FOTD -- April 23, 2005 (Rating 4) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: The most fun with today's image is not in the finished product -- it is in the rendering. The image was rendered with the passes set to 'b', which traces the boundaries between areas of different color. This option does not work with many images, because it traces around and misses disconnected features, but it works quite well with today's image, where it goes merrily along its way, tracing out a loosely connected shaft of dissipa- ting features. The features are dissipating because they lie over a solid area of 'outside' material with an iteration count around 660, and they will be visible only if their iteration count is under this figure. The iteration count of the shaft increases from right to left, and reaches the count of the background near the left edge of the frame, where the shaft is totally absorbed. The image was done in haste, and as a result can be rated no higher than a 4. I named it "Fractal Fade-Out" because the shaft fades out as it moves from right to left across the screen. The render time of 5 minutes is worth the wait. The passes=b option is quite interesting to watch in action. Those who would rather not render may download the already rendered image from the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> In yesterday's FOTD I wrote that, unless something unexpected happened, the next installment of philosophy would appear in today's discussion. Unfortunately, something unexpected (a load of work) did happen, and the philosophy will not appear for another day or two. Heavy clouds, occasional light rain and a chilly temperature of 50F 10C kept the fractal cats confined to the porch on Friday. They were as happy as could be expected considering the condi- tions. Today is starting cloudy and warmer, but with rain in the forecast. The cats will survive somehow. I still have quite a bit of work to clear away before turning to the land of fractals. The next FOTD will appear in approximate- ly 24 hours. Until then, take care, and fly with the eagles. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Fractal_Fade-Out { ; time=0:05:15.99--SF5 on a P200 reset=2004 type=hypercomplexj function=sqr passes=b center-mag=-0.43712437534315190/+0.155868892368191\ 60/132.931/1/17.5/1.40332190312619787e-013 params=-0.2402112676056374/0.004564196242171182/0.\ 01/0.51/0/0 float=y maxiter=1000 bailout=9 inside=255 outside=imag periodicity=0 colors=000iUofTodSnaRn_QmXPmVOlSNlQMlRLjSLhTLgULeU\ LdVLbWLaXL_XLZYLXZLW_LU_LTcI_fFejClm9rp7xoCqnHkmMe\ lR_lVUk_OjdIiiChn6hr0s_M4Y0ldXTVf9LoCNnEOnGQnIRnKT\ nMUnOVnRXnTYnV_nX`nZbn`cnbdn_ckXchVceSccQc`NcYLcWI\ cTFcQDcNAcL8cI5cF3cDA_KHWQOSWUOa`KggGmmDsMd3KPKJA`\ NCYQEWTFUWHS_JQbKOeMLhNJlPHoRFrSDuUBxV9tYDp`HlcLhf\ PehTakXYn`UqdQthNvlMuhMueMubMt_MtXMtULsRLsOLsLLrIL\ rFLrCImDFhEDdFA_G8WH5RI3NI7NLANOENRHNULNXON_SNbVNe\ ZNhaNkeNnhNpeOmbPj`QgYReWRbTS_QTXOUVLVSJVPGWMDXKBY\ H8ZE6ZCCVRIReNNsaeuowvgpt`jrUdqNYoGSm9Ml9Ll9Ll9Kl9\ Kl9Kl9Jm9Jm9Im9Im9Hm9Hm9HmAInAInBInBInCInCInDInDJn\ DJoEJoEJoFJoFJoGJoGKoGKoHKpHKpIKpIKpJKpJLpKLpKLpKL\ qLLqLLqMLqMMq`QuNMqNMqNMqOMrOMrPMrPNrQNrQNrRNrRNrR\ NsSNsSOsTOsTOsUOsUOsUOsVOtVPtWPtWPtXPtXPtYPtYPtYQu\ ZQuZQu_Qu_Qu`Qu`QuIfGJeHJeIJeIKdJKdKKdKLdLLcMLcMLc\ NMcOMbOMbPNbQNbQNaROaSOaS } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================