Galleries Fractal Gifts

Ultra Fractal Tutorial - The Making of "Lords of Arrakis"
Part 4. Creating the "star" layer.

    Pages in Part 4:
1. Preparation and assessment.
2. Create temporary file.
3. Magnify layer.
4. Apply coloring.
5. Adjust location.
6. Apply Kaleidoscope transformation.
7. Copy layer.
8. Adjust layer properties.

Layers Chart: Click to view.
Tutorial Map: Click to view.

Page 4. Apply coloring.

Step 6. Select Outside Coloring Algorithm.
 
A. In the Outside, tab click on the Browse icon.

 
This will cause the Select Outside Coloring Algorithm dialog box to appear.

 

B. In the Select Outside Coloring Algorithm dialog box, In the root of the library, not in any folder, select the "Standard.ucl" coloring algorithm file, and, within this file, the Smooth (Mandelbrot) coloring algorithm.
Click on Open

 
The image should now look like this:

 


Step 7. Copy Gradient.

The final "star" layer should consist of a finely drawn white star with soft core and radiating lines on a black background.

Toward this end I developed a color gradient consisting of all black with a relatively narrow band of softly tapered white. After applying the gradient to the layer, I then slid the rotation slider until the white was applied in a manner to best bring out what I was looking for. Here's what the gradient looks like, rotated to the final position:

 

A. On the Ultra Fractal main toolbar, click on the Gradient button.

 
This will cause the Gradient Editor to appear (and also become the active window), displaying the color gradient for the layer that is currently highlighted in the Layers tab -- in this case, the "star" layer.

 

B. Highlight and copy (Ctl-c) the block of text located here to the clipboard, then click the Paste icon on the Ultra Fractal toolbar. This will paste the gradient I used into your "star" layer.

 

C. Close the Gradient Editor by clicking on the window Close icon in the upper right corner of the Gradient Editor window. This is preferable to closing it by re-clicking on the Gradient button, which leaves the Gradient Editor open, beneath the Fractal Window, where it can pop up or peek out confusingly.

 
The image should now look like this:

 
The image is now colored in black and white, and its details are beginning to show some fineness of line -- or rather of dot.
In any event, the image now embodies the basis for fineness of structure.
 

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© 2005 Troy R. Bishop