Hi everyone, I just started using FE and have also tried TieraZon 2. I love the colors in TZ2, they are brighter and blend together so much better. But I am unable to adjust the colors in FE to get the same effects I see in TZ2. I know it can be done because of galleries I have seen here in Renderosity. Notably the images by "fractalneil" have TZ2-like coloration (http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=fractalneil). Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to adjust the colors in FE? Are there any decent tutorials anywhere that could offer some advice on this? Thanks, Josh

Try sending an instant message (IM) to the artist who's work catches your eye. Many of us fractallers love to talk about our work! Tres

Thanks Tres, I'll try sending an IM to the artists. By the way, I looked at some of your gallery posts. Nice work. You capture the colors that I'm after, though it looks like you use UF rather than FE. Thanks for the response, Josh

I work almost exclusively in UF. It seems to suit me better. But there are many FE artists doing wonderful work on the gallery.

Attached Link: http://www.eclectasy.com/Fractal-Explorer/gallery.htm

One of the quickest ways to learn about color in FE is to collect all the "spot" files that you can. Spot files contain the color palettes as well as the "recipe" for the fractals themselves. A wonderful source of spot files is on the FE website. You can follow the links to galleries listed here: http://www.eclectasy.com/Fractal-Explorer/gallery.htm . At the bottom of each gallery you will find "spot files, zipped". Be sure to visit the friends' galleries, as well. These spots files are there for your use:) A word of advice, though... if you load someone else's spot file, and decide to play, be very sure to change enough parameters so that you can call the resulting fractal your own before you publish it anywhere. Simple color changes, for example, are not far enough from the original fractal to be considered your own work.

When you have a nice collection, load your own spots. Then use the file browser to browse to your collection. Locate a spot file, right click and choose the option "load palette from selected spot". This will change the palette for you, and you can breeze through different color combinations very quickly by repeating the process with successive spot files. If you find colors that may benefit from further exploration, then save the palette to one of your color palette temporary slots.

Don't forget to use the brightness/contrast/saturation features as well.

Good luck!

Panny