FOTD -- July 12, 2010 (Rating 8) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's image is located in the middle of nowhere. Well, it's actually located in a parent fractal resembling a Mandelbrot set starting to split apart along its negative X-axis. The scene lies in the apparently empty space between the two spread- apart branches of the parent's Scepter Valley. When I first rendered today's image in the usual manner, it was a total flop. But thanks to Fractint's various rendering options, I raised the total flop to a rating of an impressive 8. The delicate and decorative fern-like features jutting in from the edges consist of 'outside' stuff exaggerated by the 'atan' option; the soft, gently colored aura surrounding the order-3.5 minibrot is 'inside' stuff made visible by the 'fmod' option. Put all of this together and the image honestly earns its 8. The name "Arc-Tangent Does It" came to mind when I tried the 'atan' feature on the original near-hopeless image and saw the unexpected improvement. Re-rendering the scene with the 'fmod' inside was an afterthought. The calculation time of 1-1/4 minutes will pass swiftly once the full glory of the scene becomes apparent. It will take even less time to view the image already calculated on the FOTD web site at: <http://www.Nahee.com/FOTD/> According to the fractal cats, a splendid day prevailed here at Fractal Central on Sunday. The humidity was quite low and the sky was completely cloud-free all day. True, the temperature of 88F 31C was on the warm side, but the dry air kept things quite comfortable. With the work caught up after a hectic week, my day was spent trying to relax. My next task is to stay caught up and relaxed so I can finish a logo for the FOTD web site. I have the design, which includes some 4-D stuff, worked out, but I have not yet done the footwork. FL spent the day Sunday giving hints that it was her XX'th birthday. (I had not forgotten.) If all goes well, and even if it does not, the next FOTD is quite likely to be posted in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and iterate wildly. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Arc-TangentDoes_It { ; time=0:01:13.71-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm formulaname=FinDivBrot-2 function=recip inside=fmod center-mag=-1.267991618657123/-0.0061887110744204\ /199069.8 params=3.5/-99/0/0 float=y maxiter=2500 proximity=0.0003 outside=atan periodicity=6 colors=000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Z\ 7O_7O`7OXAPTDPQFPMIPGLOJKPLKQNKQPKRSKSUKSWKTYKU`KU\ bKVdKWeJXfKWfLVfMVfNUfOTfPTfQSfRRfRRfSQfTPfUPfVOfW\ NfXNfYMfZLgZLg_Kg`JgaJgbIgcHgdHgeGgfFgfFggEghDgiDg\ jCgkBglBgmAgmAhkBhjBhiBhhChgChfCheChdDhcDhbDhaDh`E\ h_EhZEiYFiXFiWFiVFiUGiTGiSGiRGiQHiPHiOHiNIiMIiLIiK\ KjJMjIOjHQjGSjFUjFWjGYjH_jIaiJchKegLgfMieNkdOlcOmb\ PmbQnaRn`So`To_Up`UpaUq_UpaVqbWqcXqdYqfZqh`qkbrmdr\ ofrqhrsjrulrwmrpimiemcbmXZmRWnKSjEPf7Lb0HZ1IZ2IZ2I\ Z3IZ3IZ4I_5I`5Ia6Ib6Ic7Id8Ie8If9Ig9IhAIiBJjCKkDLmE\ MoFNqGOsHPtIQuJRvKSwLTwLTwLTwLTxKTyKTzKTzKTzJTzJTz\ JTzITzITzITzITzHTzHTzHTzGTzGTzGUzGUzFTzFTyFTxETwET\ vETuETtDTsDTrDTqCTpCToCTnDUmCTlCSkCRjCRiBQhBPgBOfB\ OeANdAMcAMbALa9K`9J_9JZ9IY8HX8HW8GV8FU7ET7ES7DR7CQ\ 6CP6BO6AN69M59L58K57J36I57H67G56F45E34D23C12B01A00\ 9008007006005004003002001 } frm:FinDivBrot-2 { ; Jim Muth z=(0,0), c=pixel, a=-(real(p1)-2), esc=(real(p2)+16), b=imag(p1): z=(b)*(z*z*fn1(z^(a)+b))+c |z| < esc } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================