Distance Estimated 3D Fractals (Part VIII): Epilogue

This is the last post in my introduction to distance estimated 3D fractals (see Part one for an overview). Originally, I intended this to be much shorter and more focused, but different topics kept sneaking up on me. This final post discusses hybrid systems, and a few things that didn’t fit naturally in the previous … Continue reading Distance Estimated 3D Fractals (Part VIII): Epilogue

Fragmentarium 0.9 Released

I’ve released a new build of Fragmentarium, version 0.9 (“Sun Ra”). Download at Github. (As of now only Windows builds are available) New features New high resolution output dialog (with auto-naming and auto-backup of scripts and parameters) Locking of parameters (makes rendering considerably faster in some cases by turning uniforms into constants) Minor improvements Mouse … Continue reading Fragmentarium 0.9 Released

Distance Estimated 3D Fractals (III): Folding Space

The previous posts (part I, part II) introduced the basics of rendering DE (Distance Estimated) systems, but left out one important question: how do we create the distance estimator function? Drawing spheres Remember that a distance estimator is nothing more than a function, that for all points in space returns a length smaller than (or … Continue reading Distance Estimated 3D Fractals (III): Folding Space

Distance Estimated 3D Fractals (II): Lighting and Coloring

The first post discussed how to find the intersection between a camera ray and a fractal, but did not talk about how to color the object. There are two steps involved here: setting up a coloring scheme for the fractal object itself, and the shading (lighting) of the object. Lights and shading Since we are … Continue reading Distance Estimated 3D Fractals (II): Lighting and Coloring

Plotting High-frequency Functions Using a GPU.

A slight digression from the world of fractals and generative art: This post is about drawing high-quality graphs of high-frequency functions. Yesterday, I needed to draw a few graphs of some simple functions. I started out by using Iñigo Quilez’s nice little GraphToy, but my functions could not be expressed in a single line. So … Continue reading Plotting High-frequency Functions Using a GPU.

Distance Estimated 3D Fractals (Part I)

During the last two years, the 3D fractal field has undergone a small revolution: the Mandelbulb (2009), the Mandelbox (2010), The Kaleidoscopic IFS’s (2010), and a myriad of equally or even more interesting hybrid systems, such as Spudsville (2010) or the Kleinian systems (2011). All of these systems were made possible using a technique known … Continue reading Distance Estimated 3D Fractals (Part I)

Generative Art Links

Some links to Generative Art, Math & Fractals, and other creative ways of creating computional imagery. The list is not meant to be exhaustive: rather, it is a list of my favorite links. Generative Art Software General-Purpose Software Processing is probably the most used platform for Generative Art. It is an “open source programming language … Continue reading Generative Art Links