Tutorial - the making of "Lords of Arrakis" -- Part 6

Galleries Fractal Gifts

Ultra Fractal Tutorial - The Making of "Lords of Arrakis"

Part 6. Creating the "planet edgelight" layer.

Pages in Part 6:
1. Preparation and assessment.
2. Create new layer.
3. Remove Lake transformation.
4. Apply solid fill transparency masks.
5. Apply Clipping transformations.
6. Create opaque white disk.
7. Adjust transparent disk Clipping transformation.
8. Adjust layer properties.

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

Page 4. Apply solid fill transparency masks.


Step 7. Set Inside coloring to transparent solid black fill.
	A.	With the "planet edgelight" layer highlighted in the Layers tab, click on the Inside tab. No coloring algorithm has been selected for the inside region (observe the word, "None", at the upper left of the Inside tab. The Transfer Function value, "None", causes a solid color fill to be used to color the inside area, whether or not a coloring algorithm has been selected. The black swatch in the Solid Color parameter shows that the color of the solid fill will be black.
	B.	Click on the black swatch in the Solid Color parameter. This will cause the Select Color dialog box to appear.
	C.	Drag the Opacity slider all the way to the left ("0"). This will cause the right half of the Solid Color parameter to display a transparency (checkerboard) area, turning on solid color transparency masking. The transparent area indicates that the swatch color, black, where it occurs in the inside region, will be made transparent. Click on OK. In the Inside Coloring tab, the right half of the Solid Color parameter should now display transparency (checkerboard), indicating that the black color of the solid fill is made transparent. The image should now look like this: The checkerboard area represents the areas of transparency in the image of this layer. If one turns on the visible icon for any layer, below this layer, that has pixels with non-transparent coloring anywhere in this region, the non-transparent coloring will show up instead of the "transparent" checkerboard for those pixels. It can be helpful to view this pattern as a linoleum floor at the bottom of the layers.
Step 8. Set Outside coloring to transparent solid black fill.
	A.	Click on the Outside tab. Observe that a coloring algorithm named "Smooth (Mandelbrot)" has been selected to color the "outside" region and, since the color swatch in the Solid Color parameter is black and does not have the checkerboard pattern showing in its right half, we know that the fill, which is not in effect, would be black and would not be transparent should the solid color fill become activated.
	B.	Set the Transfer Function to "None". This will disable the coloring algorithm and cause the outside region to be filled with the solid fill color, black. The image should now look like this:
	C.	Click on the black swatch in the Solid Color parameter. This will cause the "Select Color" dialog box to appear.
	D.	Drag the Opacity slider all the way to the left (0). This will cause the right half of the Solid Color parameter to display a transparency (checkerboard) area, turning on solid color transparency masking. The transparent area indicates that the swatch color, black, where it occurs in the outside region, will be made transparent. Click OK. In the Outside Coloring tab, the right half of the Solid Color parameter should now display transparency (checkerboard), indicating that the black color of the solid fill is made transparent. The image should now look like this: The entire image in the "planet edgelight" layer, including the "outside" and "inside" coloring regions, is now transparent.

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	© 2005 Troy R. Bishop