Fractals in Special Effects
Fractals come from the world of mathematics and geometry; they are useful for understanding natural branching shapes such as trees, the human circulatory system, lightning and rivers. Self-similarity across different size scales is an important feature of fractals; for example, a twig has a similar shape as a tree branch, which in turn looks like the trunk. Computers easily generate fractal images, making them useful for realistic-looking special effects.
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Landscapes
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Natural landforms such as coastlines, rivers and mountains follow a fractal pattern. Using a computer and fractal software, a graphic artist creates alien landscapes and planetary images simply by specifying the kinds of landscape, colors and numbers to general fractal patterns. Details in landscapes such as trees, ferns and other plants also have a fractal geometry and are easily rendered in software. By changing dimension numbers that affect the shape and branching nature of the fractal, the plants may take on a familiar look or an entirely alien appearance.
Textures
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The textures of natural objects, such as stones, and living things, such as animals and human faces, have fractal properties. Almost any item that does not have an absolutely smooth, glassy surface contains bumps, pits and grooves. The sizes of these features vary by fractal laws: many will be very small, some will be bigger and a handful are relatively large. Their distribution across an object’s surface is not entirely random but has a fractal nature. A computer program, using numeric parameters to vary the appearance of fractal features, mathematically “paints” an area in an image to fill it with realistic-looking texture. An artist animates scenes by creating hundreds or thousands of computer-generated still images; a fully-rendered scene with textures can take days or weeks of computer processing time.
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Distress
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Old movies shot on film may have scratches, dust, tears and burn marks that flicker down the screen. This kind of visual “noise” and the accompanying noise on the movie’s optical soundtrack have become a recognizable part of the patina of vintage film. Computer software using fractal methods produces artificial distress to impart a vintage feel to new movies and digital video. As with the small features in textures, fractal mathematics generates film blemishes having realistic variance and distribution in size.
Phenomena
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Fire, windstorms and ocean waves have fractal properties and can be rendered using software. Lightning has a fractal, branching pattern similar to a river; the feathered edges of a fire have self-similar patterns that repeat from large features to small ones. For example, a video game that produces a scene with fire uses fractals to produce it with a good degree of realism and in real time.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
