Fractal Architect 3 Help Index
Applies to:FAFA 3DFA 3D-AV
Fractal Architect can roll up random fractal definitions.
Reference: Welcome Screen
Go to the Welcome Screen window. (One way is to use the menu: Window > Welcome to Fractal Architect.
Or use the Cmd ~ (Command+tilde) key combination to quickly cycle through the application’s windows.)
Click on the Make New tab.
Lets examine a fractal closer. Click on one of the fractals to select it. Press the spacebar to open the Quicklook window. Press the spacebar again to close the Quicklook window.
If you like the fractal a lot and want to save it (the batch of random fractals are not saved anywhere by the application otherwise), use the Mac Finder to open a target folder for the fractal to be saved to. Click and hold the mouse on top of the fractal’s thumbnail. You should see a little floating fractal thumbnail appear under the mouse cursor. Without releasing the mouse button, drag the thumbnail to the Finder folder. Release the mouse. A new file with the name randomFlame_nnn.flame (i.e. randomFlame_1.flame) is created in the folder. It will autonumber the file name so that you can have many random flame files in the same folder.
Note: With Fractal Architect 2 version 2.3.2 and later, the Finder Quicklook generator plugin is no longer provided by the app, but must be downloaded separately from the Support Site. Previous versions of the app included the plugin. Fractal Architect Support Site has the Fractal Quicklook plugin installer.
Fractal Architect includes a Finder plugin that will render fractal thumbnails in the Finder and supports Finder Quicklook operation. Set the Finder folder to Icon View to see the fractal thumbnails. The fractal thumbnails can be resized with the little slider located in the bottom left hand corner of the Finder status bar. Pressing the spacebar on a selected Flame file in the Finder opens the Mac Quicklook view of the fractal.
Opening one of the random fractals for further editing
Double click on the thumbnail image to open its Preview window. Right click with the mouse to open the preview window’s context menu and select:View Selected Frame in Preview.
Creating a new set of random fractals.
Click on the Roll Dice button.
Changing the set of geometric variations included in the random fractals.
Click on the Random Generation Preferences button. See: Random Fractal Generator Options
Lets select some variations for the next random batch. Open the Random Generation preferences and use the checkboxes to select these variations in the Random Variations Pool:
Click the Roll Dice button to generate the next random batch.
Next try selecting some variations yourself and see how the next random batch looks.
The main idea here is to pick a set of variations for the random generator to use. This link shows the most frequently used options that you want to play with. Its all trial and error, so dont be afraid to play.
Saving a random fractal to the Stash.
Click on the Add to Stash button to add the currently selected fractal(s) to the Stash. You can select more than one thumbnail, by holding down the Shift key when clicking. Click on the button with the yellow star to open the Stash window if it is hidden or closed.
The Stash is a window in the app to put your favorite fractals into. It allows you to set aside your favorite fractals, as the next time you click the Roll Dice button, the current lot of random fractals is discarded.
The Stash allows you to see the best fractals side-by-side and lets you choose the best and throw away the rest.
When the Stash is saved, a new composite fractal is created containing all of the Stash’s contents. When you exit the app, if the Stash has unsaved changes, you will be asked if you want to save it or not.
Saving a random fractal to a file.
The easiest way is use Drag & Drop to drag the fractal to a Finder folder. Click on a thumbnail till a small thumbnail appears, then drag the small thumbnail to an open Finder folder.
You may also left click on a thumbnail to select it, then right click on a thumbnail and use the “Save Selected Frame’s Fractal” nmenu item to save it with a “Save As” save panel.
Quicklook – Seeing a bigger image for a random fractal
Click on the thumbnail image to make it the key window. Press spacebar to open the quicklook view window. Press spacebar again to close it.
Drag & Drop
Dragging a flame file on top of the thumbnail will cause the file to be opened in another Preview window.
Click hold the mouse on the window’s image until a small thumbnail appears. Drag this onto a finder window or Desktop to copy the flame fractal document to that location.