Attached Link: www.arcanefractals.com

Hi Lyne,

Check out my "hold your hand for beginners" Apophysis tutorial at http://www.arcanefractals.com

I explain how to make your own gradients, play with light and colour, remove backgrounds etc etc.

Fran

Message edited on: 05/30/2005 20:30

Apophysis is a great standalone flame fractal generator. You can download it free at http://www.apophysis.org For a tutorial and more details on this programme see my website at http://www.arcanefractals.com/apop_tut1.shtml

Another nice free fractal programme is Fractal Explorer. You can get it at http://www.eclectasy.com/Fractal-Explorer/index.html

Fran

Hi Philip, It is quite safe to install Apophysis. The Apophysis website is well known and reputable. I have seen this error message before when I have been downloading legitimate programmes. I understand that when Apophysis was originally developed it was as an add on to UltraFractal but it is now well and truly a stand alone flame fractal generator. You don't need UltraFractal to use it. However if you wish you can export the flames from Apophysis to Ultrafractal for further playing. Yes I live in Perth, Western Australia. One of the remotest capital cities in the world. As you probably know this is one huge state. It takes up about one third of Australia and is approx 2.5 million square kilometres (1 million square miles). And you got out and about? That's terrific. Glad you had a great time. There are a lot of wonderful sights to see (I myself haven't seen alot of them yet) but you just have to drive quite a long way to get to them that's all :-) Happy fractaling. Fran

Hi PJBear,

Here is the website of Scott Draves (the developer of flame fractals) with an explanation of what flame fractals are.
http://flam3.com/

If you would like to make your own flame fractals, get the freeware programme "Apophysis" which can be found here
http://www.apophysis.org/

I have tutorials on my website that explain to beginners how to get going with Apophysis. http://www.arcanefractals.com/apop_tut1.shtml All the fractals you see on my website are flame fractals.

There are many fractal generators. Fractal Explorer (freeware) produces lovely fractals and I think is a good programme for the beginner. http://www.eclectasy.com/Fractal-Explorer/index.html

The Fractovia website lists many free fractal generators http://www.fractovia.org/fractal_generators/gen01.shtml

Another excellent site to visit is Doug Harringtons "Amazing Seattle Fractals" at http://fractalarts.com/ASF/tutorials.html

Just a word of warning! Fractals can be extremely addictive!!!

Fran

Attached Link: http://www.arcanefractals.com/apop_tut1.shtml

Hi Chudo, If your wife likes Apophysis and the flame fractals it generates, then I have a tutorial on my website that will get her up and going. All the fractals on my site are flame fractals. Also another nice freeware programme is Fractal Explorer at http://www.eclectasy.com/Fractal-Explorer/ Fran

Hi Louis, Thanks for all that info. It was a really interesting read. Fran

Attached Link: http://www.organicartworks.com

Funny you should mention this now BabaLouie. I came across Organic Art several weeks ago at www.organicartworks.com whilst doing searches for genetic art. I have been able to purchase it and it works just fine off my xp system. What a wonderfully terrific and imaginative programme. My really big question is why hasn't this programme been further developed? I thought its potential was obvious yet it appears to have been abandoned. I wish it had the capability to enable me to add my own backgrounds. I tried searching the internet but all references seem to date back to the 1990's. It is like the developers disappeared off the face of the planet. Can anyone enlighten me.

Fran
www.arcanefractals.com

Message edited on: 09/12/2004 20:18

Hi Nick, Well I learn something new everyday :-) I didn't know about going to the tutorials page and uploading from there. Fran

Yes, there are so many stunning, jaw dropping images being produced. So many different styles. In these uncertain times when we seem to be bombarded daily with images of death and destruction it is really wonderful to know that there are so many people out there sitting at their computers creating or trying to create beautiful images to share with others. Fran www.arcanefractals.com

Hi Verlughmina, If you go to the Fractal Community page there are more tutorials listed there too. Anyone can write a tutorial. Originally I posted my tutorials on my website then sent a message to the fractal community here letting them know they were available. Links to them were then added to the Community page by the moderator (I suppose after he viewed them). If you or anyone else has a tutorial in mind that you think may be helpful to others you should go ahead and make it, then let us all know. We may learn something new. It is rewarding to share knowledge. Fran www.arcanefractals.com

Attached Link: http://www.arcanefractals.com/mythology.shtml

Hi Jools, My experience is mostly with flame fractals here. If you look at my flame fractal titled Mount Olympus, specifically the cloud formation, is this what you mean by being "lit"? If so this lit effect was bought about by increasing the "brightness" and "vibrancy" values (in Apophysis). When I first rendered this flame I nearly discarded it because it was extremely dull. By increasing the above settings the image was transformed. However the gradients themselves also determine if areas are lit plus the form or density of the flame fractal itself. So really the interaction of these factors determine if areas are lit/highlighted. This is where all the time is spent experimenting and playing with gradients and the lighting controls. Hope this info helps you a bit. Fran

Hi Imagica1,

In the menu click on "options" then on the drop down menu click on "options". Click on the "display" tab. The settings here affect your preview windows. My settings under the "Rendering" column are 35, 2, 3, 1.3, 1, 0.2. (I think these are the default settings). Under the preview density column my settings are 1, 5, and 10. This affects the previews in the mutation boxes. Open the mutation box and right click anywhere there and make sure that "high quality" is selected. I find these settings give quite a good preview with hardly any gaininess. Just be aware that the higher the sample densities the slower the calculation of the flames. I really recommend that you go to the help file to learn more about these settings. Scroll down to "options" then click on "display options".

Hope this helps.

Fran
www.arcanefractals.com

Message edited on: 07/06/2004 20:27

Attached Link: http://www.arcanefractals.com/apop_tut2.shtml

Hi Kepp, I have a tutorial on how to make your own gradients. Try and find brightly coloured pictures to make your gradients. Also experiment with the saturation button within the gradient dialogue box. Pastels can be turned into quite vivid colours. Within my tutorial is a link to Elizabeth Tomcheks page. Elizabeth has kindly made available free gradients for download. Hope this helps. Fran

Some wonderful pics here. Some from my own state of Western Australia. Fascinating and interesting! Mother Nature is a wonderful artist. Thanks for sharing that link Vince. Fran www.arcanefractals.com

Hi Bee, Just posted a reply but it doesn't look like it uploaded. So here I go again :-) Several years ago an exhibition of "Old Master" paintings came to our city. You could say many of these paintings had similar themes ie. beautiful women, gentlemen in their finery, bowls of fruit, flowers. Yet despite the similarities each individual painting was breathtaking. I am so glad that the artists never said "oooh, I won't paint this beautiful voloptuous woman because it has already been done so many times". If you look at medieval illuminations you will note that many of them use similar (or even the same) elements such as vines, leaves, border patterns. These often also use a similar colour palette (blue, red, gold). Despite these similarities each piece is still individual and stunningly beautiful. Most arts and crafts are like this in the above regard. They all have their similarities. An artist in any field is only limited by his or her imagination. Develop a thorough understanding of the fractal generators that you use and keep exploring those fractals. Experiment with lighting and colours. Have fun and create fractals that give you joy. Don't worry to much about comparisons. Fran www.arcanefractals.com