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Hello to all here..  I am new to this forum... You all certainly have some great information and reading on here.  Enjoying myself.  I have been making fractals for just a few mths now & really loving it.  I was entranced by them from the very 1st glance when viewing them in another site I was posting photographs ect.  on.  Ok.. well.. thats about it on me..   

I like to think of myself as still under 20.. hahahah..   But no... Well past that age..   Thanks for the welcome CK..  Nice to see a reply...   

I will go ck it all out.. Been on here most of the day reading thru all the many posts..  Lots of interesting stuff...   Thanks again.. Very nice~

Hi Dave.  Thanks for the welcome..  I started out just a few months back with Tierazon & Sterling 2 then of recent have been playing with Incendia and Apop-MBF. Learning I am...  I had joined a few share sites but I find that that the time spent there did not lend to learning-applying very much for me..  I am a photographer for many years now and love that artform very much, but decide to search for a place to exp. the world of fractals.  This artform has really gotton my attention and admiration. Amazing stuff indeed.  Again. I appreciate your warm welcome. 
Lj Maxx

Thanks Trifox...  When I think of filom technique. I instantly think of old b/w film makers and thier wonderful use of streetlights at night.  I appreciate your time to comment too. 

If you need any .INK and/or .ZAR files to play around with, I have a few from my full collection which are publicly available.


Yes, Paul Carlson wrote a very popular application (and method of coloring).  I have some User-Equations that can be used with MBF:
    http://www.nahee.com/Software/MBF_UserEqns.zip


There is a ton of useful information already available on the Internet in the way of tutorials, definitions, descriptions, etc...   And they vary in formats:  .DOC, .TXT, .HTML, .PDF, etc...   All freely available without having to spend money in these difficult financial times.     


As to the very basics:

FORMULAS are the mathematical statements (especially equations) of a fact, rule, principle, or other logical relation, used to perform the basic calculations of fractal images.   Many fractal generating applications are capable of using various formulae, whether hardcoded within the program or using a formula parser.

PARAMETERS are the constants in an equation that vary in other equations of the same general form.   They are values supplied to, and used by, a formula within the generating application.   These are established by the user of the software to adjust various settings, quantities, etc. to achieve varied results in the image itself.

IMAGES are the the pictorial representation as used in computer-aided design, the process by which a computer displays data pictorially.

MAPS, or GRADIENTS, are the color palettes used to cause variations in the way an IMAGE may be colored.   (Thousands of these are in the public domain already.)

The PARAMETERS and IMAGES made by an individual are their own property, and are considered to be copyrighted.   Any use by another person of said items should require the permission by the creator/author/originator.   Whereas FORMULAS are usually considered to be public domain, and virtually can not cause an IMAGE without supplying PARAMETERS.

Thanks so much Nahee.. I so appreciate your share~ 

To learn about fractals, there are a dozen really good books which have been around for years, but these are geared towards the mathematics.  And they can be obtained from a used book store for much less than the original price.  PBS usually airs a couple of videos on fractals ever so often, and they may be obtained as well.

To learn about the "art" part of fractals, the choices are extremely limited when it comes to books.  And of course they would be written in the view point of what that person decides what is "art".  I personally can not see how such a book could be objectively written.

Or did you mean books and videos on the creation of images using specific fractal generating programs ??


Learning what a program is capable of, and learning how to control as much as one can with a specific application, takes lots of time and practice.  Some people pick it up faster than others, some only learn one or two programs (and no more), others just like to play with the programs and have fun (more like a hobby).

You need to decide what it is you are wanting to get from the learning.  And, if you are going for sales of "fractal art", then that usually means developing your own style.  (I can usually see a few images by any of several hundred fractal image makers and know who the person was that created them, because of their style.)

Hi Lj Maxx.

why did you become fastinated by fractals?