A Warm Welcome To #Ultra-Fractal-Redux

It is heart-warming to see so many of you joining this new group, and we have some exciting things planned ahead, so spread the word!

As you will no doubt have seen from our original Home Page information, this group is more than a mere collecting point for UF art.  It is also a place for sharing knowledge about the program and how to use it with one another, so that we can all learn and grow together as amazing Ultra Fractal artists!  We already have quite a few fractals with parameters added, and our Resources gallery is getting quite a comprehensive collection of tutorials and other things in it.  This is a major part of what this group is all about, so please keep them coming!

Below we have the details of our very first challenge, which is two-fold in order to accommodate the skill levels and preferences of the people taking part.  At the end of the month once the challenge is over, we would like to invite you to tell us what you have learnt from creating your entries.  If we get good participation in this, we will produce a special journal so that we talk about the most tricky and the most exciting things that were encountered in the process, bringing along some solutions too.

We plan a regular "Fractal Agony Aunt Journal" in order to give some help to people who are new to using Ultra Fractal.  For this, we will invite questions relating to Ultra Fractal from our members to be sent us by Note, a week beforehand.  These may relate to a difficulty being experienced in working something out, and parameters may need to be included.  We will do what we can to help you out.  The most prominent of these will then be published in a journal along with suggested solutions, keeping those who have asked the questions anonymous.

At some point we may do some collaborative work where a project is shared between pairs of people.

All these things, and possibly more too, will depend on You the Members of this group.  If there is little interest shown then we will just end up as another regular fractal group.  Let's not allow that to happen!  Let's do something quite different here and bring ongoing encouragement to the Ultra Fractal Community to keep creating and improving with this amazing program!




The Challenges for February

We have two challenges for you this month; one requires you to use a specific Outside Colouring called Harlequin II, the other is more of a freestyle challenge where the only requirement is to create an image which includes one or more heart motifs. You can enter either or both (with up to 4 images in total!), it's up to you! More details can be found below.

NOTE: There are no winners or losers in these challenges, they are designed to encourage experience to be gained through experimentation in specific aspects of the UF program. Please note that the sharing of parameters for challenge images is strongly encouraged in this group. We do not insist on this but if you are willing to add the parameters for your image/s to the artist comments or offer to share them privately by note to individuals that ask (put this in the artist comments) then this will greatly help others so do please seriously consider sharing your work in this way. If, however, you really do NOT wish to do this then you will need to submit the parameters privately by note to us so we can check you have followed the rules of the challenge.

February 2013 Harlequin II Challenge

For this challenge we have provided a starter image that uses a straightforward Julia formula with the Harlequin II colouring from tma.ucl: [link]. This colouring is what we would like you to focus all your attention on this month. It provides a wide range of parameters that affect both shaping and texture. We would like you to explore as many of these options as possible and really get to know what this colouring is capable of. As you go along do make notes on anything interesting you find or discover about this colouring - at the end of the challenge we would like you to share these thoughts with others in a journal entry here so you can all learn from each other!

To give you an idea of how this might work my own tip would be that for any of the texturing to show up you must first enter something in the "Tx Amount" field of the texture/s you wish to use and that the  "Overall Tx Percent" parameter (at the top of the texturing options) also affects how the texturing will be applied - I find 100% is a little strong so try reducing this number for a more subtle effect!

You have one month to create up to two images for this challenge. Please include the parameters in the artist comments if you can otherwise you will need to send them in to us by note before your entry is approved for the gallery. Please read the full rules below carefully - they should answer any questions you may have, if not then do please ask!

HARLEQUIN II CHALLENGE RULES

You must use the parameters provided as the basis for your image:
[link]

You may NOT tweak the Julia seed in the formula itself, all alterations are to be made inside the Harlequin II ucl. The idea is to familiarise yourslef with the possibilities inside the Harlequin II ucl (found inside tma.ucl).

Colors may be changed using either the gradient or the colour density on any layer (or both), including the Background layer, but NOT the coloring algorythm itself (ucl file) - it must remain as a Harlequin II.

If you wish to keep to black & white, that is also fine, so long as there are variations in tone accentuating the changes in the final image.

Any amount of layers may be added to the image, including masks if you wish, but the original layer must remain in its current form with the exception of colour changes, and remain visible through the image.

You will need to make use of the layer properties to get different results and so that all layers are visible.

The original layer can be moved up or down the other added layers, so if you want it on top, that's fine.

The image may be zoomed in/out, rotated and cropped to a different aspect ratio for compositional purposes.

No Mapping transformations are allowed.

No postwork allowed except for a signature.

You MUST be a member of #Ultra-Fractal-Redux to participate and may enter up to TWO different versions of your tweak into the challenge folder over the month.

One entry may be exchanged if you think you have produced something better than something you already entered. However, you MUST note us to arrange this.

The challenge starts on the 1st and runs through to the end of the month.

Post your image into our February 2013 Harlequin II Challenge folder in the gallery.

You MUST note this group with your Parameter set for checking OR make the parameters available in your artist's comments. This is compulsory and we will disqualify any entries made without this having been done.

A direct link to this journal and the name of the group must be included in your artists comments, i.e.

My entry for the February 2013 Harlequin II Challenge  [Link]
(Copy and paste the URL of this journal and place it instead of the bracketed word Link.) You may if you wish, add the thumb of the journal itself. This would be much appreciated!


February 2013 Freestyle Challenge Theme: Love Me Do

This "freestyle" challenge is simpler and has fewer rules. For this challenge you need to create a fractal on the theme of Love. At least one heart shape MUST be present and clearly visible in the image. Other than that you have a free hand to create whatever you like, however you like!

Please read the full rules below carefully - they should answer any questions you may have, if not then do please ask!

FREESTYLE CHALLENGE RULES

You MUST be a member of #Ultra-Fractal-Redux to participate and may enter up to TWO different images into the challenge folder over the month.

Your entries MUST be newly created works that have not previously been published.

The challenge starts on the 1st and runs through to the end of the month.

Post your image/s into our February 2013 Love Me Do Challenge folder in the gallery.

No postwork allowed except for minor image enhancements such as sharpening, a frame and/or a signature. Any watermark applied (including DA's own watermark) must be subtle.

Parameter sharing is encouraged in this group. We do not insist on this but if you are willing to add the parameters for your image/s to the artist comments or offer to share them privately by note to individuals that ask then this will greatly help others so do please consider sharing your work in this way. If you do NOT wish to share that is OK too, and for this freestyle challenge you will NOT be required to send in your parameters to us.

Please consider your entries carefully. If you need to change your image send us a Note with the details. You may make just ONE change to your entries per month so choose wisely!

A direct link to this journal and the name of the group must be included in your artists comments, i.e.

My entry for the February 2013 Love Me Do Challenge [Link]
(Copy and paste the URL of this journal and place it instead of the bracketed word Link.) You may if you wish, add the thumb of the journal itself. This would be much appreciated!




CONCLUSION
That's it! If you have any questions please ask.

We hope you will participate in and enjoy these challenges! Please remember that these exercises are primarily intended to be for fun and learning, by members of all abilities. Great artistic works are not the prime objective, though we hope that you will all choose the best examples that you come up with and that you will publicly share not only your parameters but also any tips or tricks you have learned along the way, whatever your level of expertise - I'm sure we all have much to learn from each other!

Have fun!