World of Fractals - Animation Guide

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World of fractals

By Adam Lerer

How to Make Animations

So, you liked the animations? Well, all you need to make your own is a computer, some patience, Fractint, and a program that compiles image sequences like QuickTime Pro at about 10 frames per second. All the animations are made by saving somewhere between 50 and 200 fractal pictures in close succession. What makes the animations different is what is changed in eash successive frame.

Magnification Animations

These are the simplest, but most time consuming animations to make. You start off with a fractal (say the Mandelbrot set). You save the picture with s. Next, you zoom in with Page Up just once or twice so that you still have most of the picture in the box. Render. Save. Rinse, lather, repeat. You can guide the animation by moving in different directions but do it slowly and gradually, using the arrow keys instead of the mouse.

Colour Cycling Animations

These animations are extremely easy to make. First take a nice picture you've created on fractint and save it. Then press c to enter colour cycling mode. Next, press c twice in quick succession (about 1/2 second between presses). This way, the colours change only slightly. Now, press Esc to exit colour cycling mode, and press s to save. Rinse, lather, repeat. If you do it properly, then the last frame should be the same as the first. Then, you can loop the animation to get a longer viewing with less frames.

Julia Animations

These are the most complex animations, but are not that hard to learn. A Julia fractal is defined by the equation z^2+c, the same equation as the Mandelbrot fractal (the one that starts at the beginning of fractint). The difference is that for a Julia fractal, the complex number c is given a set value, while in the Mandelbrot set, c is equal to the coordinates of the point being iterated. Because of this, there is a unique Julia set for each point on the Mandelbrot set (with the set value of c being the coordinates of the point on the Mandelbrot set).

In fractint, pressing space brings up a pointer. By pointing to a spot on the screen and pressing space again, you can render a Julia fractal with c equal to the point highlighted. So, first press space and set a point on the screen. Then press space again to render a Julia fractal for that point. Press s to save. Next, press space again to return to the Mandelbrot set. Press space to bring the pointer up again. With the arrow keys, move the pointer 1-3 pixels in some direction. Press space to render that picture. Rinse, lather repeat. Properly done, the animation should look like it's curling around, almost as if it's dancing. For more cool pictures, once each Julia fractal is rendered, press j to create an inverse Julia fractal (the swirly-looking ones) and follow the same steps.

Good luck!