Nice Reaction Diffusion patterns with Filter Forge and also Photoshop

In this thread I want to show a filter I have modified and I am making about this topic and some ways to be able to make your own Reaction Diffusion (RD) patterns with Photoshop and also using Filter Forge with a filter included in this thread that will let you mix photos with the created RD pattern and mix them.

For example this


Click here for another good example of abstract example of RD texture

Before continuing I want to give a big thanks to ddaydreams for having shown the awesome artworks of Fabian Oefner that made me research and look much more about this topic and also an even bigger thanks to Skybase that made the great and useful videotutorial Reaction Diffusion made on Photoshop, and told that these ones from the artworks of Fabian are based on this RD technique and also for having made the
examples shown here and also shared and uploaded the FF filter that makes this possible and for uberzev for having shown it here too

I have made a more a customized version and different version of Skybase FF filter with a image or photo based pattern maker that is available below

I decided to start this new thread after ddaydreams suggested to make a filter here with Magnetic painting with Ferrofluid and watercolor and the beautiful and great results you could get. Click on photos to see them a little bigger.







There is more information in the following websites:

NEWS: Ferrofluid and water colors make for beautiful magnetic paintings

NEWS2 even better: Fabian Oefner blows our mind with these spectacular watercolour and ferrofluid photographs

Official website of the author FABIAN OEFNER

REACTION DIFFUSION PATTERNS

As told by Skybase, this beautiful artworks above are based on the Reaction Diffusion patterns textures as this example here or also and better as shown here on Google images and also described in the wikipedia and better is shown in this other website with more examples

FILTER FORGE FILTER FOR MAKING BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR REACTION DIFFUSION PATTERNS

The filter is available in the second post below

I have taken the Reaction Difffusion filter by Skybase here and as the this filter does not provide good results directly as needs more work and do not know how to do it, I have modified the source image and made a customized version of the filter that is photo based RD patterns, and you can make your own black and white patterns (as shown in the videotutorial below) or load a photo into FF, it can be a black and white or a color one, although not a very complex one and that has good lighting.

Also I have added an additional way of mixing up to 3 different images or photos for up to 3 color sources, the main image loaded is the one that is converted into RD, and then on settings you can load another two to fill the RD lines.

I have tried to make that the filter makes plain abstract patterns without a source image using filter forge components, but have not been able yet to do it.

FILLING THE RD PATTERN WITH THE BEAUTIFUL COLORS SHOWN ABOVE IN FABIAN OEFNER ART

Although with this filter you will only get a black and white patterns without any of the colorful and beautiful colors that are filling all the white parts of the pattern and showing the black parts as in the Fabian Oefner artworks, and it seems that is not an easy thing to do in Filter Forge if you do not want to fill and paint it manually as said by Skybase

Quote

Skybase Color has been a pretty big challenge with the reaction-diffusion patterns. For me at least. If you recall, the filter I posted a couple months ago basically gives you a super simple method in producing just the outlines of the reaction-diffusion pattern. Colors have been another issue. We probably need a method of figuring either wh ere to fill or how to properly "diffuse" the color as we create the diffusion patterns. That ... kinda adds more to the render times, when the current method already takes quite a significant amount of time. It may just be that coloring each cell (space) manually is probably... the faster way.

PHOTO BASED REACTION DIFFUSION USING FILTER FORGE

Although the examples made by Skybase shows a very simple abstract shapes without any specific shape, I have found another way to use exactly the same technique but using a photo based source to create reaction diffusion patterns

The idea and inspiration to try this came from this website that shows a photo based reaction diffusion image as shown here below



So to get this, is also very simple, you only load a photo into photoshop, it can be a black and white or a color one, although not a very complex one and that has good lighting, and then after go to the action panel and play many times (as shown in the video tutorial) until you convert the photo into a reaction diffusion pattern based on your photo and the use the unsharp mask as told above for final result.

Here is an example of what you can do with the FF filter I have modified from the one from Skybase

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL FOR MAKING BLACK AND WHITE REACTION DIFFUSION PATTERNS

Skybase has explained that to be able to make this yourself in Photoshop is very easy and fast by everyone without experience as shown in this very good, well done tutorial, easy to understand and follow
Tutorial: Reaction-Diffusion in Photoshop by Skybase

To get a good final output I have choosen to use to unblur the result, the "Unsharp Mask" filter with maximum amount of 500% and Radius 100 so you get a sharp and defined result.

I have followed and made all as told in the video tutorial painting manualy lots of random white dots over black background and using the action that Skybase has told and got this texture shown here below

And as in Photoshop you have layers, you can make the RD pattern from the photo AND then put the original photo in the layer above or below and mix it with the RD pattern using blend modes

For example here is the same tiger above but mixing it with original source photo using the Darker Color blend mode

And then adding the original source image to a layer above and use Darker Color blend mode and also adding an invert adjustment layer to invert the RD texture so the outlines fills the flowers shapes.

To be able to have more definition and smaller lines and so they are more accurate you have to reduce the size pixel settings, perhaps to half, depending of what you want.

IMPORTANT NOTE

In the FF filter I have uploaded above you can´t use any transparent image as I have forgot to add an alpha component for when you load an image with transparent background, not always is this needed, but in this case is really needed because if you try to load the same heart shape made with flowers in this FF filter you get this shown below , although perhaps you may like this side effect

I will make a new version with this included

Ferro fluids kinda have a more special property. There's a property of ferro fluids that provided a magnetic force in a certain direction, we get a repeating pattern of peaks and valleys. Nature typically wants to minimize the amount of total energy in a given system, and we can talk about efficiency all day long but I won't bother with that. A balance of that energy results in patterns. The effect is known as: normal-field instability. In this case the magnet you're shoving against the fluid = instability. The fun thing is when magnetic fields interact with very thin layers of fluids on smooth surfaces (glass), which is what the image displays above.

I'd go and make some ferro fluid using ink toners and vegetable oil for the joys of it. Take picts!

Should do some scholarly reading:
http://www.fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp/labs/sko...ew2010.pdf
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/G...ardt_model

Thought I'd also try a more brute force example in Nodewerk. SpaceRay, you'd love Nodewerk. It's a lot more whack but it works. Has more whack tools. The interface is extensively complicated and so are parameter hookings. It's not easy as FilterForge. But do give it a shot.

Method in screen shot below: Apply "melt" (reaction-diffusion node) to noise pattern for every iteration, pick a random position, fill the random position with a random color, multiply b/w image to ... tuck away problems.

Either way tons of fun.

ddaydreams my answer to you is in the post above here

Quote
Skybase I'd go and make some ferro fluid using ink toners and vegetable oil for the joys of it. Take picts!

Are you going to try to make your own ferrofluid artworks ? Cool, yes, if you can and know how to do it, and more important, have the elements to do it, would be interesting what you can do.

Quote
Thought I'd also try a more brute force example in Nodewerk. SpaceRay, you'd love Nodewerk. It's a lot more whack but it works. Has more whack tools. The interface is extensively complicated and so are parameter hookings. It's not easy as FilterForge. But do give it a shot.

Thanks very much, I have never tried it and have just downloaded it and it looks cool and interesting, BUT as you say this is extensively complicated and has a huge amount of different components and the way it works with components and parameters is not in any way as in FF and surely not as easy as FF, and there seems that there is no manual or help guide to know what all those lots of nodes do and how to use them and how to combine them.

It seems that you already know very well how to use it and have done that awesome work of including color inside the reaction diffusion pattern



Amazing what you have done here, I was going to ask how you have done this, but I have seen in the nodewerk forum that you lost this file, although something can be seen, will try to make something.

Quote
ddaydreams Please let me know if you update it again and post the new ffxml in this thread

Yes, I will do it, as I have to try some things and see how I can make it better and also see how you can feed into the filter specially made image source to get specific results, because I have seen that some source images that work well in photoshop does not work at all in the same way in the FF filter, although is using the same technique in both of them, and still do not know why.

Oh, I have something like this using derivatives and blurs. Not the same, but much faster. Tweak those blur radii!

Derivative Dots.ffxml

Quote
Indigo Ray Oh, I have something like this using derivatives and blurs. Not the same, but much faster. Tweak those blur radii!

Cool, although is not the same effect, and you can´t control it much, but is good anyway, and I have discovered a slightly different setting that I like more to apply dots texturing by just modifying one blend mode.

This dots texture is like light going through a thick straw roof that is over the image

Here is the slightly modified version with 3 presets.

Derivative Dots Lighten.ffxml

I have found this in one of uberzev´s projects and think is cool how he has made the shapes filled with differents colors fr om this thread here



although is not known HOW uberzev has made it, perhaps this could be used to fill the reaction-diffusion pattern with colors in similar way.

Quote
Skybase We have a couple options in terms of making it "better":

1 - Is true that this is no good and would loose the effect

2 - Increasing the number iterations would be good for a better effect and the only bad thing is that it would be slower to render, although this is good, this is the easiest way and perhaps there could be a better way to have a faster way.

2.5 and 3 - good possible alternatives that needs to be tested

4 - I agree that would perhaps be good to find an alternative method of doing the reaction diffusion that would not add loads of time to the render with the iterations

5 - OH YES! I have not thought of it. Would be really possible to make a script that could make something similar without using the combination of slow components in FF? I think that this would be really the best possible alternative to bypass the render speed and make it maybe faster.

PHOTOSHOP IMAGE TEXTURE BASE TO MAKE REACTION DIFFUSION

I have just found an interesting, easy, automatic and good way to make abstract and well done reaction-diffusion patterns WITHOUT having to paint yourself dots or anything or use a photo as source, and this is using an action I have found that is already included in Photoshop by default.

1 - Open Photoshop, go to File--> New... and then make a new blank document with whatever resolution you want that the final result will have. Be aware that the size will be doubled by the width of the image, the height will keep the same.

After making the new white document,

2 - go to the actions menu and on the top right

3 - click to open the actions menu,

4 - then click on the Textures and then this set of already made actions will be available

5 - search this new texture folder and open it by clicking on the triangle

6 - Click on the Ink Blots action

7 - Click on Play

This will render a beautiful and interesting texture of random generated black ink shapes

8 - After this ends go to your Reaction-Diffusion action and begin to click play until you reach to a full screen reaction diffusion pattern that you are satisfied with.

If you did not like the original texture of the Ink Blobs action, you can change it modifying some of the key settings inside the action.

And that is all

Here below I show you wh ere in Photoshop is all this

... a couple improvements.

Aye, you should give a shot as well! I basically gave you the basic filter, a simple Photoshop tutorial, some advanced reading (not required), and a couple more ideas. Provided a bit more research, some experimentation and some time... I think you got the potential to make something cool. The goal you set for "coloring-each-cell" is honestly a bit too high at your level, but I think you can do the more smaller goals, like come up with a different method of reaction diffusion. (It doesn't have to rely on the way I did it at all since reaction-diffusion is just a concept of natural organization.)

I'll just continue posting methods and ideas here anyway and whatever I end up with. It's always fun making new things but if you need further help understanding and likewise constructing the filter or more example methods, I can always go about making them. I really don't have issues spending time on this type of project. I quite need the filter for my own projects anyway.

So yeah... give it a shot.

---
Notes: The current appearance is due to the lack of iteration counts. I simply didn't like the wait times so the iteration count for those examples were set to 6 or something. If you want really fluid looking ones we need at least 50 iterations.

Alright, new method. Inspired by Indigo Ray but extremely simplified.

This method is actually ridiculously fast (still takes 3 minutes, but faster than the previous attempts).

Method:
1. Blur
2. Get derivative
3. Go to 1.

The results are smooth and directed towards a given angle. (We can probably randomize the angles for fun).

And with an image.

Thanks! I don't know if I'll ever submit this filter to the library due to its epic sluggishness but its certainly faster than the other attempts.

Here's a really thin version of it. Image = the tree default image. Took like 3 minutes to render.

Right, none of these utilize the loop component and as you named it, it can't anyway. So they're just groups copied and pasted over and over.

Iteration = 1 copy of a group.

In terms of these experiments I decided to go for faster results than proper ones so methods described here are generally rougher. In this thread there are 2 experiments that I listed that kinda work and don't. I'd say it's way too sluggish for a former release for the library.

But yeah, give otherwise a shot.

You probably already know this but I'll leave definitions here anyway. Minimum number of nodes necessary to establish 1 reaction-diffusion is 2 nodes.
Diffusion: anything that distorts, blurs, fluffs up an image.
Reaction: anything that brings clarity to an image.

Ok Skybase, I made a new method inspired by you inspired by me

It's just what you said, but I did the derivative first. Actually I have two chains at right angles, then blended together at the end. Much faster than yours, but it looks square-ish.

Ooh, perpendicular angle on the lifesaver...

Indigo Ray,I like the the look of the last 2 pix you posted
Skybase I like the last 4 pix you posted

very interesting

Only 6 iterations, renders for me in 15+ seconds. 12 iterations takes ~1 minute.

And now I have the idea to take this Reaction Diffusion pattern to be as source to others FF Filters like for example Mercurial by Garbanzo and got this result below