This is a set of experimental 3D fractals generated with various software applications for the technical and creative exploration of computer generated abstract mesh creation.

All of these beautiful and sophisticated fractals belong to the quaternion, hypercomplex, cubic Mandelbrot, complexified quaternion and octonion renderings of the Mandelbrot and Julia sets. Some others are based on iterative 3x3 matrices where power series are utilized for transcendental and trig functions. The color treatment for each fractal was decided upon by it's shape and form.

Make sure to view the HD size images by clicking on "Click here to view fullsize image..." under each picture in the gallery.

The procedure for generating and rendering 3D fractals involves various complex steps. First, a fractal generation application must be used to create the object. This process can take anywhere from minutes to hours, depending on the complexity of the fractal set. When the object has been calculated, the mesh must then be constructed and exported for use in a traditional 3D rendering application. Polygon optimization methods must be applied since the generated meshes tend to be extremely dense. It is not uncommon for many of these objects to be in excess of 1-3 million polygons.

3D fractal meshes are always calculated by using a step value. This can be visualized as the 3d resolution of the mesh. Mesh step size limitations are usually visible as jagged or pixilated mesh curves but are often unavoidable.

Once textured, lit and rendered, the images were heavily processed in Photoshop where color correction and post effects were applied as a final pass. About 60% of the work in each image was done in Photoshop using a Cintiq.