The
gnarl style of fractal is a beautiful and fun fractal, and perhaps
one of the trickiest to create. Don’t be dismayed, however, because
we’ll walk through the process in this tutorial step by step to
produce the beautiful fractal you see above using the Apophysis software program. You’ll then possess the
tools to create amazing gnarl fractals on your own. From the
dizzyingly detailed to the soft and smooth-as-satin, you can make them
all!
1.
Setting the Stage
Step
1
Open
Apophysis and check that you have the waves2 plugin. This plugin will
be essential to our approach to the gnarl fractal style. You can
check for the presence of waves2 by opening the Editor,
clicking the Variations tab, and typing “waves” into the
search box. Alternatively, you can simply scroll through the list and
look for it. In some newer versions of Apophysis this plugin is
included, and in others you will need to install it yourself. If waves2
is present, then skip to step 3.
Step
2
If
you’re missing the waves2 plugin, you will need to download and
install it. Close Apophysis as you cannot install a new plugin with
the program open. The waves2.dll file needs to be copied into the Plugins folder inside your Apophysis program directory. Once
you’ve copied this file over, open Apophysis.
Step
3
Open
the Editor and click the New Flame button to create a
blank slate from which to start.
2.
Creating the Base
Step
1
For
Transform 1, leave Linear set to 1 and add in the value of 1
to radial_blur. Switch to the Variables tab and change
the radial_blur_angle to 1 as well. After you have explored
the tutorial as a whole, you may wish to come back to this step and
adjust the radial_blur_angle as this can provide you with some very
unique results.
Finally,
set the Weight of Transform 1 to 0.125. This transform has a
lower weight because we’re using it as a blurred base. It simply
needs to be present but does not need much emphasis to be placed on
it. The higher weights will be applied to transforms that affect the
overall shape and structure of the fractal.
Step
2
Create
a new transform by clicking the New Transform button in the
toolbar. Change the weight of this transform to 10, much higher than
the setting of Transform 1.
Finally, remove the linear variation by setting it equal to 0 and add
the waves2 variation by setting its value equal to 1.
As
mentioned above, this transform has a higher weight assigned to it
because it will control the actual structure of the fractal. By
modifying this weight value you can adjust how crisp or blurry your
fractal will appear. The more weight you apply to this transform, the
“cleaner” your fractal will appear; the lower
the weight, the more blurred and “dusty”.
Step
3
Now
we need to make some adjustments to the waves2
variation. Switch to the Variables tab in the Editor.
Adjust the values as follows:
- waves2_freqx: 2
- waves2_freqy: 2
- waves2_freqz: 0
- waves2_scalex: 0.05
- waves2_scaley: 0.2
- waves2_scalez: 0
Each
of these settings can be modified in the future, but for now, stick
with these until you get used to how the variation affects the
overall fractal.
At
this point, you still will not see any pixels plotted on your
viewport or the main window. In our next few steps we will finally
start to see the fractal taking shape.
3. Building the Basic Gnarl Shape
Step
1
Open
the Triangle tab in the Editor. Make certain that
Transform 2 is selected.
Click
the rotate 90 degrees counter-clockwise button to rotate the transform. At this point, depending on the current
gradient, you may already be seeing some shape in your viewport.
Change
the value of the move units to 2. This is the middle text box that is
located between the up/down and left/right arrows. Move the transform
to the right by 2 units and then down 2 units.
Step
2
This
step is very tricky and yet quite fun at the same time. In the Editor
window, click on the Yellow X (Transform 2’s triangle). Move
this node around. The idea is to stick close to the corners of the
unit grid. Watch the viewport window as you move X around and
find a shape you like.
Step
3
Now
the real exploration begins! At any point in time, feel free to
modify the X and Y points by values between 0.001 and 0.01 on the
Triangle tab. Do so independently to find some amazing
combinations.
Step
4
Open
the Variables tab. Start to explore different options with the
scale variables. Try setting waves2_freqy to something between
0.1 and 1.
Modify
waves2_freqx as well. Try using negative numbers to see how
they impact the fractal.
Change
the scale values for x and y as well. See what happens when these two
values are equal and when they are very different.
4. Adding Texture
At
this point we have created a basic gnarl. You could simply stop here
and render the fractal. However, let’s take things a few steps
further. First, we will add some texture to the fractal. This is
another opportunity for you to get very creative in your use of the
different variations within Apophysis. Next we will work on coloring
the gnarl and then finally, we’ll add in a final transform and render
the fractal.
Step
1
Add
a new transform by clicking the New Transform button at the
top of the editor. This will be Transform 3. Remove the Linear
variation from this transform by setting the value to 0 in the
Variations tab.
Step
2
Add
different amounts of variations to this transform. Feel free to add
multiple variations and see the effect it has on the gnarl. Don’t
forget about negative numbers!
Here
are the variations I finally decided upon.
- horseshoe : 0.283
- hyperbolic: 0.52
- unpolar: 0.461
5. Coloring the Fractal
Step
1
To
begin coloring the fractal, we need to select a gradient. Open the
Adjustment window and switch to the Gradients tab. I’ve
chosen gradient 403. Feel free to pick this one, or find one
of your own to experiment.
Step
2
Close
the Adjustment window and return to the Editor. Select
Transform 2. Switch to the Colors tab. Change the Color
Speed to a value between 0.9 and 0.975.
Finally,
drag the Transform Color slider slowly and watch the fractal
really come to life! Once you’ve explored the coloring, decide upon a
setting you like and continue on below or go back and choose a new
gradient and use the Transform Color slider again until you
find something that makes you happy.
6. Final Transform
In
the editor, click the button that looks like a triangle with the
letters FX beside it. This will enable the Final Transform.
Remove Linear by changing its value in the Variations tab to
0. Experiment with adding different variations, including negatives
and multiple variations, until you find a structure that makes you
happy.
7. Final Steps and Rendering the Fractal
All
that is left now is to crop the fractal so that it is pleasing in
appearance, modify any rendering settings, and render the fractal.
Step
1
Close
the Editor as we are finished manipulating the actual fractal.
In the main window of Apophysis use the move, zoom,
and rotate tools to focus on an aesthetically pleasing area of
the fractal you created. There is a nice tool called Show
Guidelines that allows you to use the rule of thirds and the
golden ratio in positioning your fractal.
Step
2
Open
the Adjustment window and select the Rendering tab.
Change the Brightness setting to be slightly higher than what
you would expect; a setting of 5 usually works well.
Step
3
To
render the fractal, open the Render window by clicking the
purple gear in the main Apophysis window. Use a high value for your
render Density. I normally use 10,000. A higher Filter Radius of 1.0
will normally yield very good results. As for Oversample, you can
simply use 1 but do not go higher than 3. This option renders your
fractal larger and then scales it down before it is saved to the hard
drive to prevent or limit anti aliasing. Click Start and let
the computer crunch the numbers.
Great Work! You’ve Done It
Congratulations! You’ve completed your first gnarl-style fractal. Now that you have the basics under your belt, start exploring all the different options. You can begin by seeing what happens when Transform 2 is rotated. Use very small degrees, 1 or 0.5 at first because the changes will be huge even at such small numbers. Position Transform 2 in an entirely different area of the grid. Use different variables for waves2 or try different texture variations. The different options are sure to keep you busy for many hours to come!
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