ufrey! It was you who said you used Chaoscope and it is you I need to thank for putting the thought into my head to go check it out. And I also checked out your gallery images, very impressive. I think you are really talented and I would like to thank you for mentioning Chaoscope and to let you know that I'm having lots of fun with it. Quick question? I'd love to know how to colour the solid renders. Do you have any suggestions? :o)

This is probably a silly question at this stage, but what is that the winner receives? Do they get to choose the next challenge? Sorry, that wasn't clear and I'm just curious.Thanks for your infinite patience. :o)

Thanks Barbara, It's given me some ideas. I just had it in my head that this contest was limited as well, just like the Tweak Contest. :o| Perhaps I should read more carefully and not whilst half asleep. Do any good you think?..lol. Regards shemia (Helen)

Feels a tad sheepish now. Submitted the whole entry by email and did not read the rules correctly, thought everything had to be emailed and even then I accidentally used a variation I shouldn't have. Oops! Still finding my way around Aphophysis. Will try again and hopefully get this one right :o| Note to self: save parameter file as well so you don't have to do another different flame. :o|

Call me dense also but I guess that the fractal must portray an image of magic or something that resembles it. Are there any other factors we must adhere to such as gradient or scripting limitations?..just checking. The rules are not too clear or is just my old age creeping up again?...regards shemia (the dense Aussie who has no idea what she's doing anyway) :o)

The program is Apophysis and you can find the latest version at www.apophysis.org. Hope this helps.

I agree with Marion and I'm pleased that it's been taken seriously. I think it makes the voting fairer because people will look at the work, not at the talented person who created it and it will either win or lose on its artistic merit. But I'm just having fun entering the contest anyway and whether I get voted for or not, I'm just enjoying doing the creative thing. :o)

In reply to malia01us I just wanted to say thank you very much for the link to that kaleidoscope script, I downloaded it yesterday and I'm really pleased with it so I'm going to attempt an entry just using Apophysis and that script. Thanks once again Donna, I really appreciated it. :0) regards Helen

From what I read in the rules, it states that any amount of postwork is allowed as long as the fractal image is the main component. I was going to save the fractal image and manipulate it in PSP which has a pretty good kaliedoscope plugin. But I just might go hunt down the apophysis script for kaleidoscopes and give it a try. :o) Good luck everyone!

Don't think they have a demo version but I've seen some of the work done in Xenodream and just from some of the gallery images alone, if I had the money I'd purchase it. Try the following link if it helps:
http://www.xenodream.com

or you could try the freeware program Apophysis which I use and I find it an excellent one for beginners as well as advanced users.

http://www.apophysis.org

Even Ultra Fractal has a free trial download
http://www.ultrafractal.com

Hope this helps
Regards

shemia

I've finally come up with an idea for the next challenge. Can I post it in this thread or do I start another? Thought I'd better ask first so I don't do the wrong thing.
:0)

Firstly, thank you Gurami for your very insightful thoughts. It gave me ideas that I had not thought of pursuing. Your first paragraph though said it was too short.

The idea was to fit as much information into a 500-1000 word short short story and I followed what was on the other web sites as to how the other authors delivered their message in a short space of time.

(Please read my point in entry 3 above about links to short short story websites and perhaps you could come up with one of your own. I would love to see your effort, with your ideas I feel it would be very good)

It was only meant to be a short straight to the point piece of prose to see what you could do with a minimal word count. Although the rest of your narrative was actually quite helpful so that when I'm ready to deliver something of length, I will definitely consider some of your points as they were well worth following up. Your comments were most appreciated.
Regards
shemia

Firstly, congratulations to everyone who participated. I think each and every story was very well written and if a story can make me smile or shiver as did these entries, then I think everyone deserves to win. I think Airlynx, Gurami and Garblesnix did a fantastic job and deserve their win, so congratulations to the three of you, very well done. Lets hope we can encourage more people to participate in the next one and get some interest going in the voting area. Maybe we can come up with something that everyone will not only be interested enough to read but to vote for as well in the next challenge. How long do I have to come up with an idea for it? Is it also possible to ask in the forums for ideas that other people have so we have some idea what people want and write about stuff that other people would like to read?

Ok, I actually took the short story off for a little while to fix a few things so here it is if anyone would like to read it. I would appreciate any comments either way as I'm sure that any critique will only help my writing style. I hope you enjoy reading it.

THE KILLER OF HOPE

He peered nervously through the underbrush, nose twitching with the intention of releasing a monumental sneeze if he didnt do something about it and soon. Damned cold, he muttered and attempted to stifle the sneeze by burying his nose in his coat jacket. It stifled the sneeze a little but left a large wad of mucous hanging precariously from the ends of his left sleeve. He was repulsed by the effect it had in the moonlight and proceeded to rid himself of it by slowly rubbing his arm up and down the tree, behind which he was attempting to hide.

He once again raised the binoculars to his line of sight and adjusted the focus allowing him to look closely at the woman who was washing her hands at the sink. From the position he now held, all he could see of her was from the waist up. But that was enough; he just needed to be able to keep her in sight. According to the latest note theyd received down at headquarters, this serial attacker was taunting them, daring them to get even closer by leaving little clues in each of the notes provided to them every 7 days, regular as clockwork. So far theyd discovered 4 male bodies, all with the same grisly modus operandi and small notes containing snippets of information at each discovery.

Yesterday theyd put all the snippets together and finally worked out when and where the psycho intended to strike next. This is why he was here, in the freezing cold, with his binoculars trained on the woman in the centre of the window. Here, at the back of the house, where the woods met the perfectly clipped yard of the property, he stood with frosting breath and his heart tapping crazily with anticipation. He just knew hed get a well earned promotion if he caught this guy. Out here in the cold with just his binoculars for company, he could almost physically feel the prescence of the killer and it seemed to come from his very bones.

He looked up again from his musings and discovered that the woman had moved from her position in the window. Crap, he muttered and whilst trying to decide whether he should move closer, a loud scream tore through the stillness, from inside the house, which thus decided things for him. He took off at a run and went charging toward the the door at the back of the house.

Barrelling through, he met the end of the speargun full force impaling himself on it. Bleeding and dazed, he slid to the floor and was conscious long enough to hear the womans hideous laughter. As he looked up, the woman from the window was smiling at him holding tightly to the end of the speargun. I told you that youd never outsmart me but do you listen? No! she grinned horribly, attempting to push the spear head in even further, You men are all the same. With that he died, and the smiling killer sauntered off effortlessly to find her next victim.

Can I have a senior moment at 46?.. either that or frequent blonde moments :|
I'm not old!...I'm chronologically challenged.
Here's my vote for what it's worth:

1st=5
2nd=3 (am i allowed to vote for myself?)
3rd=1

If its not allowed that I vote for myself, please let me know and I shall endeavour to amend this reply.
Regards all
Shemia