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Tunnels effect

Mandel Dive

Mandel Dive is a tunnel and feedback effect in FRCTL, the browser VJ studio. A permanent dive into the Mandelbrot set — it falls toward one landmark until the detail runs out, and is already falling somewhere else by the time it does.

Runs live on video, images, a camera or generated art. Stack it with any other effect, and route LFOs, envelopes or any of ten audio bands to its controls so it moves with the music.

Try Mandel Dive free All effects

The untouched demo art: an eye inside a triangle over wavy teal, blue and peach lines — Source

Green and violet Mandelbrot filigree cutting down through the eye-in-triangle, the art dimmed beneath — Mandel Dive, default settings

What Mandel Dive does

Dives into the Mandelbrot set toward one of four published boundary points (seahorse valley, a double spiral, elephant valley, the antenna tip) and crossfades into the next dive before the detail runs out. Unlike Julia Morph, the set never changes shape. Zoom sets how deep each dive goes, Wander lets it stray off the landmark, and Blend sets how much picture shows through.

Using Mandel Dive

Where it works: A visual-only interlude or ambient loop where the screen needs endless detail. Blend lets the art sit under the filigree, so it can also edge cover art with fractal lace.
With the music: Each dive runs on the clock with no audio input. Send B1 (kick) to Glow to flash the band edges on each kick, or B9 (air) to Spread so bright cymbals cycle the palette faster.
Starting point: Zoom centre, Wander a quarter, Detail three-quarters, Spread centre, Glow centre, Blend three-quarters to keep the art visible.

Controls

Zoom: How far each dive travels before the next takes over.
Wander: How far each dive strays from its landmark. At zero it falls dead-centre into the famous coordinates; up high it hunts around them and finds its own.
Detail: How long a point is followed before it is called trapped. This is the one that decides how deep the dive still looks like something rather than like a flat plate.
Tint: Where the palette starts on the wheel.
Spread: How fast the palette cycles through the escape bands.
Glow: Light thrown along the band edges.
Blend: Weight of the dive over the picture underneath.
Speed: Rate of the effect motion. Centre is the authored speed, hard left a tenth of it.

Pairs well with Mandel Dive