Today, December 30th 2023, a decade has passed since I published my first Fractal film on the internet. And what a decade it has been!
Read MoreInversive Geometry and Sidestepping
The effect is best described as some mysterious sphere or orb of dark matter or negative energy that moves through the fractal space. When I was rendering some shots for this film, it became clear to me that the orb itself was a mirrored and warped version of the world around it, which I thought was very cool. After doing some research, I found that this effect is called Sphere Inversion, or Inversion in a Sphere, and is a subset of Inversive Geometry.
Read MoreArt Galleries and Fulldome Fractals
For me, dome theaters are magical temples – movie theaters dedicated to astronomy, science and art. What more could you ask for?
Read MoreThe End of an Era
Up until today I have always called myself VFX designer and Fractal Artist. After tomorrow, I will drop the first part of that title.
Read MoreFractal Art Isn't Random or Artificial Intelligence
This is the comparison I make when I talk about fractal art. It’s an art, no question about it, but the comparison should be with the photographer, not the painter. Just like the photographer for National Geographic, we are explorers. We explore vast mathematical landscapes that aren’t of our own making, but we may be called pioneers, visiting places that no human has yet gazed upon. This is exactly what the most fulfilling part of the creative process feels like. Exploring, in ultimate wonder, wondering what’s behind that ledge, or what happens when we change the Minimum Radius, or go into Julia mode.
Read MoreNeural Style Transfer for Matte Painting and Fractal Art
The rapid advent of neural networks in the field of computer graphics have opened some interesting possibilities. Most examples of Deep Neural Style transfer I have seen focus on applying painterly styles to pictures or videos. I’ve seen plenty interesting results, but I cannot stomach to see yet another ‘Starry Night’ styled picture. Therefor I wanted to focus on a few other uses beyond the glorified Instagram filters.
Read MoreNeural Networks interpreting Fractals
There's something intensely satisfying about peering into a machine's mind.
Read MoreLive Visuals
I am mixing clips from a vast repertoire of all my own fractal work -plus a lot of unreleased material – long colorful fly-throughs that work great on large screens, morphing alien worlds that make those on the dance-floor feel like they are on a journey – keeping in tune with the ebb and flow of the music.
Read MoreHardware and Rendering for Mandelbulb3D
I often get asked questions about how long it took to render the animation, or what kind of computer I have. I often forgo answering, partly because it's not an easy question to answer. But in this post I will try and answer them as best I can.
Read MoreTrue Stereoscopy
I've decided to render a true stereoscopic fractal flythrough - although it isn't 360 degrees. You can't look back, only forward, as it's a 180 degrees render. Still, it's as immersive as the other VR stuff, with the added benefit of being truly stereoscopic.
Read MoreIce Cave rendering and VR
I'm currently doing a couple of 'Ice Cave' renders, and an animation is in the making. I'm not sure if it's going to be any good, because rendering refractive materials is not only extremely slow, but also prone to a lot of unwanted artifacts. But let's put the problems aside for a moment.
I'm going to use the Ice Cave examples to explain something about fractals that I've been thinking about for a while. I'll try to not to get too technical, and anybody with a mild interest in rendering or computer graphics should be able to follow it.
Mandelbulb Maniacs and the Future of Fractal Art
Slowly but surely it seems that my work, and the work of other great fractal artists around the world, is being noticed by a broader audience and also appreciated as a more mature art form.
Not just online, but also offline these works are being recognized and praised. Keep an eye on my Events page that I'll try to update frequently with events and festivals my work will show in one way or another.
Read MoreSome background on 'Our Fractal Brains'
I very much enjoyed the film 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' by Ben Stiller. The unconventional imagination of both the lead character as well as the director resonated with me. One of the scenes that stuck was the scene where Mitty first starts to travel, to Greenland. Everywhere through the shots we see words that form sentences. I wanted to do something like that, and that's how the idea of this short film emerged.
Read MoreSpaced Out or Stretched Out- VR storytelling ideas
I've decided to share some excerpts from a piece I'm writing on VR (virtual reality) storytelling. These are thoughts and ideas that I's like to experiment with, improve upon or throw away if they don't work. If you have any additional ideas or comments about mine, I invite you to write them down in the comments section
Read MoreBaraka
I am convinced that this cinematic language must work well in VR. The Virtual Reality goggles have been called temples before, and indeed - it's the architecture that creates presence. The same principles that places of worship have used all over the world for millennia can make VR into something transcendental.
Read MoreSymmetry
Symmetry is actually really quite interesting: It’s everywhere in nature; in the shape of a leaf to virtually every living animal - they all have a symmetry axis through the middle. Therefore, symmetry is actually a pleasing sight. Any random shape with a vertical symmetry axis has the potential to look familiar: Rorschach blobs are probably the best example of this.
Read More