It’s a param-a-palooza!

This project was all about having fun while building on some of my previous themes & techniques. I had a blast adding new features and exploring the boundaries of the parameter space and wanted to pass that joy along to the collector in a WYSIWYG experience.

I tried to name the params as simply and descriptively as possible so that it should be obvious what most of them are doing. Some of the maybe-less-obvious params are detailed below.

Random seed

Ten options for additional randomness within the defined parameter space

Depth mode:

Flat: Draws in a single layer where paths may or may not overlap depending on the Path spacing parameter (image below, left).

Depth: Draws in layers that fade in from the background (image below, right). Note that when Depth mode is set to Depth, the Path spacing parameter won’t do anything, and the Width mode parameter option Max down will behave the same as Uniform (described below).

Palette sub-sample:

Optionally selects a subset of colours from the palette for use.

None: Keeps entire palette

Random slice: Keeps a sub-sequence & maintains order (E.g. colours 2-3-4 from palette 1-2-3-4-5-6)

Random omit: Omits random colours from palette & maintains order (E.g. 1-3-4-6 from palette 1-2-3-4-5-6)

Random scramble: Keeps a sub-set and shuffles order (E.g. 5-1-3-4-2 from palette 1-2-3-4-5-6)

Colour wobble

Adjusts the hue, saturation, and brightness of each path by a random amount between zero and this value.

Background colour

Each palette comes with three choices for background colour.

Width mode

How the width of each path is determined.

Uniform: All the same, set by the Base/Max path width param.

Random: Randomly between a pre-set minimum and the Base/Max path width param.

Gaussian: From a Gaussian distribution with a center determined by the Base/Max path width param.

Max down: Packs as many paths as possible at the Base/Max path width and then gradually decreases to a pre-set minimum. Will behave the same as Uniform if the Depth mode param is set to Depth.

Plain / Dotted / Beaded / Washer / Chain ratios

Options for the shape/style of paths drawn. These params set the number of times that each style is added to a list from which the style of each path being drawn is chosen at random.

Thin line frequency

Draws thin lines between main paths at this frequency.

Path flow method, Flow scale 1, Flow scale 2 and Flow mix scale

These params control how paths are directed:

Single flow field: One flow field at a fixed scale set by param Flow scale 1. Examples below of a low (left) and high (right) Flow scale 1 value.

Flow field gradient: One flow field with a gradient scale from high to low. The gradient is applied based on a separate flow field with its scale set by Flow mix scale. Examples below with a low (left) and high (right) Flow mix scale.

Dual flow field, hard switch: Two flow fields at fixed scales set by Flow scale 1 and Flow scale 2. Which field is used at a given point on the canvas is determined by a third flow field with a scale set by Flow mix scale. Path direction changes abruptly when switching between fields. Examples below with Flow scale 1, scale 2 and mix scale set to 1, 1000, 1 (left) and 1, 1000, 500 (right):

Dual flow field, blend: Same as above, but path direction changes gradually between the two fields.

Dual flow field, weave: Two flow fields as described above, but each path obeys only one of the two fields at random rather than transitioning between the two. Example below with Flow scale 1 and 2 set to 20 & 100.

Path angle rounding

Rounds the path direction to the nearest degree at this interval. Examples below of 1, 45, and 120:

Max vortexes

The maximum number of vortexes added. Vortexes pull paths towards their tangent. There are several hidden params that control vortex size, distribution, and colour modulation, which may be explored by changing the Random Seed or other params. Examples below with one large vortex (left) or several vortexes with varying sizes (right).

Colour method and Colour flow scale

How paths are coloured. Easier to distinguish when using small path lengths & widths. Note that path colours may also be modified by vortexes.

Raw Flow: Palette colours are mapped to values from 0 to 1 and assigned to paths based on a flow field with a scale set by Colour flow scale. Examples below using Colour flow scale of 100 (left) and 500 (right)

Equalized Flow: Same as above, except the flow field for colour is equalized across the canvas so that all values between 0 and 1 occur more evenly. Examples below using Colour flow scale of 100 (left) and 500 (right)

Raw Path: Palette colours are mapped to angles from 0° to 360° and assigned to paths based on the path flow angle where the path originates. Examples below using a Path flow mode of Single flow field and a Flow scale 1 of 100 (left) and 500 (right)

Equalized Path: Same as above, except palette colours are evenly distributed across the observed path angles for each path flow scale that is used. Examples below using a Path flow mode of Single flow field and a Flow scale 1 of 100 (left) and 500 (middle), or a Path flow mode of Dual flow field, weave, a Flow scale 1 of 10 and a Flow scale 2 of 500 (right):

Path Gradient Match: Colours are mapped to the same flow field that is used in the Dual flow field options of Path flow mode, with its scale set by Flow mix scale. Examples below using the Path flow mode, Flow scale 1, Flow scale 2, and Flow mix scale params set to Dual flow field, blend, 10, 500 and 1, respectively (left), or Dual flow field, hard, 1, 1000 and 500 (right):

Distortion mode, Distortion 1 & Distortion 2:

These control a Perlin noise-based distortion effect. Distortion mode determines where the distortion effect is applied to the canvas, while Distortion 1 & Distortion 2 adjust the strength of the distortion on small and large scales, respectively.

Flat: Evenly across the whole canvas. Examples below with Distortion 1 / 2 set to 0/0, 500/0, and 0/500.:

Path gradient flow: Distortion is scaled by the flow field set by the Flow mix scale param (regardless of what Path flow mode is used). Examples below using Path flow mode set to Single flow field (left) and Dual flow field, blend (right)

Top line count

Controls how many thin lines with varying transparency are drawn on top of everything else at the end.

Grain style / size / strength

It’s obvious what these do, but note that grain size is based on pixels, so if you re-size the canvas by pressing 2/4/6/8/0 the grain will appear smaller when viewed in the same window size.

I hope you have fun exploring the params!

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