal.art.pl/big/fractal08-talvi.jpg).  I've gotten pretty close, but it ends up a bit fuzzy and I'm attempting to work out how to get it... not fuzzy.

I'll render a "frost crystal" tonight, to go with the "flame crystal" I posted earlier.  Expect that in a few hours. :D
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: CP5670 on October 01, 2006, 11:44:35 pm
There is another such program called XaoS, for making one variable Julia and Mandelbrot type sets. I haven't been able to get it to display anything other than the built-in example functions (maybe I just didn't try hard enough :p), but you can move and zoom around in the images in real time, which is quite impressive to watch.
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on October 02, 2006, 04:11:40 am
That sounds like a pretty nice program, and I'll see if I can check it out later when I get a chance.  By real-time zooming, do you mean it's like a click/drag/box thing and it updates to show the boxed area, or is it an actual seamless zoom?  Either way, sounds rather twinky. :D

Latest piece is finished now, too.  Hope y'all like it. :)
(http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/928/icecrystal3wd9.th.jpg) (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=icecrystal3wd9.jpg)
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Colonol Dekker on October 02, 2006, 05:06:38 pm
Mmm, very nice.  :)
Which equation set did you use for that?  I've not encountered shapes like that yet with Chaoscope.

Here's another 1600x1200 for ya.  Call it flame crystal.  Behold the power. ;)  (http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/9061/flamecrystalwim7.th.jpg) (http://img91.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flamecrystalwim7.jpg)

Umm drunk /and/or/bored at work..................... :nervous:
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on October 03, 2006, 06:52:03 pm
...Aaaand the latest one.  Also my new desktop.
(http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/6317/cosmicdancetg2.th.jpg) (http://img175.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cosmicdancetg2.jpg)

...I'm not obsessed.  Really. :nervous:
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Sheepy on October 04, 2006, 05:48:30 pm
Now sir, That is cool.
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Colonol Dekker on October 09, 2006, 10:06:16 am
Sheepy :jaw:...................
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: bizzybody on October 14, 2006, 05:07:58 am
Wow. Sure has the great grandaddy of fractal software beat six ways from sunday. Check out FractINT. http://www.fractint.org Originally developed for DOS (Why? Because Windows wasn't invented yet when FractINT was started!) and has been ported to Linux and Windows. DOS version is the most developed, now at version 20. Windows version has been stalled at 18.2 for some years.

FractINT made a bit of geek history by being the first program to use the GIF89a image format. It uses the extra data to store in-progress calculation of several types of fractals. Yup, a pause feature. ;) That was quite important when it'd take WEEKS to calculate a single deep-zoomed image on a 486SX. (And some people ran this on an 80286* without a math coprocessor!)

The original point of FractINT was to prove that fractals could be calculated using only integer math, without using a floating point math co-processor. (Though it can use one if you have one, and whose PC doesn't these days?)

*A weird design feature of the IBM AT and most clone 286 PCs was the 80287 math chip ran at 2/3 the speed of the CPU. Several companies sold special interposer sockets with their own crystal to run the FPU at the same speed as, or faster than, the CPU. Near the end of the 286 era, the 287XL was developed which had a built in 1/3 clock mutiplier to run at full CPU speed. Just some of the trivia one accumulates having been a computer (ab)user for 23+ years!  :lol:
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Scooby_Doo on October 14, 2006, 06:19:46 pm
Ahhh yes I remember the FPU  :)
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on October 21, 2006, 09:52:56 pm
Oh snap, I recall FractINT.  An old friend of mine showed it to me one day way back when, which was actually kind of how I got introduced to fractals in the first place.  Funny old world, ain't it?  ;)

And uh, I've made a fair few more fractals lately, but I'll just link the one I personally like best.  Mmm, symmetric blue swirly stuff.  :D
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/41688919/ (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/41688919/)

Edit:  Durr, why didn't I notice that glaringly bad writing up there?  I must've been high.
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: At on October 26, 2006, 11:55:48 am
My best Apo, http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/34563781/?qo=14&q=by%3Aatalhlla&qh=sort%3Atime+-in%3Ascraps

Aaaand.... Apo god. -> http://zueuk.deviantart.com/
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on October 27, 2006, 11:40:23 am
Mmm, I like how yours doesn't really use the 'typical' look that most fractals have.  Reminds me of a saphire set inside a golden... computer chip?  I approve. :yes:

Oh, and this guy here has been my inspiration lately to keep practicing with making fractals.  http://justravelin.deviantart.com/ (http://justravelin.deviantart.com/)
I'm not even sure which one is better, they're both so awesome with this stuff.  :eek2:
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: At on November 10, 2006, 02:10:08 am
Got bored waiting for HL2 to download.  Heh.  Found out how to make... boxes. (I probably could have just asked, but hey...)

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42801465/
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 10, 2006, 05:33:36 am
Counterspin III =  :yes: :yes: :yes:
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Setekh on November 10, 2006, 10:40:28 pm
Solar Nebula.  My favorite thus far.
(http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/7223/solarnebuladd1.th.jpg) (http://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=solarnebuladd1.jpg)

That one is nice. Don't suppose you'd want to make a 1440*1080 version of that? =D
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: watsisname on November 11, 2006, 02:55:02 pm
Just for you, Setekh. :)

I'm also thinking about making another one soon, perhaps some spiraly stuff that plays with light and shadow.  Might be interesting...


[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: The Fractal Art Thread
Post by: Setekh on November 11, 2006, 04:45:46 pm
Cheers. I must admit, this really whets my taste for getting back into rendering. I loved to play around with light effects and backgrounds like this... probably half or so of my renders started off in this way. :):yes: