Welcome to Fractal Forums

HOW did you get into fractal art?

WHEN did you?

WHAT is your education?  IE formal & or self taught!

GOALS what do you want to use these skills for?

HOW: first time encountered fractals beginning of 90's in a AmigaBasic Programming Book
WHEN: beginning of 90's
self taught education, failed the academic view
my goal end of 90s was to create an animation program for sophisticated fractal animations ( complex camera pathes, rather than deep zooms, and parameter variations )
after that i tried a genetic approach to generating fractal formulas by random ;)

all the time ultrafractal was a big resource as formula database, after ultrafractal implemented object formulas and keyframe animation i stopped programming fractals for myself... :(

nowadays, i want to support fractal thinking, and got the chance in 2008 to take over this forum, and as you can see it is still thriving, and sometime i would like to publish a book from the programming point of view describing "classic" fractal generating techniques, and developments from the last decade...  ^-^

I needed some quick, easy, and free backgrounds that were original for Lissa's Modeling website.  When we met, I was actually hired to help with that now-retired site   :embarrass:

Here's the very first Fractal Thingy I did for Her!

(http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m278/sockratease/drinky0.gif)

Used ChaosPro


April 6th, 2006.  The day we met.  I'll always remember that day!


I have degrees in Chemistry and Philosophy - but I am self taught when it comes to Fractals   O0


I'd like to continue using these skills for Graphic Arts jobs, having fun, and - Most Importantly! - making Lissa smile!!  (http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m278/sockratease/smile13.gif)


EDIT - Hey!

No fair!!

What about you, Bent?

You didn't tell us your stuffs!!  :siren:

HOW : because I like maths and computers for a long time. I learned basic on Apple ][ when I was 6. My father is an engineer, so am I. He bought me the mythic book "The beauty of fractals" when I was 10 or 12. My cousin was a genious programmer when we were young teenagers. He explained me how he programmed the Mandelbrot set on his Amiga 2000 in 68030 assembly language. I had an Amiga 500 but I only used it for gaming and music programming.

WHEN : I have always been fascinated by the book the Beauty of Fractals and the Mandelbrot set, I think it was in 1985 or so. Then I forgot about fractals and started again around 1991 when I drew a lot of simple fractals by hand, especially my favourite at this time, the Levy dragon, which in fact I discovered by myself without any prior knowledge of it. Then I again forgot about fractals, and in the late 90's, after my master's degree in mechanical/materials engineering, I bought my first PC and I discovered Ultra Fractal 2. I played a lot with it during 1 or 2 years. It was well ahead of all other fractal programs I had tried. In fact I have never tried Fractint. Then again I lost interest into fractals for many many years and started again in 2008, but I don't remember exactly why. Maybe simply because I still had my old PC where I found UF2, and I downloaded Ultra Fractal 5. Then I registered on FF when I wanted to see if "My Fractal" had an official name, and yes, it was the Levy dragon. I was hooked to this community. And I became definitely addicted during the Mandelbulb discovery, I bought an 8-core machine, and I humbly helped Dave Makin as a beta tester for his Mandelbulb formula in UF, and most recently Jesse for Mandelbulb3D.

I think I have answered the WHAT question above. I have studied quite advanced maths and physics but I have forgotten most of it. And I'm not very good at programming, although I did some in my early professional years, but in a totally different domain: financial controlling, a domain in which I still work today as an international business developer for a very large enterprise software company. Only the taste for scientific culture remains, and especially all that enables bridges from sciences to arts, like for example Escher or islamic art (Zellige). One of my favorite books ever is "The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics" by Roger Penrose, which was a present from my grand-uncle, a physics professor/researcher at the MIT. And BTW I found it incredible that fractals are not taught in math lessons. As soon as you learn functions, complex numbers, and series, so at the age of 17-18, it should be mandatory I think!

GOALS : have fun, escape from everyday life into virtual worlds, explore the notion of infinite complexity, easily create nice patterns and images by playing with numbers. Kinda create pseudo-art without being an artist. Maybe I could say I'm an amateur "scientartist" :)

BWA now it's your turn to explain your background and motivations ;)

How...When...What...
This is the slightly convoluted bit: I did Maths and Further Maths "A" levels (circa 1980) along with Physics, Chemistry and General Studies. My tutors expected 5 A's or at least 4 A's and a B but I had somewhat lost interest in acedemia at the time and achieved B, B, C, D, E (B in maths and E in further maths-I only went to half the lectures). Although computers and computing had come in to schools at the time I had no experience of them, or of anything fractal. I *should* have gone on to take a Maths degree but was put off after my cousin described high level maths as being more like philosophy (which at the time I thought I wouldn't like) so I started a degree in Chemistry at City University London, after less than 2 terms I decided I ddn't like being in London and decided to see if I could quit and start somewhere closer to home. I switched to UMIST (Manchester) the next year (starting the first year again) again doing Chemistry and it was then that I had my first true revelation, one of the subsidiary subjects was B.A.S.I.C. and I read and understood (in principle) the entire textbook we were given in around 45 minutes. I immediately (yes really) decided to quit the Chemistry and try to start again doing a Computing or Computer Science course. Unfortunately this being 1982 Universities were overrun with applicants for Computer Science degrees and a 2-time restarter (loser !!) like me couldn't get on a degree course so I ended up starting a Maths,Stats and Computing HND course at Manchester Polytechnic. It was there that I learned the basics (not the language) of software and hardware but after borrowing a Commodore Pet off a friend and then buying a Dragon32 home computer I was soon progressing faster at programming by myself at home than on the HND course - in fact I was sick of the HND course because it was covering ground (mainly statistics) that I'd already done twice on the Chemistry courses (also some of the time we had to learn COBOL which I recognised then as a complete dinosaur, unfortunately I think it turned into SQL which I have about the same respect for).
I then went on to release software myself for the Dragon, then we moved to Wales and I did software for Magnetic Fields (most noteably Crystal Dragon for the Amiga) and then for Parys Technografx (the first 4 3D Pets for Neechez, now owned by Sold Out and the Weight Watchers CDs) and it was only at this point that I discovered fractals and fractal art through Fractint, in April 1999 - this was the second revelation in my life and I essentially took to fractals the same way I did to programming.

I wrote my own fractal program after playing with Fractint and discovering how "simple" fractals actually are. The program I wrote was MMFrac for 32-bit DOS assembler (still available should anyone care to put up with a clunky interface that only renders 1 layer fractals). Then I found Ultra Fractal and after a while gave up on MMFrac simply because it was clear that UF did essentially everything I'd planned on adding to MMFrac.
Since then I've been creating Fractal Art and writing my own formulas and colourings for UF.

Goals

Generally my goal is to advance the case for fractals and fractal art to as many people as possible. On the non-art front this means making as many folks as possible realise that fractals are fundamental to existence - to me "time" is simply an iteration count as the universe changes state. On the Art front this means publicising fractal art as much as possible and convincing everyone that it *is* a form of Art such that at its best it can be justifiably hung alongside other great Art of whatever form.
My main programming goal now is to essentially write a UF clone so the whole thing runs on GPU (preferably using double accuracy or higher), my first target towards this is the purchase of a Mac Pro because, as I have stated elsewhere, I will no longer work with Microshit software except when there really is no alternative - I'll repeat what I've said before, if Apple's development software/support (Xcode) is 21st Century then Microsoft's (Visual Studio) is from the 1300's at best (Symbian is from the Dark Ages and Android from the Iron Age).

Read here for most of the answers:
    http://www.fractalforums.com/meet-and-greet/introduction-paul-n-lee/ (http://www.fractalforums.com/meet-and-greet/introduction-paul-n-lee/)

But I would not say that I ever really got into "fractal art".  I just like learning how to use the software and what needs to be done to create different kinds of images.  I could care less whether someone considers my images as "art" or not.  I do not make them to collect pats on the back or other praise, and any other such social networking reasons.
 

From my intro....

"Last fall I discovered fractal art.  Became obcessed with the madelbrot/journey into infinity.   Love ChaosPro program.  Need help with the "math dept" For quite some time have been looking for others who find this fascinating.  Looking to be inspired by others!  BTW my passion is making videos.  Will post some of my work as soon as I figure out this forum a lil better!"

Lil more...

For 22 yrs. I was married to a programmer/analyst.  Anal retentive geek!  lol Soo I have avoided the 'puter like the plague.  Have only been using Pc for a few yrs. now.  Have always been into some form of art work.  The process of creating fractals was/is totally foriegn to me. But I have to admit it makes me want to learn more.  But it is a hobby; not my whole life. BTW none of my previous formal ed. has prepared me for this.

@bwa now i got it, you are female ;) never thought about it before, but it is marked in your profile also, nice to have some more females here :)

Actually, as to the COmmon Business-Oriented Language, COBOL programming was more in demand during the 80's than any other coding language, outside of Assembler.  The high demand for COBOL programmers lasted well into the 90's, with large corporations such as AT&T, J.C.Penney, Sprint, and many others using thousands of people to do such coding.  In 1997, it was reported that 80% of the world's business ran on COBOL.  Even today there are companies still advertising and seeking COBOL programmers.  Every decade so many have said that it is a dead language, but it still goes on being used.  (Do a search on COBOL 2002.)

As to the Structured Query Language (SQL), it really has nothing to do with COBOL.  SQL is a database computer language designed for managing data in relational database management systems (RDBMS), and originally based upon relational algebra.  I would not even know the extremely high percentage of databases that incorporate SQL.
 

Nahee my x worked in cobal for AT&T life was good, but then as mentioned it became obsolete.

Now you get it? what's there to get? You had no idea???  Geeez didn't knowe that you were that clueless.  I just thought that maybe you had a deep seated hatred towards older women.. maybe mommy issues! :rotfl:

HOW did you get into fractal art?
I don't know if I'm breaking the rules by saying this, but one night, after a few bonghits, I was looking at fractal images in Google, and was so blown away that I downloaded like 30 pix.  The next day, I went back and checked them out, and was still pretty blown away.  I had seen fractals before, but they had never made that impression.  However, my current interest in spirituality and elegant truth wasn't really there before.  Fractals, in their simplicity, create a vast array of beauty in a way that mirrors nature.  They are like a homage to God, that way.

WHEN did you?
This was several months ago, and since then, my enthusiasm has been growing exponentially.

WHAT is your education?  IE formal & or self taught!
I have a BS in Communication, but that doesn't include much in the way of computer science, math or art education.  I have used Photoshop forever, and am highly computer literate, but it's all been pretty much through self-teaching and trial-and-error.  I've been active on the internet since the mid-90's, so I've had awhile to accumulate enough errors to be pretty good at what I do. LOL.

GOALS what do you want to use these skills for?
If I could sell a few pieces at a local street fair or whatever, that would be cool, but for the most part, it's just the thrill of creating mind-blowing images.  Never am I so happy as when I am experiencing awe, and many fractal works inspire that feeling in me, sometimes intensely (I am looking at you, Buddhi).

The Rev

Hmmm, I guess I'm extremely biased against any language where the basic syntax itself requires words longer than 4 characters and consists of entire sentences ;) At least I am when the structure of the language forces the run-time machine code to jump through hoops e.g. performing 200 operations where 20 or 30 would do if it were written in pure assembler.
Also even in the mid 80's it was blatently obvious that the improvements in software and hardware (and consequently the "in" languages) would be decided via military simulations and commercial games and not terminally boring business applications.
I guess I'm most biased against SQL because Microsoft consistently broke the ODBC support for Macromedia Authorware with every update of Win95, 98 and Me. Though I guess here Microsoft and Adobe are the real culprits rather than SQL itself !

My introduction to fractals was that iconic August 1985 issue of Scientific American.  At that time, I had finished my BS in Aerospace Engineering and was halfway along to my MS, so I was well versed in computers and math.  I programmed the Mandelbrot set loop in FORTRAN and was hooked.  My first forays were at work (NASA) and at home with an Amiga 1000.  I would set up a camera on a tripod to photograph the screen for my output.

My goals have changed over the years.  At one time, I wanted to set the world on (fractal) fire artistically and at another time, solve the question of turbulence once and for all with fractals.  Now, I'm happy to (just) create my art for myself and anyone else who enjoys it.  I've got lots of ideas in my head and notes of things that I've investigated that I'd like to get written down into another book or three.

HOW & WHEN- just this last yr. stumbled upon some really nice images I thought I would like to do that. 
WHAT-eductation.. none that would be helpful!
GOAlLS- just learn the basics to make some nice images & simple videos.

This is primarily for fun.

First off, I can't remember much of my youth after a car accident and a concussion.  It's amazing I survived the accident.

As long as I can remember I was always into fractals.  I was always into the latest things I could learn about or know.  I remember watching math programs as a child, but I can't remember what they taught me.  "3, 2, 1, Contact", A math detective show and some others I'm sure.  I loved Algebra, but hated geometry.

I watched Science channels and even dissected sentences for fun.  I was a true nerd until my accident.  Now I'm starting almost over from square one.  I think there was a TV Show called "Square one"...

Anyways, I intend to get back that knowledge I lost.  Unfortunately, it's not that easy.

Fractals, Quantum Theory, and any other new developments in science and philosophy is all I want out of this.  I plan to use it to enhance my artistic nature, since that is still a part of me even after the accident.  In fact I think it made my art better.  I rely on intuition now more then brain power, since my brain is mostly suffering from some sort of mental block.

I mainly suffer from forgetfulness.  I try to take pills for that, but "seriously" I forget to take them. :evil1:

I can now see why you stated you were a "2-time restarter (loser !!)" when it came to learning at college.  You really never truly learned COBOL, nor used it on a regular basis while being employed.  One can use words that are 4 characters or less, and you do not need to have entire sentences.  Until you actually learn something and really use it, you should not talk about it as if you did know it.


That usually only happens when somebody does not know what they are doing when coding with COBOL.  Which, as you already implied, you really never got to learn and use.  Granted it is not as efficient as Assembler, but neither is C or any other language.  COBOL was not meant to be the most efficient, and many other languages meet that criteria as well.  It was meant to make it easy for most anybody to learn and use.  Whether they were capable of learning it enough to use it more efficiently is another matter.


Microsoft's SQL software, which is their RDBMS server, is based upon the SQL language.  It is not the true SQL language.  But as we all should know by now, Microsoft and other large companies (like Adobe) think they can do whatever they so desire, which means trying to set the standard in their own image (kind of like having a GOD complex).

I have used SQL with many RDBMS software distributions, and for many years.  I even teach classes in how to use SQL.  I am willing to compare my knowledge and experience with both COBOL and SQL against yours any day.
 

There are many interesting debates these days (for those who are in the UF-list as well :))

my knowledge of SQL is : SELECT * FROM ... WHERE ... :):)

And I worked for AT&T from 1994 to 1997.  I programmed in both Assembler and COBOL while working with them.  I also programmed for PC's using BASIC and a database system, not to mention systems support using MVS, ISPF, and a ton of other things.

If COBOL is so obsolete, why was a new standard written in 2002??  Why are there still people hiring COBOL programmers??  Why are there so many companies still running code written in COBOL??

But seeing how you never worked with COBOL and really know nothing of what you are talking about, and that you basically told Trifox that you are just an old woman, I can see your statements are meaningless.
 :rotfl:   :stickingouttongue:   :headbatting:    :nastyteeth:
 

I'm glad you added the smileys because there might be more polite ways to say this...

Old is relative! BTW nahee your 60 & I'm 54, sooo who's old?  I am old enough to be trifox's mother. Surely you could be his father.   Motorcycle momma!  :-*  If cobal was not obsolete then why did they write a new standard? 

bib ya think?  Civility/chivalry are lost arts.  Also I  believe that David Makin had mentioned that cobal was a dinosaur.

hey hey, please  :stop: :smooth:, please leave my parents out of it,
@nahee why so mean?, you are really disturbed by the peoples talking about cobol ? :D lets see what the people say about flash programmin in 30 years, when i will retire...
dont be so offended when people talk about "dead" languages, they are dead because of common sense, implemented systems use language sets similar to assembler in the
old days, and i have to commit never did anything with cobol in my life ;)
#

 :police: :police: :police:

:)
Paul always has a way with words and has been known to rub a lot of folks up the wrong way to use a rather cliched phrase.
In my case I'm so thick-skinned that his sometimes slightly abrasive way of responding is just water off a ducks back to use another cliche.

Truth be told if it were feasible I believe *everything* should be written in assembler, unfortunately the advent of certain features of CPU hardware has made this difficult - one of my favourite techniques for writing compact, fast code on the old 8-bits (6809/Z80 etc) was to write self-modifying code but that possibility essentially disappeared with instruction caching.
So I guess really I'm even more of a dinosaur than COBOL because the number of programmers using *any* assembler at all seems to be dramatically falling - to the point where I know several Computer Science graduates who have to use a calculator to convert from decimal to hexadecimal.
This is not a good trend as it means even those "good" at programming in high level langiages are losing touch with what goes on "under the hood".
Having said all that I do actually now disagree with Paul regarding optimising compilers for C/C++ because the best ones are now so optimised I believe it would be difficult to write the same code in native assembler that's more than around 5% faster at runtime (in general) - I do not believe there are any other high level languages with such a level of optimisation at the moment, for certain not Visual Basic or Java for instance (of course Java's a special case). I should add that in the past writing something in assembler rather than in C (say on the Amiga) would produce speeds more on the order of 1000% faster !