How to Make 3D Fractals

This is a brief introduction to how ray marching works and how it is used to generate amazing real-time 3D fractals. I uploaded the source code so you can give it a try yourself!
Source code:
github.com/HackerPoet/PySpace
Ray marching tutorial:
blog.hvidtfeldts.net/index.php...
Another really good resource (Inigo Quilez):
www.iquilezles.org/www/index.htm
He has an amazing KZbin channel too:
/ @inigoquilez
If you like the things I do and want to support the channel:
/ codeparade
ko-fi.com/codeparade
Music:
/ j_c_m
JCM - Meat
JCM - Harrison

[@naiknaik8812]

I swear this was a 20 minute video.

[@MusicalArmageddon]

i wish it was

[@maija238]

It's one of his non-euclidean tricks

[@leonhardeuler9839]

I’m confused too

[@matijaaa]

It probably happens because you learn something new, which in turn, you think more time has passed since you started watching it

[@JoseRojas-hl7sn]

Yeah I have been seen this video before and I remember other things that now they aren't here.

[@henryzhang3961]

I like how vsauce-y the music is

[@Dan_Mak_21]

Same. I was waiting for the "and as always, thanks for watching" at the end

[@themafiagoose8338]

reminded me of stranger things

[@Xxassass1n021xX]

Its crazy good

[@alexlau5146]

Just in case you want to hear more VSauce-y music, the composer of the usual VSauce-y music is Jake Chudnow

[@alexlau5146]

@Lenny McLennington I was thinking about Mark Watney at the moment and my brain kinda mixed the names lol

[@Flop_Studios]

5:43 Spawn of 2B2T The Oldest Anarchy Server in Minecraft, (2165 colorized)

[@dimarichmain]

You're goddamn right

[@Spiderfffun]

WHY OK NICE GOOD... brain goes boom boom

[@degiguess]

tHe OlDeSt AnArChY sErVeR iN mInEcRaFt

[@jefish4981]

It is good idea to build fractal in minecraft

[@void6306]

@@degiguess guys it’s fit, he said the thing

[@methyllithium323]

"since it can often take hours to render just a few seconds" in my experience it's more like "since it can take days to render just a single frame"

[@Garwinium]

f

[@user-dh8oi2mk4f]

“since it can take years to render 1 pixel”

[@Garwinium]

@@user-dh8oi2mk4f gtx 560 moment

[@user-dh8oi2mk4f]

@@Garwinium *laughs in integrated graphics*

[@miguelbaltazar7606]

my experience is like “Since it can take 0.0001 seconds to render my 15-minute crappy videos”

[@riripebby]

it's a shame that particular one isn't called "The Broccoli"

[@vamshivams5029]

Good one

[@origamigek]

My family calls that one the Wiskunde Kool (Math Cabbage), I might have started it

[@mklztr4542]

The bud

[@lucavandenbrink4198]

@@origamigek G E K O L O N I S E E R D

[@Toughfey]

What kind of broccoli u eating?

[@AAAlpherior]

Can I just say (barely even related to this video in particular): Isn't it kinda wild how much cool shit is on KZbin just free to watch? There's just so much good STUFF out there. You really can't say you're bored and have nothing to do/watch in the modern day.

[@official-obama]

you’re bored and have nothing to do/watch in the modern day.

[@official-obama]

See?

[@BagaSand]

@@official-obama that was pretty funny ngl

[@trickytreyperfected1482]

What's funny is that it's free and people complain about ads. Ads which can be skipped after 5 seconds (or 15 second ads that can't be skipped). Compare that to TV which you have to pay for and get 5 minutes of commercial for every 2 minutes of content.

[@Krokoklemmee]

@@trickytreyperfected1482 I personally wouldn't use KZbin without an AdBlocker anymore though

[@melnewdemon4873]

I wonder if you could make a cool music visulizer out of this

[@labeurjahe4862]

You most likely can.

[@TonyKrZa]

Yes, one good example is Aleph0 - LeaF.

[@dontknowdontcare1934]

@@TonyKrZa link?

[@TonyKrZa]

Here ya go. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIjWfmx7rb1qeMk

[@junisulli7777]

Not only that, The image itself can now reproduce a Sound of itself in a musical context! From the Creator of Mandelbulb 3D... www.skytopia.com/software/sonicphoto/index.htm

[@forklyforkinsons]

ok so no one's talking about the amazing transition in 1:41?

[@NachitenRemix]

There is no transition xd its just a jump cut

[@Wudjja]

@@NachitenRemix they are talking about when Sullivan (the blue dude) opens the door and then the wall e scene after.

[@cilgin-oyuncu]

YES . We don't talk. :)

[@NachitenRemix]

@@Wudjja aaaaahh that's true xD

[@SFaPiL2]

whenever I feel smart, I just end up watching one of your videos and humble myself back to reality. You have my respect and praise

[@Techno-Universal]

What’s amazing is how ray tracing actually dates back to 1982-1984 when the first 3D animations utilising ray tracing were produced and at the time it took hours to render each frame and they needed custom multi million dollar graphics supercomputer mainframe systems that were developed and designed by PHD holding computer scientists so the first animations utilising the technology were primarily tech demos and experimental/abstract/artistic in nature but by 1984-85 a large majority of 3D animated TV commercials were utilising the technology. However additional advancements in 1985-87 allowed for much more complex forms of ray tracing including transparent glass textured polygons with extremely realistic limited opacity reflections that could also be colour filtered to match the colour and texture of the glass itself! Also ray marching was also experimented with as early as the late 1970s as the technique was most likely utilised for the movie Tron that came out in 1982 and the technique allowed them to create extremely large and seemingly complex repetitive scenes with a surprisingly low level of hardware power used which still was a lot at the time due to how it utilised the full capabilities of the hardware to accomplish it! :)

[@nooneinparticular3370]

Noice!

[@thecianinator]

Is that glass thing how they did the stained glass knight in Young Sherlock Holmes?

[@Techno-Universal]

@@thecianinator If that movie was from the 1980s then they would of definitely used a graphics supercomputer for the knight but I believe the scene itself was still shot on film in a studio or on location! :)

[@TheSuperNova994]

Wow that's a long comment (KZbin servers go brrrrrr)

[@Bunglay]

fractals have such an organic feeling... specially the broccoli one

[@gorlix]

i really want to eat it ....

[@sharkcraft8568]

Fractals can be found all other the place in nature, that probably way

[@kelyncrandall7452]

"This is why you'll see raytracing used in many animated movies" >shows footage from A Bug's Life

[@harrytaller9403]

5:32 Formula to make cabbage.

[@user-hj1dc2wp7v]

It's a cauliflower

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

@@user-hj1dc2wp7v agreed, it's too "smooth" for broccoli. Though I've never seen cauliflower that full of blood/ketchup...

[@Robbmann67]

@@theapexsurvivor9538 I have I dont wanna talk about it

[@Toughfey]

So that’s how vegetables grow!

[@georgeruiz9211]

@@Robbmann67 No

[@TheSyborgue]

Lol mind-blowing you won a subscriber on this one

[@babunking7401]

Same here!

[@salvat3735]

Me too!

[@hertzzgames]

ass

[@xofyu]

@@hertzzgames ...

[@ej-jz5rc]

@@hertzzgames funniest shit i've ever seen

[@ccricers]

I was learning ray marching a while ago and made a field of spheres like in the thumbnail. Then I added a sound library so I can play mp3s and made the spheres pulsate to the beat. Just made my own 3D sound visualizer that way

[@unvergebeneid]

4:37 Was anyone else like "whoa, those water surface physics are _amazing!"_ 😅

[@neillunavat]

I knew it was real life

[@pipebombmailer]

no

[@defaultdan7923]

yup, i almost thought it was fake

[@SquareWaveHeaven]

I love how when you have a repeating space like in the thumbnail, the object's reflections conspire with perspective to give a sort of harmonics effect. Also, your channel is fantastic (I can't even code, but it's fascinating!).

[@Twas-RightHere]

1:39 Wait... You're telling me that isn't real footage of an island!?

[@Royalty_lew]

Ikr!!!!

[@lucaslucas191202]

I just went to Iceland and I don't remember there being so many trees.

[@MostafaAhmed-bp7ce]

Boi u wont believe how many scenery photos that is actually being just some 3D shit

[@randomcatdude]

Just curious. What happens if you move the camera INSIDE the fractals?

[@CodeParade]

Some fractals have hollow chambers inside, which work fine. But if you're inside a solid area, all rays 'converge' after 0 steps at their origin, so every ray has 'hit' the same point and the whole screen is just a solid color. Interestingly, color is defined for EVERY point in 3D: surface, inside, and outside. So when you slice a fractal in half, the interior usually contains cool patterns or more fractals in the texture itself. So even though you can't see anything in 3D, the 2D slices are still really cool!

[@randomcatdude]

@@CodeParade Interesting!

[@yellowcrash10]

CodeParade Could you show this in a video? That would be very interesting to see!

[@CodeParade]

Technically, Marble Marcher allows you to do this when you move the camera inside the fractal. Here's a little animation, though that fractal doesn't have an interesting interior: codeparade.itch.io/marblemarcher/devlog/62680/update-1

[@petrosadamopoulos9550]

For some objects the distance function can allow negative values, but it's not the case for generalized distance marching. Same goes for derivatives of the distance function, which would be very useful if calculable for everything but don't integrate generically for this technique. Maybe @CodeParade uses negative distances in his little game where a transparent glass marble rolls on fractals. Using that you can march inside the marble and get refraction etc.

[@drszekomode9914]

me at 3am: i need sleep My brain: How to make 3D Fractals

[@Asodym]

it's amazing how far ray tracing has come; now we can do it in real time.

[@rogervanbommel1086]

Yes, though the only games that support it are very simple ones, and at low frame rates(100-) e.g. Minecraft

[@Drachensslay]

This might be one of the best videos I have ever seen on KZbin. Thank you for the rabbit hole you are sending me down

[@technichron]

4:14 an environment like this would actually be a torus-shaped space if it was 2D. P.S. I love your videos! This is a really cool video!

[@spiritusterra5688]

Your username, I noticed, can be thought of as a hex-code for a color. So I went to a hex-to-color converter, and found that it is a slightly more saturated version of Sky Blue. The more you know!

[@spiritusterra5688]

@@technichron I suspected that's what it was.

[@ammyvl1]

And a Clifford torus in 3D!

[@SriNiVi]

Wow. Looks trippy. A side note to your brief on Ray marching. Ray marching uses Signed Distance functions, a simple Euclidean distance estimator, the Euclidean norm will be calculated. Also it would be great if you had given a precursor to Recursive primitives. Great video. Big fan.

[@torenkindle9073]

This is a beautiful video! From the scenes to the audio choice, and the information make it great. I hope to see more from you in the near future!

[@bjornsundin5820]

This is a very good video. It explains ray marching in a great way that's very easy for programmers to understand. Good job!

[@CorpseTongji]

why is this the dopest youtube channel

[@DarkShroom]

i've never actually ever seen anyone make fractals so beautiful, well done it's like this should be in some trendy game, it feels like you're in a VR computer world

[@bluezenith6631]

i just spent 3 hours entering random numbers and looking at cool stuff this is actually addictive

[@herculean616]

Just waiting for my graphics card to strangle me while watching this.

[@catshow7078]

Thing is,this is really easy to compute from what I grasp from the video. Your card would probably be taking you out for a drink on the house after using this kind of rendering

[@stavinaircaeruleum2275]

Dude I just got shivers running up my arms just watching this.

[@birdwatching_u_back]

This video has one of the highest coolness-to-video-length ratios I’ve ever seen. so dense but so so swag, gawd this is fkn neat

[@user-ic4gd9dp2e]

I honestly didn’t really know what u were talking about, but this was interesting. I learned a lot about ray tracing and marching.

[@mircoheitmann]

This is just amazing. I've just tried out some perspective projection from 3D space to 2D space a few days ago. Not very practical yet, but still an extremely interesting topic. You've got a new subscriber.

[@maukomauko4969]

I'm really far from programming, but you tell me so interestingly that I can't tear myself away from your videos!

[@guilhermegondin151]

There's something in knowing how this was made that makes it even more satisfying to see.

[@The-Urban-Goose]

Saw this and instantly knew you're the guy who made marble marcher. This is fucking amazing stuff, my man!

[@NepenthesSloth]

Wow, that was brilliantly done. I'm making my own music videos with 3D fractal for youtube, using Mandelbulber software, and while I'm learning lots on the way about the fractals themselves, I never quite grasped ray marching and DE and some other aspects you went over. I read up on them but didn't quite get it, but explainations you narrated on here, with great graphics, were so clear and well done. Thank you very much! Liked and subscribed and this is on one of my playlists too! :-)

[@user-og6ol2im7v]

This is both beautiful and interesting. I had never seen or imagined such fractals.

[@giantisopod]

Extremely cool! I didn't know this technique yet, I always thought it was much more complicated. Great explanation, short and to the point.

[@-fish-3316]

The thumbnail looks like minecraft skygrid

[@alexr6527]

Ikr I looked at It and got instant nostalgia

[@whythosenames]

PAPA STALIN that is why everyone clicked on the video

[@orlevene9964]

Like calculous I'll probably come back to this video in a few years to understand it...

[@jekkey]

Understand it now?

[@sophiie.837]

@@jekkey holy shit i didn't realise the comment was years ago-

[@deepnofin]

Ohhh, man... It's not easy to read the subtitles when there's so beautiful things to see at screen... You blew my mind, with this video and "Marble Marcher". Congrats, you're the Future, i think !!!! Can't wait to see it :D ♥♫

[@VKA00376]

Loving the mandelbroccoli set at the end!

[@hugosan2]

Man your work is sooo interesting, i could never thank you enough for sharing this with us !!!

[@ramelbusto1011]

I thought it said “How to make 3D Friends” :(

[@a-wingsgaming9162]

I’m right there with ya. We need help 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@Abdega]

I’ll be a 2D friend if that helps

[@maelstrom2313]

@@metachirality I think you replied to the wrong comment.

[@snowman7514]

fRaCtAlS aRe GrEaT fRiEnDs

[@apersonwithastockimage6289]

:(

[@Nietzsche_K_Gote]

You are my favorite thing on the internet since a week.

[@nobu9705]

Awesome production. Didn't think I'd take away so much!

[@mykhailomoroz5296]

Huh, its actually way easier to draw fractals than I thought, btw great video!

[@marc278]

This is like doing the 1 of every block challenge map in Minecraft

[@killingtim2]

Except you wouldn't get the exact view in the thumbnail because there would be no block under you...

[@marc278]

@@killingtim2 thanks for reminding me this comment existed

[@MichaelProstka]

One of the best explanations I've ever seen! Beautiful!

[@stuartandchris]

thank you so much for this, you have just saved me a lot of work. i will always credit you for this. from looking at your code i have the greatest respect.

[@quads4407]

This is why I love math

[@Phelan666]

This is why I love meth

[@_simon.s_]

Says no one ever JK, I love Math

[@OrangeC7]

This is why I love math

[@Kleph.]

This is why I fear math. Wtf is going on here??? I'd much rather read about the ideas of long-dead europeans :(

[@Cb-vg8gm]

@@Phelan666 meth is fuckn godly it has me up all night straight learning everything. Shrooms too

[@lev7509]

Correction: the space created by adding a modulo operator is a 3-torus, not a cylinder. Because the wrapping is happening in all 3 directions.

[@davidh8367]

This is awesome and so are you! Viva código abierto!

[@examname9477]

Finally some quality content ive been searching

[@Zerossoul]

The worst part of the video was when it ended.

[@InconclusionInc]

Welcome Back, Sethbling here.

[@jmalmsten]

From the brilliant ending of Annihilation to this. 3D fractals are simply mesmerizing! :D

[@Dewey_the_25U]

I like your voice, you are very calming. Not as dry as I'd thought you'd be, based off the subject matter.

[@skreamer1212]

Wow, it would be amazing to see a videogame where everything is made out of fractals!

[@bit2shift]

2:35 The folks at Shadertoy typically call these _distance functions_

[@Souldamnation13]

Voice is comfortable, gives out alot of good info, explain with very simple understandable graphics. Subbed

[@joechrisman217]

This is such a good explanation on how this works, u earned a sub for sure

[@beesong2729]

CodeParade: ray tracing is slow and is generally only used in movies Nvidia: *laughs in RTX*

[@DRKILLIE]

AMD: *laughs at your 40 fps*

[@Radical_Larry]

RDNA2 baby

[@MaleficusPhasma]

"...random colours look trippy, but maybe thats for the best" that is sitting heavy with me...

[@MarkoTasic]

Brilliant explanation of Ray Marching!

[@lunar6562]

I dont have a single idea what your talking about but I love this.

[@pablog3560]

Its wonderful when they manifest in your vision

[@GhotiCan]

0:08 that's the dankest weed I've ever seen

[@jan_harald]

this is incredible... I sure hope more stuff will use it...in the near future...

[@asfnobambu]

Really love fractals since 1989 or so. But you added a new layer of beauty !! Thanks :-)

[@Elca_Gaming]

How do I run it? I have no idea how to open these files and run them...

[@dioszegizoltan4493]

download and install python, open up CMD, go to the downloaded folder, run pip install -r requirements.txt and then start run.bat

[@Queezz]

Bro...

[@joseluiscuervolopez-mora1814]

@@dioszegizoltan4493 HAHAHA 99% failure rate for non py users

[@strelkazorz]

@@dioszegizoltan4493 What if I'm on MacOS and I can't run batch files? Is this just meant for Windows? :(

[@dioszegizoltan4493]

@@strelkazorz you still can. instead of running run.bat navigate to the downloaded folder in the terminal and type python ray_marcher_demo.py (if it doesn't work try python3 ray_marcher_demo.py)

[@swapnamoy6134]

It would be really scary if I got lost in some planet with this kinds of terrain.

[@betabenja]

I clicked on one of your videos once. After that, there's always an interesting video in my suggested next videos. It is always by you.

[@tuttosalve8352]

This is such a good video i watched it when it first came out and ive thought about it a bunch since

[@holyn8]

one day you will realise that reality itself is fractal even the psyche is

[@user-xn4yu5rn9q]

Dr strange is jealous

[@lucarodas3046]

He needs some mirror planes.

[@spyorgclubbord9520]

Cool Guy doctor strange was inspired by breakthrough doses of psychedelics. Breakthroughs are infinitely more beautiful and mind bending.

[@theobgshow]

Thank you for your clear explanations and for sharing the links

[@awayfrombrains9726]

Mind-blowing since the moment you started talking about grafics, actually. Though I am rather impressed, that someone can be so good at talking about that. Maybe I am not clever enough to understand that, but you definetely got a like and a sub for uploading this video on KZbin.

[@raffia16thblaze10]

wonder if it would be possible to make this into an addon for blender.

[@digital_down]

Raffia16th Blaze was thinking this the whole time while watching. I’m sure it’s possible.

[@David-uc4hc]

I think the guys on the Mandelbulb project have created some plugins.

[@cendresaphoenix1974]

We could have had an entire engine focusd around this but everyone got overly defensive about it

[@ultimaxkom8728]

@@cendresaphoenix1974 _"Overly defensive"?_ _"Everyone"?_ How so?

[@MaxSMoke777]

Please make a VR version that allows us to easily tweak the math bits and change formula. Fractals in VR are mind-blowing, but there's been only a few programs made. Only the one that allowed for serious transformations was made for the Oculus DK2 over 5 years ago.

[@v44n7]

Your video is just beautiful. 4:01 I can imagine flying around in VR for hours. same goes for 6:45. Fractals looks so weird for us, its like, we are looking something really new for the first time in human history! keep it going with this video!

[@v44n7]

in 6:45 all those structures are fractals right? It really shows that not all fractals are self similar It keep my thinking, is posible to use Fractals to simulate molecules interactions? Like having a algorithm that works on a protein structure and transform it to a fractal, then works It out with Fractals to bind It to other Protein structure. so when you have a match you transform It back to proteins structure. You then would you have a protein that can bind to the second protein. If it works It woud really help to make antibiotics or other biological stuff in general I am notsure If this makes sence, but I just saw It on my head watching your video!

[@YTIR1]

thank the universe for the many people who brought this technology over the years! Thank you for this video

[@philthephilosopher9235]

The fractals remind me of some weird landscape you'd see in an existential sci-fi movie.

[@althedude7730]

It wouldn’t be a cylindrical space, rather a torus! A 4d torus.

[@CarmenLC]

which is just a cylindrical cylinder

[@yyeeeyyyey8802]

@@CarmenLC Maybe a 2d torus is a cylindrical cylinder, then a 3d torus is a cylindrical cylindrical cylinder, or something like that?

[@lucacapperucci8711]

@@yyeeeyyyey8802 no

[@OrangeC7]

Isn't a 4D Torus a Klein Bottle? Or do I have something mixed up?

[@OrangeC7]

@@metachirality Ah, thanks for the clarification. I suppose I told myself a klein bottle was 4d... Klein bottles do EXIST in 4d space, but that doesn't mean they are four dimensional objects. :P

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

Your channel is awesome and I don't know why it took me so long to find it

[@Cdrsan]

I've actually heard of ray marching via making unity shaders, and this video is very good at explaining~

[@game_generation]

*"Open your mind, Neo."*

[@evanyang9742]

Me: see video Also me: windows shutdown noise

[@pray7056]

Also you: *NASA computer bootup noise*

[@Exxenmann]

oh man your videos are blowing my mind

[@jyxtheberzerking4824]

you're a supergenius and i love your rendering program. ❤️

[@gaving.griffon2703]

Ray marching sounds like an amazing technique. But also seems hard to code... (especially for more complex models like say a human character)

[@DasAntiNaziBroetchen]

Not harder to code, but completely impractical for any natural object like a human.

[@nullvoid3545]

just build it out of molecule like spheres, more spheres = more detale, and the minimum distance estimate = the resolution.

[@DasAntiNaziBroetchen]

@@nullvoid3545 Except that's slow as fuck as the sphere's aren't distributed on a grid or something.

[@gaijin3405]

dat music

[@feschber]

Awesome content awesome explaination of rasterization raytracing and raymarching awesome result ... i love it

[@Rynwlms]

Hey. Your stuff is good. Just found it. Subscribed. Really like how short. Interesting. Informative they are. Not easy, well done. Please keep it up!!

[@nikzam4368]

please make your videos 4k, it would be beyond amazing

[@Zi7ar21]

“Unfortunately we don’t have holograms yet...” Microsoft’s Hololens team (or at least they claim): *Hold my beer*

[@Alex-mq7kt]

Unfortunately, those aren't holograms, those are AR goggles

[@Zi7ar21]

Al3x 🤫

[@james1234168]

Such a cool and under-rated video

[@ChenHuang]

very interesting video and well articulated. Well done.