Ultra Fractal is a

fractal In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illu ...

generation and rendering software application. The program was the first publicly available fractal software which featured layering methods previously only found in image editing software. Because of this, the program has become popular for use in the creation of

fractal art Fractal art is a form of algorithmic art created by calculating fractal objects and representing the calculation results as still digital images, animations, and media. Fractal art developed from the mid-1980s onwards. It is a genre of computer ...

. Ultra Fractal is commercial software, but an evaluation version is freely available. The unregistered version creates

watermarked A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

renders.

Features

Ultra Fractal is

raster Raster may refer to: * Raster graphics, graphical techniques using arrays of pixel values * Raster graphics editor, a computer program * Raster scan, the pattern of image readout, transmission, storage, and reconstruction in television and compu ...

based. The program works using a similar paradigm to Photoshop, allowing multiple layers to be combined using layer blending modes, transformations, and custom fractal

formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

s. Fractal formulas, coloring algorithms, and transformations may be written by users, and a large number of such formula files are available in a public formula database. Fractals may be copied from the interface and pasted as plain text into an email. There is a busy

mailing list A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is re ...

on which many users post their parameter sets. Calculation using

arbitrary precision arithmetic In computer science, arbitrary-precision arithmetic, also called bignum arithmetic, multiple-precision arithmetic, or sometimes infinite-precision arithmetic, indicates that calculations are performed on numbers whose digits of precision are li ...

is supported, allowing users to zoom to a magnification of 10⁴⁰⁰⁰. The

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

is customizable with a dockable MDI. The software calculates

statistic A statistic (singular) or sample statistic is any quantity computed from values in a sample which is considered for a statistical purpose. Statistical purposes include estimating a population parameter, describing a sample, or evaluating a hypo ...

s about the fractal that is being previewed. Other features include fullscreen mode, color cycling, a render queue, distributed rendering calculations, and a detailed help file. Version 4 added support for

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

s and improved flame fractal rendering. Formulae from Fractint, an early and widely used piece of fractal-generating software, have been converted to an UltraFractal formula file.

References

External links

*
UF Formula Database
{{Computer science Computer art Fractal software 2006 software

Features

See also

References

External links