Fractals - Different Types of Fractals
There are many different types of fractals.
The first well-known fractal ever discovered is still a very popular type today.
This is the famous Mandelbrot set.
The relatively simple algorithm which is used to make it, was presented to the public in 1985 by Scientific American magazine.
A lot of early fractal images came from the Mandelbrot set (or its Julia inverse), including lots beautiful spiral shapes.
However there are many other types of fractals.
One particularly beautiful fractal type is the "3D Strange attractor" (sometimes called "flame fractal") which maps the orbits of points around certain focal points...
this fractal produces images that can look something like smoke, flames, patterns in reflected light, even flowers and feathers.
Another type of fractal is the IFS fractal which can produce beautiful patterns of points which gradually fill the "attractor" (the fractal attractor is the shape that the whole fractal would fill if rendered for an infinite time).
The IFS fractal is also the basis of the well-know JPEG image compression format.
All of the above fractal types can be generated easily using free software, and are amazingly fascinating to explore for yourself.
A lot of abstract art, in particular "organic abstract" art, is fractal in nature.
Also, marks made by watercolor on paper, or oil on canvas, are fractal in nature, whatever those marks are used to represent.
Nature itself is also mainly fractal...
plant orbits, galaxy shapes, sunspots, plant and tree shapes, the sound of a waterfall, ocean waves, the sound of the wind, the shapes of seashells, and most of the rest of nature, is all built out of different types of fractals.
The first well-known fractal ever discovered is still a very popular type today.
This is the famous Mandelbrot set.
The relatively simple algorithm which is used to make it, was presented to the public in 1985 by Scientific American magazine.
A lot of early fractal images came from the Mandelbrot set (or its Julia inverse), including lots beautiful spiral shapes.
However there are many other types of fractals.
One particularly beautiful fractal type is the "3D Strange attractor" (sometimes called "flame fractal") which maps the orbits of points around certain focal points...
this fractal produces images that can look something like smoke, flames, patterns in reflected light, even flowers and feathers.
Another type of fractal is the IFS fractal which can produce beautiful patterns of points which gradually fill the "attractor" (the fractal attractor is the shape that the whole fractal would fill if rendered for an infinite time).
The IFS fractal is also the basis of the well-know JPEG image compression format.
All of the above fractal types can be generated easily using free software, and are amazingly fascinating to explore for yourself.
A lot of abstract art, in particular "organic abstract" art, is fractal in nature.
Also, marks made by watercolor on paper, or oil on canvas, are fractal in nature, whatever those marks are used to represent.
Nature itself is also mainly fractal...
plant orbits, galaxy shapes, sunspots, plant and tree shapes, the sound of a waterfall, ocean waves, the sound of the wind, the shapes of seashells, and most of the rest of nature, is all built out of different types of fractals.
Source...