How to Make Interesting Fractals
Download and install a fractal program of your choice., Choose a formula and draw a fractal., Set the colors., Zoom into an interesting or promising part of the image., Frame the fractal on your screen., Play with the different options to perfect...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Download and install a fractal program of your choice.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a program, including the variety of algorithms you can use to create your fractals, the quality of the images, the richness and complexity of fractals, the number and range of colors to use, and the amount of manipulation you can perform on your fractals.
Perform a search online for fractal programs, or pick from the comprehensive list at FractalFoundation.org, which also provides descriptions of each program.
Open and run your fractal program to begin making a fractal. -
Step 2: Choose a formula and draw a fractal.
This is the coarse tuning.
Your program will likely have many formulas for you to choose from, including formulas that add onto or enhance more basic ones.
Choosing a formula will generate an image of the basic fractal.
Experiment with different formulas to see what your options are., You should be able to choose your own custom colors for different parts of the fractal.
Choose colors you like and that go together well to make your fractal interesting and beautiful., Zooming in will magnify the fractal so that you can see small parts of it in more and more detail.
Continue zooming until you get an image you like., Draw out the fractal so that it is as large as your screen resolution, eg 1280 x
1024.
Position it to get just the right framing of the image., Adjust the parameters available in the program that control how the image is drawn, such as filters, renders, transforms or whatever they are called.
Also, try the Julia version.
This is the medium tuning., Adjust the colors in the fractal using the tools provided by the fractal program.
This is the fine tuning., This process smooths out the jagged diagonals and makes the fine details look more coherent.
It makes curves smoother by averaging out their trajectories and smooths the colors by using intermediate shades where there may only be sharply distinct colors in the original image.
Draw the image larger in each dimension by a factor of 4, eg draw the image as 5120 x 4096 pixels if you want the final image to be 1280 x 1024 pixels.
Naturally, this will take 16 times as long as rendering the normal-size image.
Some people sharpen the image after anti-aliasing, as it can look a little soft, but this is a matter of taste.You may find that the new image is much smoother and less speckled than the original.
Do give this a try at least once, as you may be surprised by the difference., The image produced by your fractal-generating program will be colored randomly.
The colors may be bold or dull, they may look harmonised or not, they may not be to your taste.
Almost every fractal program allows you to alter the colors of the fractal produced.
However, the color controls tend to give unpredictable results and require you to render the fractal anew.
This takes time, which is always a scarce commodity.
Alternatively, perform your post-processing in a graphical program, such as Photoshop or ACDSee.You can cycle through the possible colors by gradually altering the hues in the entire image.
To do this in Photoshop, use Image
-> Adjustments
-> Hue/Saturation and move the hue slider through every value, both right and left of the centre.
Save the images that appeal to you.
Then hit control-I to reverse the colour values and repeat the process.The idea is twofold: to obtain better colour combinations as well as to highlight different aspects of the fractal's structure.
Not only can a dull-looking fractal become striking, but new structure can be revealed.
It will give you ideas for what to zoom into
- areas that suddenly become interesting after colours or light/dark have been changed. -
Step 3: Set the colors.
-
Step 4: Zoom into an interesting or promising part of the image.
-
Step 5: Frame the fractal on your screen.
-
Step 6: Play with the different options to perfect the look.
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Step 7: Perfect the color scheme.
-
Step 8: Perform anti-aliasing.
-
Step 9: Cycle through the color gamut using a graphical program.
Detailed Guide
There are many factors to consider when choosing a program, including the variety of algorithms you can use to create your fractals, the quality of the images, the richness and complexity of fractals, the number and range of colors to use, and the amount of manipulation you can perform on your fractals.
Perform a search online for fractal programs, or pick from the comprehensive list at FractalFoundation.org, which also provides descriptions of each program.
Open and run your fractal program to begin making a fractal.
This is the coarse tuning.
Your program will likely have many formulas for you to choose from, including formulas that add onto or enhance more basic ones.
Choosing a formula will generate an image of the basic fractal.
Experiment with different formulas to see what your options are., You should be able to choose your own custom colors for different parts of the fractal.
Choose colors you like and that go together well to make your fractal interesting and beautiful., Zooming in will magnify the fractal so that you can see small parts of it in more and more detail.
Continue zooming until you get an image you like., Draw out the fractal so that it is as large as your screen resolution, eg 1280 x
1024.
Position it to get just the right framing of the image., Adjust the parameters available in the program that control how the image is drawn, such as filters, renders, transforms or whatever they are called.
Also, try the Julia version.
This is the medium tuning., Adjust the colors in the fractal using the tools provided by the fractal program.
This is the fine tuning., This process smooths out the jagged diagonals and makes the fine details look more coherent.
It makes curves smoother by averaging out their trajectories and smooths the colors by using intermediate shades where there may only be sharply distinct colors in the original image.
Draw the image larger in each dimension by a factor of 4, eg draw the image as 5120 x 4096 pixels if you want the final image to be 1280 x 1024 pixels.
Naturally, this will take 16 times as long as rendering the normal-size image.
Some people sharpen the image after anti-aliasing, as it can look a little soft, but this is a matter of taste.You may find that the new image is much smoother and less speckled than the original.
Do give this a try at least once, as you may be surprised by the difference., The image produced by your fractal-generating program will be colored randomly.
The colors may be bold or dull, they may look harmonised or not, they may not be to your taste.
Almost every fractal program allows you to alter the colors of the fractal produced.
However, the color controls tend to give unpredictable results and require you to render the fractal anew.
This takes time, which is always a scarce commodity.
Alternatively, perform your post-processing in a graphical program, such as Photoshop or ACDSee.You can cycle through the possible colors by gradually altering the hues in the entire image.
To do this in Photoshop, use Image
-> Adjustments
-> Hue/Saturation and move the hue slider through every value, both right and left of the centre.
Save the images that appeal to you.
Then hit control-I to reverse the colour values and repeat the process.The idea is twofold: to obtain better colour combinations as well as to highlight different aspects of the fractal's structure.
Not only can a dull-looking fractal become striking, but new structure can be revealed.
It will give you ideas for what to zoom into
- areas that suddenly become interesting after colours or light/dark have been changed.
About the Author
Charlotte Ward
Experienced content creator specializing in cooking guides and tutorials.
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