Comments on: fractal desktop

fractal desktop

obeygiant — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:03:09 -0800

are some nice fractal desktop pictures.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:05:51 -0800

I like fractals, but these give me a headache.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:08:38 -0800

I will see you (or even +c you) and raise you one tour of the Quaternion Julia Sets.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:09:11 -0800

These are also rather nice.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:10:20 -0800

I like these, personally.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:11:06 -0800

Whoa, those are some really nice ties.

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:12:17 -0800

Dude, I'm peaking!

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:16:29 -0800

The showcase gallery section of Ultra Fractal's website has some nice images (and UF rocks, here's some stuff I've done with the program) -- enjoy.

By: obeygiant

obeygiant — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:21:02 -0800

some of those 3D ultra fractals are wicked i'd post the link but i'm stupid.

By: Mr.Encyclopedia

Mr.Encyclopedia — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:25:11 -0800

These don't look anything like my desktop.

By: Gyan

Gyan — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:36:47 -0800

Some more here.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:41:50 -0800

I remember (back in the day) setting a 386SX/16 to generate a fractal image and then turning off the monitor. When we'd get up in the morning, if we were lucky, it was complete ... and oh, how pretty! Sadly, these didn't affect me in quite the same way.

By: Drexen

Drexen — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:49:05 -0800

Groovy!

By: MarkO

MarkO — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:50:23 -0800

Does Ultra Fractal or any other program let you zoom into fractals (forever)? Cuz I miss doing that on some Photoshop plugin I don't remember the name of.

By: milnak

milnak — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:57:49 -0800

The Best of 2004 It only took 2 years to get to MeFi!

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 18:18:56 -0800

If I wanted to go blind in front of my computer, I'd just look for porn.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 18:44:00 -0800

Fractals for dummies.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:13:03 -0800

Does Ultra Fractal or any other program let you zoom into fractals (forever)? fractint?

By: Gyan

Gyan — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:57:32 -0800

MarkO : "Does Ultra Fractal ~~or any other program~~ let you zoom into fractals (forever)?" Yes. Ultrafractal is pretty sophisticated, and a PS-style workspace (layers, masks..etc). Download the trial and join the mailing list.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:05:00 -0800

Last time I tried, the UltraFractal trial version was very annoying in that it put their name all over the fractal. Fair enough, to protect their interests I suppose. I just made my own program, which gave me perfect control for painting the fractals. Much fun. These are okay, I'd appreciate them more if they gave the numbers to show their location.

By: ori

ori — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:10:03 -0800

Dude, I'm peaking! I see it too, man!

By: cenoxo

cenoxo — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:17:17 -0800

Hello, Kitty! — interesting how similar they are to Louis Wain's increasingly schizophrenic cat paintings.

By: Tablecrumbs

Tablecrumbs — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:25:37 -0800

My eyes! My eyes!

By: obeygiant

obeygiant — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:41:49 -0800

I don't like how they call Louis Wain schizophrenic, just because he did some trippy cat paintings. Who the frak do "they" think they are?

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:50:18 -0800

Does Ultra Fractal or any other program let you zoom into fractals (forever)? Cuz I miss doing that on some Photoshop plugin I don't remember the name of. posted by MarkO at 7:50 PM CST on February 26 [!] It was one of Kai's power tools if I remember correctly. Fractals are one of those things that make me wish I was smarter so I understood them better. I mean, REALLY understood them.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:55:52 -0800

ARRRR! Wake up, dogs! All hands! Prepare for orbit transfer and iteration shift-folding! Tighten up that focal plane, ye scurvy! You want to slip us into that attractor? We be slipping towards countertwist with that slush! Steady! Like as not we'd end up scattered cross a thousand bailout manifolds twisted through n-space like blasted pixel dust with ye slop! Aye, there be the transfer, look lively. Bring us around nice an easy now! There be treasure, but just the edge. Up 'er two clicks or so now, ease up the transform a bit, scale it. Bring us in, Ensign. Don't need no stinkin' sensors to tell true that be a rich one, hanging there all crenulated-like and glittery. Aye, open the scoops, lads, let em wake up. They'll be stiff from that slumber, but lively sniffing at all that fine sup. Makes 'em tricky! Bear off and forward, gently now, let the scoops slot it as they like. Not too slappy, that. Good vein, more then we could ever hope to translate out. I'll make miners out of you scrawny, smoke-eyed knee-gnawing twiddlers yet. Fire up the still! Triple rations tonight!

By: srs

srs — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 23:28:35 -0800

Louis Wain's cat drawings were the first thing I thought of when I saw them too, especially that one called "hidden curse". I was about to go look them up again.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:05:25 -0800

Sometimes you just wish you were high.

By: dbiedny

dbiedny — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:29:03 -0800

The Photoshop plug was indeed part of the KPT package, called "FraxPlorer". Cute but limited. The ultimate animated Fractal generator today, exclusively on the Mac, is the awesome ArtMatic Pro, by the inimitable Eric Wenger. Fractals are only one of the goodies in this largely unknown animation treasure.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:07:16 -0800

Have you ever really looked at your hands? I mean, REALLY looked, you know, at your hands? Ooh! Fireworks! I like the black one!

By: JHarris

JHarris — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 02:14:53 -0800

obeygiant, I was under the impression that Louis Wain was deemed schizophrenic due to other indications, and the cat paintings were seen to follow along. Interesting how his work become so much cooler after mental illness set in.

By: Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 02:29:54 -0800

Why have they all been coloured in such a fugly way?

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 07:22:59 -0800

very nice. I'm gonna be sporting one soon. /er, on my desktop. The fractal that is. I'll stop now.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:38:46 -0800

Some nice ones in there, if perhaps a bit tame. Thanks!

By: cenoxo

cenoxo — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:54:05 -0800

...just because he did some trippy cat paintings. (More catfracts here.) Poor Louis was merely a puppet — why do you think they now like computers so much?

By: jockc

jockc — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 10:07:35 -0800

Here is my shameless self plug... My images are too small for most desktops but I also have animations and zoomable images.

By: Hesychia

Hesychia — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 13:51:35 -0800

absolutely beautiful. thanks for the post.

By: chowder

chowder — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 13:55:48 -0800

the schizophrenic cat paintings by wain were the first things that came to my mind when i saw these.

By: 6am

6am — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:54:22 -0800

without doubt the bestest fractal making program is Apophysis. It's free, and the results you can get from it are fairly outrageous. So yeah, its crap, don't use it.