Are fractals 2 or 3d work?

[arb]

Working with fractals means rendering. Is it than 2d or 3d work?

Ton

[tamlin]

I'd say 2D. Wikipedia has this to say about 3D graphics:

3D computer graphics are works of graphic art created with the aid of digital computers and 3D software. The term may also refer to the process of creating such graphics, or the field of study of computer graphic techniques and related technology.

3D computer graphics are different from 2D computer graphics in that a three-dimensional representation of geometric data is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. Such images may be for later display or for real-time viewing.

3D modeling is the process of preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics, and is similiar to sculpting, whereas the art of 2D graphics is analogous to photography. Despite these differences, 3D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2D computer graphics.

In computer graphics software, the distinction between 2D and 3D is occasionally blurred; 2D applications may use 3D techniques to achieve effects such as lighting, and primarily 3D may use 2D rendering techniques.

The important concept here is 3D modeling is the process of preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics, and is similiar to sculpting. Fractals do not contain three-dimensional data (as far as I know, but then I'm not a mathematician), so I'd say they are 2D.

[notjustgraphics]

I'd think that fractals which are ensentially mathematically generated images, can be produced in 2 dimensions, 3 dimensions, and likely even 4dimensions (considering that the 4th dimension would be Time or a quantum state, or a phasic property).

Here are a few sites I found interesting while I was google-pondering your question arb:

3D Fractals
3D Fractals Gallery
3D Fractals
3D Fractal Landscapes

it goes on... just google "3D Fractals"

Heres a few pages of interest on 4D Fractals

http://www.geocities.com/joke_dst/tcprenderer/21.pdf
http://www.superliminal.com/fractals/

I even came across a theory that considered wheteher or not the Universe could be expressed as a fractal image... it has uncanny similarities.

Mike.

[wombie]

I'd say 2D you also have to render video but that isn't considered to be 3d, unless your doing the stereoscopic thing where you have to wear the glasses

[arb]

Thanks gentlemen, well at the moment I'm a little confused. It has to do with the chaos theory and so on. Thank you all. I have to read a lot. But I found out that in KPT5 there is frax4d. Well I had a try: http://forums.biorust.com/photopost/...4&ppuser=32389

You can rotate things. More experiments will follow offcourse

Ton

[DaRk_f0x]

hi,

when you ask about fractals, most people think about pretty 2d images, but there's more to it. According to the definition, a fractal is "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole".

Whereas this does not only apply to 2 dimensions with X and Y, but also to rotation with Z. this is 3 dimensions and you can easily relate them to atomic interference and chaos theory.

'Chaos theory describes the behavior of certain nonlinear dynamical systems that under certain conditions exhibit dynamics that are sensitive to initial conditions (popularly referred to as the butterfly effect). As a result of this sensitivity, the behavior of chaotic systems appears to be random, because of an exponential growth of errors in the initial conditions. This happens even though these systems are deterministic in the sense that their future dynamics are well defined by their initial conditions, and there are no random elements involved. This behavior is known as deterministic chaos, or simply chaos.'

This all technical blah blah means that chaos theory, although appearing random, is determined from the initial states of the object.

pertaining to fractals, the ones we can see in computers are static 2d, animated 2d, static 3d and animated 3d (4 dimentions because it changes with time) but in real-life physics, they're already working in 80+ dimensions (something called TENSOR connected to superchords theory...)

so in the end, we know of up to 4d fractals, but in nature they can be infinitely affected by a huge number of facter, rendering an enormous number of dimensions.

hope i helped and wasn't too scientific ...

[tamlin]

You lost me at "hi"...

[DaRk_f0x]

lol... knew it was a bit hard of a point but there's no other way to say it, maybe only like this.

A picture 2d fractal is 2d (x , y),
An animated 2d fractal is 3d (x , y , t),
a picture 3d fractal is 3d (x , y , z)
an animated 3d fractal is 4d (x , y , z , t)

a natural fractal is many many many d lol

hope it's clearer for all, just though i must've given an explanation for my statement.

=)

[tamlin]

Hey - I actually understood that! (Or at least I think I did - there won't be a test, will there?)

[arb]

Yes, I'm confused. What you see on your computer is always 2D or do I need other glasses?

[unleash]

Yep, but it is an illusion of 3 dimensions, 2 dimensions. So in that case we cal it 3D or 2D. and not reall, because reall means really 3D

and the t, stands for time right?

[DaRk_f0x]

yes, t is for time.

as for the cumputer, all you see is X and Y, and t (time) for an animation, when you see 3d art in the PC, you are in fact seeing 2d, but with the lighting effects, all that is rendered tricks your brain into seeing 3d, aprehending a sense of volume, wich is only real in the real world, when it is palpable so yeah, on a PC all is 2d, (3d if animated), the sense of volume is based on a mathematical aproximation to the real world, made to trick us into believing it is 3d.

sorry for any typos but i'm portuguese, so i may have let some ideas unclear, feel free to discord or ask anything or any clarification.