7 Fractal Surfaces

imaginary book cover
The fractal surface used for the background
in this scene was made using the boolian "union"
option for combining multiple fractal equations.

I've been playing with Mandelbulber2, software that allows for making images that contain three dimensional fractal surfaces. I've been running the software on an old (2011) Macintosh (64bit, 2.5 GHz quad core) and have not been annoyed by long render times.

Fantasyland
I started using Mandelbulber2 when I wanted to create some background images for scenes in High Seelie. Seelie is a space-time bubble in the Hierion Domain that is home to the sy'Paz, alien-human hybrids that were constructed as a tool for Interventions into Earth's timeline.

Not wanting the artificial environment of High Seelie to look like Earth, I'm using Mandelbulber2 to create backgrounds for scenes such as the one shown to the right on this page.

the approach to Mount Seelie
and Joanna's cave

That imaginary book cover (above) is meant to depict Joanna MacDonald at the entrance to her physics research lab. The high mountain location of Joanna's secluded laboratory is illustrated to the left.

These two imaginary book covers for my story "Final Change" were made using Photoshop. For "Mount Seelie", I combined parts of three different fractals and the image of a fashion model.

fractal surface, example #1

That "mountain" scene was mostly derived from the fractal surface shown in the image to the right. Using the Mandelbulber2 software, you can zoom in on small parts of a fractal surface.

Top panel: default distance estimation calculations.
Bottom panel: using "Delta DE" distance estimation.
fractal surface, example #2

I've usually been content to use the default image quality settings of the software. However, when I first made my depiction of Joanna's cave, I was not satisfied with the alien plant life that was growing near the cave entrance.

As shown to the left, when I changed the setting for distance estimation (the distance from the "camera" to the fractal surface) to "Delta DE", the results were better. According to the instruction manual, using Delta DE takes longer, but in this case it was fast and gave me a more detailed, plant-like surface for the "ground" that Joanna is standing on.

This shows the control setting for "Delta DE".

For the rest of the "cave", I preferred the results obtained using the default distance estimation method which created a smoother and glossier cave-like surface.

The third fractal that I used to make the cover image for "Mount Seelie" is shown below. All three of these fractal surfaces were made by mixing together from 3 to 5 different built-in fractal-generating formulas that come with the software. Those formulas are part of the pallet of options that allow for the creation of a wide range of different fractal surfaces.

In "Final Change", the red "face" is used as Joanna's intercom system which she uses to screen visitors arriving at her laboratory.

a three dimensional fractal surface made by the Mandelbulber2 software -  fractal surface, example #3

Materials

three examples of materials

Mandelbulber2 comes with several different predefined "materials" that define properties such as the luminosity and glossiness of the rendered fractal surfaces.

So far, I have mostly used the default material and sometimes made adjustments to the color pallet as needed for a particular scene.

One of the more interesting fractal surfaces is the "pseudo Kleinian": 

This image was made using the Mandelbulbe2 "pseudo Kleinian" fractal surface formula and the "copper" material. Note the reflections, particularly in the upper right. -  fractal surface, example #4

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The image above (example #4) reminds me of a steampunk beer brewery.

Below are two examples of fractal surfaces made with the "colored glass" material. The first (example #5) is the default color setting, the second example (#6) is with a modified set of parameters:

Above: default "colored glass" material-  fractal surface, example #5

custom colors for the "colored glass" material-  fractal surface, example #6

selecting a color texture

flying through a chamber of Seelie

I also rendered the "pseudo Kleinian" fractal formula using the "water" material. You can add a "color texture" to materials, as shown in the image to the left.

To the right is an imaginary book cover cover that I made depicting one of the high chambers of Seelie. The pre-photoshop rendering is shown below.

This image was made using the Mandelbulbe2 "pseudo Kleinian" fractal surface formula and the "water" material. The colors were modified by using the "lightmap" texture. -  fractal surface, example #7

hybrid

Eye candy.

Related Reading: more discussion of Mandelbulber2

Next: "Zeptites of Seelie"

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