Mandelbulb 3D

So, I've been putting off this post about Mandelbulb 3D, but basically. Mandelbulb 3D is a program that generates fractals of various shapes and sizes that can then be slice and run through the Meshwarp to then be printed by a 3D printer. Developed by Jesse and a group of Fractal Forums contributors, based on Daniel White and Paul Nylander’s Mandelbulb work, MB3D formulates dozens of nonlinear equations into an amazing range of fractal objects. The 3D rendering environment includes lighting, color, specularity, depth-of-field, shadow- and glow- effects; allowing the user fine control over the imaging effects. The user is allowed to manipulate several of the mathematical data points to generate new fractals. It's a very touchy and sensitive program, and one needs to be delicate when adjusting the figures as one slight change and the whole shape can disappear completely from the computer. I have had success changing the figure in increments of about .10 degrees, but even that can cause it to go completely off the screen. The Mac download cost about 20 dollars, although the sites tell you it is free. In order to 3D print from this particular program, there are a lot of factors and 3 programs that need to be used in order to slice and then generate the obj file to send to the MakerBot, if that is the printer that you are using. There are a number of videos that are online that highlight this process. One place to look is on youtube. This guy Don Whitaker, has many tutorials about the application. He shows you how to zoom and explore the fractals and eventually in his series, he shows how to slice and print. Here is the introductory video. He has produced. Another resource that is good to check out is the Fractal Forum. This forum has lots of nerdy guys (and gals) that are into everything Fractal. It's not all that interesting to me, i just want to mildly look into the ideas and shapes that are based on fractals. Anyways, here is an overview of the program from the fabulous and witty Don Whitaker.