Binary Universe by Zephos

Great idea! I think the filter should be converted to a 'Simple Filter' (as opposed to 'Surface Filter') -- lighting isn't necessary here, it only dampens the brightness and wastes rendering time.

He-he, one and half month ago...

http://www.filterforge.com/forum/read...7&MID=7678

Excellent suggestions Vladimir! Originally, I wanted it to resemble the original image as closely as possible, but in the light of your suggestion, the filter wouldn't be truly "binary" if it uses the bump map shading, so I'm gonna' nuke the surface mode on my next update. The faster render times are very appealing as well!

I'm glad that you like it Uberzev, heaven knows that I practically subscribe to your Snippets (especially Any Angle Rotate and Curve to Shape!), so it means a lot to me ^_^

Ahahaha, The ZZ, I think that was the very first post on the Filter Forge forums I read way back that got me inspired. Originally, this filter was done with black on white -- I got the idea from recalling an old episode of X-Files where a kid makes up a picture of a girl using nothing but sheets and sheets of binary when viewed from above. I'm glad that you linked up that post though, since I wanted to see it again for some reason ^_^ How nostalgic!

Oh! That's a good question Kraellin! Glad you asked! The '1's and '0's are actually literally just tiled shapes. The '0's are two round tiles overlaid on top of each other with the component on top being the background color (I got the idea when making the binding for my Sketch Book filter). The '1's on the other hand are a single line gradient repeated once per each other tile. I recall there's a way to make a lot more versatile text floating somewhere on the forums(actually, pretty much on The ZZ's link above), but since I wasn't 100% familiar with the methodology, I just stuck to what I knew ^_^

Actually, there is one problem with the filter that I'm trying to break the limit on. Originally, the 0/1 resolution could go twice as high as the current version, making a more accurate picture, but using gradients for the '1's sorta' neutralized that ability as I realized just shortly after upload. It's hard to describe, but basically, a gradient at 4 steps maxes out faster than a tile at 2 steps, halving the resolution, but I couldn't match the gradient up any other way than doubling the dose -- just yet. I should be able to compensate for this with experimentation. Thank you all for checking out the filter and your words of encouragement ^_^ Happiness! ~^_^~

ascii art. now that would make a good filter also.

and zephos, i'm studying your filter as i write. very clever using the set alpha to mask the mortar in that one tile component. i would have never thought to do that.

Quote
Kraellin wrote: very clever using the set alpha to mask the mortar in that one tile component.

Actually, this is not needed -- setting the Alpha of the Mortar Color to the min would produce the same effect without using additional components.

Actually, this is not needed -- setting the Alpha of the Mortar Color to the min would produce the same effect without using additional components. true, but it gives me some ideas for how to do some other things.

Level Up!

Binary Universe is now:

Binary Universe Lv2!

I've taken all of your advice to heart and am happy to have upgraded Binary Universe! New features and changes include:

Double Maximum Resolution
Double maximum resolution in binary (Can now go to 50 repeats). I was able to compensate for the original gradient problem, so now images can be replicated more accurately in binary!

Now a Simple Filter
At Vladimir's suggestion, Binary Universe has now ditched the surface maps and is a simple filter with faster render times!

Refined Component Structure
The structure is now cleaner and some unnecessary components were discarded for greater efficiency!

I hope users of Binary Universe enjoy the upgrade!^_-