FracFan Forum :: View topic - I'm thinking of going over to the dark side .....

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:09 am

... and getting to grips with UF Twisted Evil

I've downloaded the trial version and am working my way through the tutorials that came with it.

I've got a VERY long list of online tuts and so on but I'd really like to know - bearing in mind that as this is the trial version I only have access to a limited selection of installed formulae - is there one tutorial that is considered indispensable?

Edited because I just realised that I can download all the public formulae, so the choices availablle to me to have a play with aren't as limited as I thought they were ;)

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 11:05 am

Hooray! The dark side is a lonely place sometimes. Cool

I don't know about one tutorial being totally indispensable.... I guess if I had to choose any it would be the official UF tutorials that come with the program, they're a good place to start because they cover almost all of the basic skills. (just go to Help > Tutorials in UF) I would probably start with those first, and then move on to other more advanced tutorials online.

For masking I like Rick Spix's tutorial, Creativ82 has some good "anatomy of" tutorials on his website that give you a great peek into how he does his work, you can also pick up some nice tricks and tips from them. Janet Parke's list of tutorials is excellent too. There are a TON of good tutorials out there really, it's a very complex fractal program.

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 11:11 am

Thanks, Trys!

I want to have some time with at least one other tut before I have to decide whether or not to buy UF, and I don't want to do what I normally do with something new ... which is read *everything* I can get my hands on at breakneck speed and not take any of it in ;-)

Rick Spix - is that the chap who uses the name Rykk on dA? If so, his masking tut sounds like a good bet.

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 3:16 pm

Make sure you study the tut that comes with the program first, it realy is the best, it is written by Janet Parke and indeed covers all the basics.

Rykk's masking tut is also good, but first Janet's basics Exclamation

You could take a look here to

http://www.wizzleworld.com/tutorials/ufworkshop/learning.htm

May the Force be with you Laughing

Lil

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:44 am

Thanks Lil! :D

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:31 am

Well, I've actually got to the stage where I finished something! It's not at all exciting but at least I've now been through the whole process.

The most exciting (?) thing about it was me trying to remember where the rendered .jpg had been saved, because I didn't take any notice of that at the time Laughing

If any of you care to take a look - critical feedback very welcome - I've uploaded it to my scraps at dA, you can see it here http://www.deviantart.com/view/36771843/

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:25 am

Hi Gill,

Looks not bad, but..........
Since you ask for critique, the black hole in the middle you could do without and in every little "ball" from your spiral you have a tiny light or dark spot that is IMHO not so nice to look at.
If you replace the inside solid color in each layer by something more soothing you get rid of that black hole.
The tiny dots you can get rid of by adjusting your gradient until they disappear.

Lil

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:00 pm

HiWelshy
You can also get rid of blackcenter spots by increasing the max iterations on the formula tab,doesn't always work but worth playing with.
Look forward to your next creation...................Paul
Welcome to the dark side,a somewhat lonely place at times

Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:20 am

Thanks Lil and Paul for your encouragement & tips , and Lil I appreciate your critique very much :) :)

I've had some advice from Trys as well on improving the image and also on using the grad editor, so now I've got the exitement of actually creating "something/anything" with UF over and done with, I can knuckle down to some serious learning.

Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:14 am

Gill,

You can import your Apophysis gradients into UF, but once you start masking they become very difficult to control (because they have to many control points)

lil

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:48 am

Still ploughing my way thro' UF's own tuts: I can be good sometimes Shocked

I've posted a couple of pieces on dA and would welcome constructive criticism.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/36995620/

http://www.deviantart.com/view/37008181/

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:23 pm

They are both wonderfull Gill claphands

Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:48 am

Thanks very much, Lil, for you to say that is a great compliment :)