CompuServe Thread

************************************************************************** Warning: Do not leave ELEMENT set to CEL in the OPTICS menu when done. Otherwise, if you later try to use the OPTICS menu, at a time that you do not have a CEL, AniPro will ABEND (it has happened to me on PS/2s, a ZEOS and a DELL) ************************************************************************** "Fractal Island #2," is very similar to the much simpler "Fractal Pyramid." You might want to understand how that FLC is made first. I'll try to explain "Island," but the next paragraph applies to both Flics. I worked at 1024×764. First I rendered a "basic" design, using a macro about 10 times. Each iteration took 2-5 minutes (66Mhz 486). The macro essentially replaces a FLC with one containing 5 "moving" smaller copies of the original. The final FLC exceeded 6 meg (2 meg in the case of the pyramid). The design was then shrunk (to about 0.2 Meg). In the case of the pyramid, this was the end of the procedure. I have a MACRO, OPTICS, and SETTINGS file that would allow you to create the pyramid, and intermediate FLCs. I may have the macro for the island also, but need to check. To complete the "Island," I spent about 50 hrs refining it (simultaneously keeping the size reasonable). A lot of personal judgement was used. It might be easier to help you if you tell me what you want to do. I softened the motion, changed the colors (I have a version with gray rocks and blue turbulent water), added the ocean, made the sand appear wet when hit by water, etc. More details follow. First, details on creation of the basic island: 1. Draw a pyramid frame using 8 thick bars. The 4 bars making the bottom square are blue, the others red. Each face of the bars is shaded assuming a light source on the right, and slightly towards the front. This frame can easily be created from the first frame of "Fractal Pyramid". Make a FLC containing 32 frames of the pyramid. 2. Turn T and K on, GRID off, ink OPAQUE. 3. Cel menu: – Turn off RENDER UNDER and ONE COLOR; – CLIP. 4. Optics menu: A. Clear settings; B. Ping-pong, slow-in, slow-out, next cel; C. Element – cel; D. Size 0.5 (x and y). 5. Record following macro: A. Cel menu: – Clip FROM ALL; – Go to cel frame 29. B. Start new 32-frame FLC. C: Optics menu: – Set MOVE to (0,0,0); – USE, RENDER; – USE, RENDER, 4 more times, each time moving downwards to a different quarter of the base of the original pyramid; 6. Repeat macro 6-12 times (you may want to save intermediate FLCs). Some highlights on how the basic island was refined: – colors where shifted (32 at a time) using ADD and MINUS – this was made possible, by using a palette that contained 7 32-color gradients of equally-spaced shades (of a pr