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Wow, Krzysztof, Mandelbulber keeps getting better and better! I haven't really gotten to explore the rotation options much yet, but I'm excited to see how they work.

A couple of questions: I wonder if there's any explanation somewhere of how to use the IFS parameters? I keep playing with them, and I find some interesting things, but I don't understand at all what I'm doing!! I've played with the examples included in Mandelbulber, and some of the parameters in your deviantart page, but I'd like to understand what they mean, so I have a better chance to make more beautiful IFS animations. Any tips or suggestions? I'd love to create something as amazing as the IFS animation you put on youtube ( <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/JlUMRMpLzRo&rel=1&fs=1&hd=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/JlUMRMpLzRo&rel=1&fs=1&hd=1</a> - especially that awesome creature at 1:25!) But I haven't been able to make anything nearly that cool. Too many combinations of parameters for me to get anywhere by random experimentation - I want to understand what I'm doing!

Secondly: I wonder if you have any plans to change the interpolation method for keyframe animation? I'm really grateful for the addition of the timeline, which helps a lot, but I still really have a hard time not bumping into things, cutting corners etc. The way the Catmull Rom splines overshoot the target is really annoying, and I wish the navigation were as smooth and predictable as the bezier curves used in Mandelbub3D. I know we can't have everything, but if there was just one improvement I could ask for in Mandelbulber, it would be for friendlier interpolation.

Well, mostly I just want to thank you again and again for this wonderful gift to the world of fractals!

That truly is an amazing video!  I too would like to have some tips about making that kind of animation. I think I understand the basics, but some tips would be welcome.

Russ

Actually entered a value of -1 in the DE step factor. Hit Render.  Crazy numbers in the render info.  Then hit Stop.  Program stalls.  Stops responding.  Repeatable behavior.  Windows 7.

Should I post this sort of thing on SourceForge rather than here in the Mandelbulber forum?

I would like to check this problem. I supposed that it is because of some bug in function which convert old Mandelbox parameters to new version. Could you send me these settings files (from version 0.94) which looks different in version 0.96?

I have just checked it. On my computer with version 0.96 it looks exactly like on version 0.94. But I found that your image looks different because in original settings file (0.94) DE step factor = 0.2 and in version 0.96 probably you had DE step factor = 1.0. Please try to decrease DE_step factor.

First off;

Thanks for this great program. I like exploring fractals while taking time off from my music and Mandelbulber is a nice app with lots of potential for noobs like me  

Second;

What a great animation!!!!!
I hope I'll get to learn how to do something like that as a visual showcase for my music.

Third;

Thanks again  

Take care.

Never mind. I found the user guide PDF :doh!:

These artifacts are caused by Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) algorithm. Because this algorithm uses many simplifications, sometime there are visible some "steps" on images. To reduce this effect, try to increase Post Effects/Screen Space Ambient Occlusion/Quality parameter. The optimal value is about 20-30 for images in resolution 1200x800, 50-60 for resolution 6000x4000. Of course higher quality will slow down rendering.