KCC Color Map Gradients

Hello All,
I'm new to the forum and I have been studying Ultra Fractal for several months now, there sure is a lot to learn. I've been loving every minute of it and I have many questions. For starters, I somehow came across a lot of beautiful gradients in the KCC folder. I don't see much discussion about them anywhere and I'm sure there are other pre-loaded gradients accessible in UF. Why bother creating gradients or saving gradient packs from DA when there are all of these right there in the program, I just don't know how to access them. Can I save them as individual gradients and use them in any formula, not just orbit traps? Here are a few examples. Thanks for the help.

These gradients are from Direct coloring algorithms, they are built/coded into the colouring itself. You can find out more about them by looking up "Direct coloring algorithms" in UF's Help file. They behave a little differently from other colourings that only use the more usual type of gradient.

So... to answer your question, I don't believe it is possible to easily/quickly translate or save these to "normal" gradients that can be used by other colourings.

If you really want to use these particular colours in a normal gradient, however, then there are some rather laborious ways you could manually construct it yourself. Basically this would entail picking each desired colour off the screen or transcribing each colour using RGB values to individual colour nodes in your gradient editor. It's doable if you have the patience! I could give you some pointers on how to do that if you want to give it a try.

Well, let's see if anybody else responds. I could be totally unaware of something easy,it wouldn't be the first time. lol.

Chris,
Thank you very much for this information, much appreciated. I'm glad I found these gradients, there are some nice ones. I'll definitely find ways to use them in different designs. I whipped up this spiral fairly quick and I love the colors, Mojave 8.

Kathy

That is so beautiful, Kathy. You're right - lovely colours in some of these gradients! I hope you have lots more fun with them.

In Ken's coloring algorithms, there is a Show/Customize checkbox right below the Color Preset selection. If you check it, you can see the colors he uses for the preset you have chosen and even change them if you want. But the colors are not just arranged in a gradient; there are a number of color ranges (usually eight), each of which is a simple two color gradient itself specified by the High and Low values. His algorithms first select one of the ranges, then select a color between the Low and High values in that range. This gives a depth not achievable using a straightforward gradient.

Thanks so much for your reply. I never would have thought to click on that box to display the different color bands. And by clicking on each one of them all the information needed is displayed, so it's easy to work up an actual gradient. I figure if the colors are already there in UF, why not use them because they look nice. Sometimes it's the little things and with UF this is certainly the case. An infinite source of creativity and challenge!

If you press the Edit button (below the Browse button or Ctrl-Alt-E) on the colouring tab you can get at a list of all saved gradients and colours within the code for that colouring algorithm. Just scroll down a bit or Ctrl-F to find the name of the gradient you are interested in. The colours are shown as RGB values which you can copy to your gradient editor.

Here is one I knocked up in a few minutes for "Mojave 8" which you used above:

Gradient-Fractal1,Background {
gradient:
  title="Gradient - Fractal1, Background" linked=yes smooth=yes
  index=0 color=3320319 index=33 color=116 index=66 color=7926783
  index=99 color=8022 index=132 color=3320319 index=165 color=116
  index=198 color=7926783 index=231 color=8022 index=264 color=3320319
  index=298 color=116 index=332 color=7926783 index=366 color=8022
opacity:
  smooth=yes index=0 opacity=255 index=33 opacity=255 index=66
  opacity=255 index=99 opacity=255 index=132 opacity=255 index=165
  opacity=255 index=198 opacity=255 index=231 opacity=255 index=264
  opacity=255 index=298 opacity=255 index=332 opacity=255 index=366
  opacity=255
}

One further tip: if you want evenly spaced colour points in your gradient editor to get you started then hit F8 and get UF to generate a gradient with however many points you need and select "Space evenly".
I started with 16 nodes for the above gradient; 8 high + 8 low.
Then all you have to do is click each point in turn and enter the RGB codes for the colours you need.

Wow, Chris, you have certainly gone above and beyond with your help here! I can't wait to try this when I get a chance. And I did not know the technique for spacing the colors out evenly in a gradient, brilliant. Very valuable info, thanks much.

Kathy

You're welcome. I'm just the helpful type, I guess. I was a newbie once and valued all the tips I got back then so I know what it's like to only half understand things.

There are easy and hard ways of doing things, I figured this would be the easiest way to do what you wanted and that, as a newbie, there would be certain things you hadn't yet come across, like the "space evenly" gradient thing.

Have fun!