Trap Shape PlugIn
From Ultrafractal Wiki
The Trap Shape PlugIn is a PlugIn that determines what Trap Shapes are used by the formula.
Hi everyone,
As I had expected, its not clear to everyone exactly comprises a trap shape plugin. I have been a bit liberal in my interpretation of what meets the rules for this first challenge, but clearly some more information is needed, and not everything is in the UF help file. Another reference is the Online Formula Reference, which is on the help menu in UF5.
Open this link and you will see a compilation of most of the information about classes in UF5. Its not totally up date as for all ulbs, as the formula writers are still busy at work. In the upper left hand corner you should see a list of ulb files. Click on "common" to see the list of classes in common.ulb. This is the basic ulb that supports UF5. In the next box on the left side you will see all the classes in common.ulb. Scroll down to TrapShape. You will see there are several entries with TrapShape in its name:
TrapShape
TrapShapeBlock
TrapShapeFormulaGradientColoring
TrapShapeMerge
TrapShapeNoise
TrapShapePoint
Click on TrapShapeBlock and you will get some information about the object. The information reads
"This is a generic trap "block". This is essentially a small wrapper around a transformation, a trap shape, and a transfer function. You can use it anywhere a TrapShape is needed. "
Notice that it is not a trap shape, but is a wrapper around a collection of objects useful for managing trap shapes, including trap shape itself. It will fit into the TrapShape slot to provide an expansion of capabilities for managing a trap shape.
Click on TrapShapeMerge. The information on TrapShapeMerge is: "This is a wrapper transform which allows you to use multiple trap shapes (up to 10) wherever a single trap shape is allowed. If you need more than ten trap shapes, put a TrapShapeMerge object in one or more of the slots. "
This object will plug into the trap shape slot, but it itself is not a trap shape, but rather a collection of objects that allows the merging of trap shapes.
Whenever you use a PlugIn you may find it useful to go to the Online Formula Reference to learn what the PlugIn does, and also to make sure you know whether you a choosing a PlugIn or a wrapper object that has expanded functionality.
One last item, which is not in the UF help file, nor is it in the Online Formula Reference. This is a tricky one, and is very much dependent upon the individual formula writers. Some trap shapes are quite good at defining interestingly shaped traps, while others often don't have a clearly defined shape, but are very good at providing textures. The formula writers usually put the word "texture" in the names of PlugIn primarily intended for use as textures. There are also trap shapes that are in the grey area between shapes and textures and can be used for both and get good results. There are several hundred trap shapes available now, so the choices can be daunting.
