{"id":1294,"date":"2010-06-16T16:15:31","date_gmt":"2010-06-16T20:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=1294"},"modified":"2010-06-16T16:15:31","modified_gmt":"2010-06-16T20:15:31","slug":"fractalworks-one-smooth-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=1294","title":{"rendered":"FractalWorks: One Smooth Machine!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first time I saw an image made in FractalWorks<\/a> it was in the gallery section of Fractalforums.com.\u00a0 I was impressed and yet, I couldn’t quite figure out why<\/em> I was so impressed.\u00a0 There wasn’t anything really special about it and yet there was<\/em> something really special about it.\u00a0 It was one of those “height field” fractals, a (somewhat old) trick to give flat fractals a 3D appearance.\u00a0 They’re all over the place and have been for years, but this FractalWorks one was different: more polished and more stylish than I’ve ever seen.\u00a0 It also seemed to have a slightly surreal and mysterious quality to it –a strange kind of silence.<\/p>\n

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Stone Path by Duncan Champney, Made in FractalWorks. (The first one I saw. I sensed something eerie; like an approaching Minotaur.)<\/p><\/div>\n

A comment<\/a> by Paul N. Lee, the veteran fractal archivist<\/a>, lead me to Duncan Champney’s website<\/a> and to the incredible discovery that not only had Duncan made other images like the first one I’d found, he also made the program, FractalWorks, that they were created with.<\/p>\n

There’s a long tradition in fractal art of people performing the roles of both artist as well as programmer.\u00a0 Duncan Champney joins that royal list and furthermore offers his excellent program free to anyone who wants to share his passion for exploring what his super fractal machine can do.\u00a0 But before you head off to download it I should mention that it’s for Macs only<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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3D view of Mar2310lma1c by schimkent, made in FractalWorks<\/p><\/div>\n

From what I’ve seen the program’s forte is 3D fractals of the height field, or geographical terrain,\u00a0 “relief”<\/em> -variety.\u00a0 However, as simple and plain as that might sound in these modern days of Mandelbulbs and Mandelboxes, FractalWorks does this one thing very, very well<\/em>.\u00a0 These sorts of old-style 3D fractals made in other programs can be rather kitschy to look at, but FractalWorks manages to achieve a quantum leap in rendering quality that gives this old technique a new and vibrant appeal.\u00a0 But of course as with almost any kind of fractal program, it still requires an artistic eye and the relentless persistence that only an enthusiastic explorer can possess to produce really good work with it.<\/p>\n

Ordinarily I’d just shrug off stuff like this as eye candy but FractalWorks has elevated this simple type of fractal to a new level of sophistication.\u00a0 There’s something fresh and different here.\u00a0 Like I said when describing my first encounter, there’s something special and captivating about these FractalWorks works<\/em>.\u00a0 Some have a fairy tale look to them and others suggest a landscape that is much more surreal and haunted.\u00a0 Don’t let the fruity, frosty renderings fool you; there’s more to some of these FractalWorks images than mere graphical sweetness.<\/p>\n

Duncan Champney wrote the program and started up a Flickr group<\/a> to get people interested in it as well as to offer advice and encouragement (I’m just guessing).\u00a0 Although Duncan produces some of the best images made in FractalWorks, I discovered from the Flickr group someone who also makes work that is equally good: schimkent! <\/em>I think the proof of a really great program is in what the users of it can do and not just the super results the author can get with it.\u00a0 Shimkent (and others) have shown that Duncan has created a very capable and creative fractal art tool in FractalWorks.\u00a0 Even if it is<\/em> only for those Starbuck sipping, sophisticated Apple computer users…\u00a0 They ought to have at least one good fractal program, shouldn’t they?<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

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Fractal Stimulus Plan, by schimkent, made in FractalWorks<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Schimkent: I think his real name is Kent Schimke (hence, the clever screen name —schimke<\/em>-nt).\u00a0 Kent’s LinkedIn profile<\/a> says that he is “…helping a developer create a fractal generating program called FractalWorks for macintosh computers.”\u00a0 I think it’s pretty safe to say he’s the guy.<\/p>\n

Kent’s got a really good eye for color and also seems to have a good grasp of what makes for a good 3D FractalWorks scene.\u00a0 Both he and Duncan have made some very eye catching and interesting images.\u00a0 I would never have thought such a simple 3D height field program could produce such a wide range of creative works but I guess, as Kent says, “You just don’t know what you can’t do.”\u00a0 Well,\u00a0 Kent seems to have excelled in pushing FractalWorks’ envelope and taking us to new places.<\/p>\n

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Touch of vertigo, by schimkent, made in FractalWorks --see what I mean by schimkent's great eye for color?<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to his own Flickr gallery<\/a>, Kent has also recently had a wall calendar featuring some of his FractalWorks images published by Browntrout<\/a> entitled, Chaos Fabulous Fractals 2010<\/a>.\u00a0 This is not the Cafepress, self-publishing, print on demand type of thing (the one at a time whenever someone buys one), but rather the traditional editor\/publisher\/press-run type of publishing.<\/p>\n

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Apr06wja1b, by schimkent, made in FractalWorks<\/p><\/div>\n

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Teed Up, by schimkent, made in FractalWorks. (I really like the perspective in the blue objects in the top area. Extraterrestrial garden.)<\/p><\/div>\n

FractalWorks was released a couple years ago and since then it’s been upgraded a few times.\u00a0 The most recent upgrade was just recently, May 4, 2010.\u00a0 I’m sure the reason for such continuous development has been the impressive results users have achieved with the program.\u00a0 That’s what usually drives fractal program development.\u00a0 As the Flickr group message says:<\/p>\n

FractalWorks is a free, high performance fractal renderer for Macintosh computers.
\nYou can download fractalworks and try it yourself at the FractalWorks download site<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

04 May 2010: Version 0.6.2 has expired. I just uploaded a new version, version 0.6.3 to the link above. Please upgrade to the new version.<\/p>\n

-from the Flickr Group, FractalWorks<\/a> site<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I majored in Geography back in my university days and I think one of the things that drew me to that subject was all the imagery that one ends up studying, particularly the Remote Sensing<\/a> images.\u00a0 Perhaps part of the appeal that these FractalWorks images has for me is their similarity to maps and especially aerial photographs<\/a>, something which the Wikipedia defines as “the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

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3D view of Aprwmc1a, by schimkent, made in FractalWorks. (It's autumn in fractal country.)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Fall Colors, by schimkent, made with FractalWorks<\/p><\/div>\n

Another legacy of my geography days was the slowly developed ability to view stereo pairs of aerial photographs without the special lenses<\/a> that make it easier for your eyes to perceive the 3D effect.\u00a0 In digital art circles this special 3D imagery seems to be called “cross-eyed” stereogram.\u00a0 I take it from this stereogram set<\/a> posted on Duncan’s site, that FractalWorks is able to produce the paired images that produce this three dimensional illusion.\u00a0 Here’s another<\/a> also made in FractalWorks but slightly different in that you need red-cyan 3D glasses to view it (the old-style 3D movie glasses).\u00a0 And here’s<\/a> an even better one.\u00a0 Wait!\u00a0 This one<\/a> too!\u00a0 Go out right now and buy a pair<\/a> of red-cyan 3D glasses so you can see this one!!!!<\/a> (try the high res version on Flickr for an even biiiiiig<\/em>er thrill).<\/p>\n

FractalWorks produces a kind of high-quality imaginary<\/em> aerial landscape.\u00a0 Of course, that was always the intent I believe of the height field effect in fractal programs.\u00a0 It’s just that FractalWorks has come along and achieved much better results than any other program that creates these kinds of fractal images, at least of all the ones that I’ve seen so far.\u00a0 Although I’m sure Ultra Fractal or Chaos Pro could be programmed to produce similar smooth and richly colored images like this, no one seems to have attempted it yet (although there have been good examples of a mild form of 3D relief imagery created with them already).<\/p>\n

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3D view of Sep13lmb1d, by schimkent, made in FractalWorks. (This is the enchanted forest. Can you find Granny's house without getting lost?)<\/p><\/div>\n

Well, three cheers for Duncan Champney for making this Mount Everest Machine<\/em> of fractal programs and taking us right up to the top of it along with him.\u00a0 And to Kent Schimke, his agile sherpa for showing us how great the views can be.<\/p>\n

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3D view of Jun16wmb1d, by schimkent, made in FractalWorks. (I know this is a pretty ordinary fractal, but what is it about FractalWorks that makes it look so cool?)<\/p><\/div>\n

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3D view of Feb12wja1b, by schimkent, made in FractalWorks. (If color was a flower, this is what it would look like.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Well, I could go on and on doing this.\u00a0 These FractalWorks<\/a> images are really something.\u00a0 Too bad I don’t have a Mac.\u00a0 Oh well, we can still look at the results.\u00a0 You can browse the entire Flickr group at this link<\/a>.\u00a0 And should you happen to own a Mac, why not download the free program<\/a> and try it out while you’re sipping your Starbucks coffee and looking as stylish and hip as Mac folks always do?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first time I saw an image made in FractalWorks it was in the gallery section of Fractalforums.com.\u00a0 I was impressed and yet, I couldn’t quite figure out why I was so impressed.\u00a0 There wasn’t anything really special about it and yet there was something really special about it.\u00a0 It was one of those “height … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/3D-view-of-Mar2310lma1c.jpg?fit=500%2C450","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":134,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=134","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":0},"title":""Fractals Don’t Look Like Anything"","author":"cruelanimal","date":"15 January, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Alien Supplicant (2007) I go on a quaternion fractal kick for a few weeks almost every year. There's something very special about these sculpted, rolled in Play-Doh, Tootsie Roll forms. I find them fascinating because they seem more tactile and three-dimensional than most other kinds of fractals. They can also\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=134#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Beyonce","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/beyonce_BV.jpg?fit=450%2C600&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1195,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=1195","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":1},"title":"Fractals Don’t Have to be Fractals","author":"Tim","date":"14 May, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I often find myself preoccupied with justifying fractals (and other types of computational imagery) as art; trying to link fractals with the larger stream of visual art that has flowed and enriched (and provoked) our culture since pre-history.\u00a0 I don't know why it nags me so much.\u00a0 I don't think\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=1195#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Trusses.jpg?fit=600%2C450&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Trusses.jpg?fit=600%2C450&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Trusses.jpg?fit=600%2C450&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":302,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=302","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":2},"title":"The Arabian Nights","author":"Tim","date":"14 April, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Sterli18.looJust like fractals, there is a special allure to the stories of The Arabian Nights.And also like fractals, I think that special quality that makes them attractive comes from their unique origin: fractals springing from a strange new area of mathematics; and The Arabian Nights, from the Middle East.I'm not\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4633,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=4633","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":3},"title":"Fractal Artists are Deluded Narcissists","author":"Tim","date":"26 March, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"First, let me explain.\u00a0 I make such a bold statement not because I hate fractals (or fractal artists) but because I love fractals and include myself among the hopelessly deluded. A quaint anecdote I came to this realization in a rather unexpected way: through rediscovering the joy of fractal artistry.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/fracto01.jpg?fit=494%2C599&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3009,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=3009","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":4},"title":"Fractals: A New Medium","author":"Tim","date":"22 September, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I think I've found a better way to explain what makes fractal art so different than other art forms.\u00a0 The differences are there simply because fractals themselves are a different medium to work with.\u00a0 Fractals are different than paint and canvas or chisel and stone. In fact, fractals are probably\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=3009#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Zon9.jpg?fit=500%2C500&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":318,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=318","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":5},"title":"Fuzzy Times in Fractalville","author":"Tim","date":"12 June, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"My apologies to jamfancy, Funny Bunny and tibiloo, but I found this online vignette was just too precious not to share it with the loyal, die-hard, though thick and thin, grassroots supporters of Orbit Trap -- the greatest thing since sliced Mandelbrot. 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