blogginginthewind introduced me to XaoS, which is another fractal program that a little more than previous fractal programs I've mentioned before. It does require a download, which is more than some of the Flash-based art programs we've been using here. The link is to the Mac version; I found that XaoS was already in the Ubuntu repositories, Ubuntu being the Linux distribution I use, and so installing it for me was a snap.
I get the feeling that the Mac version has a very nice graphical user interface (GUI). My version does not– it is a more pared-down text-based UI. All I will do to explain how the program works is that it can generate a variety of different fractals, many based on the famous Mandelbrot set, or, if you're a math whiz, you can define the fractal formulas yourself. You can also zoom in on any part of the fractal and you can apply various filters (such as I did) There is a nice tutorial that explains the program in more detail, so I would point to that if you decide to download the program and play with it.
On to the pictures:
It's a "Spider" fractal– I'm not well versed enough in math to explain how it's generated. (This preset may or may not be present in the Mac version.) I used a 3D emulator filter within the program as well. After taking a snapshot, I applied a Softglow filter in GIMP and then did a color invert for the second version.
Crossposted to LJ, itemid = 1010, security = public, mask = 0.
the tao of jaklumen 
November 3, 2008 at 04:01
Splendiferously fantabulousl!LOVE those.You really made it come alive with the 3D………!I'm so glad that the program works for you — I didn't realize that there'd be differences in them; I hope the one you're using gives you a lot of options!I haven't tried too much in the way of pre-render manipulation yet. What I HAVE tried has been very cool and surprising. The tutorials were a great surprise. When I find a little pocket of time somewhere I'm going to climb into it and reread some of my books on fractals and the math that they dance with. That should make things more interesting.Anyway — WOWEE great pix!!!!
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November 3, 2008 at 13:31
I didn't realize that there'd be differences in them; I hope the one you're using gives you a lot of options!It looks like the differences are in alternate fractals (i.e. no "Gears" fractal) and it appears that the Mac version is Pascal based and just renders them differently with different code.But yes, there are otherwise lots of options, and yes, I'd definitely have to study the math involved to get things properly interesting.Thanks again; it's always nice to get a little help to keep things rolling!
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November 3, 2008 at 13:36
Oh, good!! !'m glad it's got most of the cool stuff!!!You inspired me to try it again today — I messed around with the "bailout" and colors options. Wow!
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November 3, 2008 at 14:20
Please do share a little bit of your discoveries with the group, won't you? Thanks yet again!
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November 3, 2008 at 14:23
Oh!! I keep forgetting to join as the new me……..I'll go find it and do that.
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November 3, 2008 at 14:24
Can't join..invitation=only. That's OK…..if I have anything interesting I can post it and you or someone else can link to it or just use the info.
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November 3, 2008 at 15:27
I can get you sorted.
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November 3, 2008 at 20:02
Yeah, that's what they all say, but I'm really a handful. You don't even realize.
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November 3, 2008 at 23:46
The fractal design is fixed, but the colors, 3-D effects, etc. are all mine. When my sense of mathematics is a bit more refined, I'll see about generating original fractals.
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November 4, 2008 at 07:50
It's cool stuff !!
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