Tip: colour distribution

Depending on how you build your fractal, or where the parameter came from originally, chances are that your chosen gradient isn't fully distributed. Fine if you like what you see, but not the best situation for actually selecting a gradient. To remedy, from the menu Flame, Calculate Colors Values - this gives full colour distribution i.e. transform #1 has value 0, transform n has value 1, with transform i (0 < i < n) having value (i - 1)/(n - 1). Obviously, you can pull the sliders to what values you like, but this gives a standard starting point. For alternative colour distributions, I have a script available here - only any use for 4 or more transforms.

The situation is somewhat complicated if one transform possesses the lion's share of the total weight - the colour value of this transform will dominate, sometimes to the point of turning the whole thing duotone. To introduce more colour, use symmetry .

The sixties

A kind of non-titular fourth member of the 'Le Psychédélisme' series. Very similar in its construction, but with the telltale 'teeth' of the oscilloscope variation and a white background. Just add your favourite Beatles tune :D

Serve chilled

A syllabub with a dark secret, or is it just strawberry coulis? And what are those arctic seals' and cats' faces doing, silently accusing?

Strange times, strange desserts ;)

Sunset, shattered

Appearing almost vorticist in its abstraction, a stained glass style cut to the max with an oscilloscope FX.

An older piece that I wasn't entirely happy with until I re-rendered with a gradient from my Coastal Grandeur gradients.

Brass-rubbing a dream...

...of the Grand Central Interchange.

Getting this effect was all about work in the 'Post-process render' dialogue, optimising brightness, filter radius and gamma (I had used pure black gradient). Perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not, this is actually a good ol' disc-julian. Pure Apophysis, including frame.

Le Psychédélisme #3

The added citrus tang of loonie*: lemon; orange; lime; grapefruit; blood orange...

Third in the mini-series.

#1 here.
#2 here.

*by way of explanation, I fancy that the 'loonie' variation introduces an element resembling the cross-section of a citrus fruit. Those listed represent the colours. Just so you don't think I'm totally loony :D

Discussing possible futures

And now, for 2008, something completely different. A nice pretentious title for an abstraction that defies description. Pure Apophysis, even the 'frame'!

Wishing all the very best for the new year :peace:

Marble Point

My NYE submission. The title originates from two things:

1. the overall appearance of planes of wafer-thin marble
2. the resemblance to Spurn Point (though I wonder whether Sperm Point wouldn't also be a good name ;))

I often consider what it would be like to live at the end of such a spit, taking the full brunt of elemental fury... :O I fancy also a resemblance to our own planet seen from space, with its thin layer of wispy atmosphere.

Light-bead curtain

A suitably cozy offering speaking of festive lights and hushed anticipation.

At the gates of the tomb

My entry for the December contest 'The end of all things'. The 'theme' of the contest is a recapitulation of lessons learned, fractal-wise, over the previous year. This is the final offering this year in a style which, as far as I know, I developed. It's also the last clue in the breadcrumb trail of how the style is achieved: the final piece of the puzzle is, appropriately, the final transform. I have used curl, boarders, polar and linear/spherical to achieve this series. Previous clues:

#1
#2
#3

The Law of Fives

A slightly older piece, a julian constructed on Discordian Principles, explicitly around the number five and its crucial cognates two and three (=23!).

A well-worn style, perhaps, but the deeper meaning warrants its inclusion ;)

Pieces of the puzzle

First piece inspired by Underworld lyrics. Split takes on boarders in the FX.

UNDERWORLD lyrics

Le Psychédélisme #2

No matter how many times you tear great cricular holes in the fabric, there's always another layer beneath!

Second in the mini-series.

#1 here.

Riven

Another tweak from this excellent Starter Flamepack.

Yuletide vision

"By this time, the snow was falling thickly and the air was brittle with cold. And as I approached collapse on that hillside, the view began to change: the falling snow assumed a definite pattern, arches, or fans, and then the whole appeared to break apart into slices, and the slices fragmented further until a kind of aperture, almost a mouth, formed and pulsed irregularly with a golden light. And that palpitating light communicated to me a message of universal joy and celebration - I understood that this was timed to coincide with our seasonal earthly festivals, the better to tap the positive vibe that briefly relieved internecine differences. So I returned to human habitation, aglow despite the cold, brimful of fresh meaning for our solstitial jubilations and feeling on the brink of a new-minted world."

Third of that style I'm slowly unveiling: add 10% oscilloscope on the elliptic transform to achieve the separations.