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 ;D Wouldn't it be lovely if there was a 'randomize'  function in Mandelbulb 3d which gives random parameters. Great program Jesse and I especially love the 3d feature.

Thanks paolo,

random parameters would be leading 99% into some sort of crap, from no object at all towards all filled up and with nothing really useful inbetween.  :sad1:

Uhm, 3D FBM can be a good idea instead of pure noise ;)

ehrm, a genetic formula evaluator which changes parameters slightly from an existing set of formula set would be do able,
and i also believe that a total randomized "creator" function can be a good starting point, like it is done in apophysis!!

yes, on the 24th topic of the todo-list  :dink:


i guess that DE based escape time fractal renderer behaves more sensitive to the inputs then other methods...

I deeply hate Apo's randomizer. Please don't copy it :)

+1 on that, please put it further down your 2do list Jesse!  O0

While we are talking about parameters, I wonder if any enhancement could be done to more easily modify parameters. For example there could be small arrows on the side of each box to slightly increase or decrease the value of the parameters without anyhting to type in. I saw this in Chaoscope. Of course the problem would be the step size and/or the limits, but I thought it would make it a easier to test parameters variations.

Another problem I'm facing a lot at the moment is about keyframes, but I should do another post...In short, I wish the animation mode would be as flexible as the one in Ultrafractal (where each parameter can be adjusted for each frame without having to add additional keyframes...)

Maybe i did not understood, but you can adjust the params for each keyframe by sending it to main, changing paras, and inserting back from main.

I know. But what I like in UF that is not possible in M3D is that you can modify each parameter position on the timeline by moving sliders, and it automatically creates new intermediate keyframes, without having to worry about the number of subframes.

Scrollbars :dink: very good idea :D

I see, never worked with an animation version of UF.  But there are so many parameters, i surrender just from thinking about it  :-\

Indeed a true keyframer (like After Effect's one) would be an incredibly powerful tool ! Cut/copy/paste keyframes is so cool and practical. Let's say for example you want to zoom in the fractal from frame 1 to frame 100 but at the same time slightly change the scale back and forth every ten frames, matching the beat of the soundtrack... This would be fantastic !!!

However I am not able to imagine the amount of work it would require... :)

Oh and the random idea is great too, I really like cKleinhuis' suggestion about genetically modified shapes.

Hi, if there is a way to edit the save files / the clipboard to convert to and from a text readeable version of with editable variable numbers, i can easily make a program that makes masses of random changes to the parameters by 1-3 percent, and also that joins two parameters together/ that takes the same family of formula from one preset and changes it around to another.

Is there a way to read and write the parameters to a text readable format that i can parse???

In another program i wrote some code that divides space into 2 zones, and island that can be striped/square/lines, and i joined formula files so that they were on the same screen at the same time. it was very interesting and very easy.

Soon there will be ... if you wait a while.

I have almost completed my testing of the M3D automation classes I am writing (http://www.fractalforums.com/mandelbulb-3d/mandelbulb3d-automation-robot/msg98517/#msg98517).

The BaseFormulas class has a few features that you have mentioned - it contains (reads a file of) all M3D formulas and you can request a random formula from the formula categories (list of 3D, 4D, Abs, dIFS, all of them) as well as the ability to filter these by formulas by formula options containing at least one of a list of values.

Sounds fantastic. If you can make 5-6 tiny buttons and a couple of variable fields somewhere field somewhere you can apply a variety of random functions, i.e.

button 1- change only non-zero parameters
variable 1 rand % gradient, how much to add/substract from every parameter
variabel 2, percentage of formla variables to change (by % one)
buttons 1-7 - change only formulas 1-7
buttons 7-14, switch formula from another of same class in m3p program directory.

This may sound wacky, however that's how it was practically done in synthesizers. people put in quite large and advanced randomization consoles with say 5-10 buttons and percentage variables, and the different buttons controlled individually: randomize filter, oscillator, sound effects, internal routing, everything, and so forth... it can be a small display with small buttons, just that high degree of control over randomizing makes more advanced results. it's very easy to program too, perhaps it takes 1-2 hours to do and it's probably very fun...

Interesting concept regarding synthesizer controls for formulas.
Not sure if the concepts apply easily to fractal formula. For instance, the 3D formula set has 285 option names in the collection.

it's perhaps cool to have a hotkey in M3D which can randomize a text field by 5-10%, so you just have to select fields in mouse and press ctrl 1/2/3 and it will change fields without having to select the precise digit and then adjust in the numpad, i always make mistakes with teh mouse and numpad and it takes ages. Autohotkey has some random mathematics so it's theoretically possible to randomize 2-3 fields using autohotkey... foundthis:

http://snicker02.deviantart.com/art/Randomize-Variations-with-the-Custom-Variation-Lo-573344753

https://autohotkey.com/board/topic/72936-generate-random-number/