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For this particular subject, L provided me with screen shots of one of her now famous Fiber Optic Princess flakes. I'm sure the F.O.P. flake is right up there with Grids as far as the "how'd you do that" questions go. I was so astonished the first time I saw one that I ended up making a Featured Flake section on the site just so I could display some of the incredible things I've seen at Snowdays! The most amazing thing about the Fiber Optic Princess is that it starts like any ordinary animated flake, with lines of some sort traveling from "here" to "there", then there is a slight pause and it turns into a Grid briefly, as you "throw the flake into reverse". When it continues again it gets "reconsructed" and a face (or anything else you like) magically appears from NOWHERE!!! (the Snowdays program does NOT show the creation process of the object being revealed).
Naturally, I was typing L an email before the animation ended, lol! She was reluctant to give up the "secret" and actually made me guess how she did it! (I am proud to announce that I guessed on my first try, but I was just lucky!!!) L manages to "flake in the dark" with an ingenious flaking "cheat". She takes a clear piece of plastic, measures out the flake's blank triangle onto it, draws or traces ½ of the design onto it, tapes it back onto her monitor and then traces the design with her mouse.
I call this a "cheat" because the flaker is using means other than their own to create a design. However, it is not really a cheat at all. What it is is a testament to the ingenuity and fanaticism of an addicted flaker! There really is no such thing as "cheating" when it comes to making snowflakes (unless there is some program out there that I am unaware of that makes the design for you), so I hope I haven't insulted L with that label :) I truly am in awe when it comes to L's methods of accomplishing things!
I have had these instructions for MONTHS, but just never thought it was the right time to display them. They were SO ahead of their time that I thought I might as well publish the directions in chinese for all the good they would do for flakers! However, now that I have a LOT of the other instructions posted that sort of "lead up" to these, I think there are a LOT of flakers out there that can "pull this off" now!
Once again, MANY thanX to L. She started off learning the available tips'n'triX from others and is now (and has been for quite some time) on the "front-line" as far as new techniques, tips, & triX go. ThanX for sharing! :DDDDDDD <- <- <- -X-
Cut
progressive slices out of the left side of the triangle.
Each
time, start at Point A, circle counter-clockwise outside the flake and
end just inside line BC, to the right of point B.
Each
slice is bigger than the previous one. In Step 7, you can see that there
is only a tiny sliver left.
After
Step 7, draw your image in the dark! In this Fiber Optic Princess, flake
2192387, I used a face that I had already drawn on my sheet protector.
Please note that drawing an image "in the dark" takes practice. Once you
have eXperimented with a few of them, you will get the hang of it. Your
first attempts are probably going to look quite peculiar! LOL!
Steps
8 thru 14
Throw
the flake into reverse and partially "x"pose your hidden design!
Reverse
the flake seven times, (or however times necessary to get your design
back to the left side of the flake -X-). With each reversal, a new slice
appears to the left of the previous one. Also, you can see a section of
the Princess on each slice.
Steps
15 thru 20
Use
the FIBER OPTIX technique to reconstruct your flake and reveal its design!
(This
technique worX beautifully for reconstructing Pinwheels, Melting Starz,
Novas, etc.! -X-)
In
Step 15, you see the second segment, now filled in. To do this, start at
Point A, circle clockwise outside the triangle, and come to rest a little
bit inside line BC, just beside the previous segment. Note that I
have not tried to match my ending point eXactly with the previous segment.
Rather, I left a little line between segments. These lines show up
later as the "Fiber Optic" lines, characteristic of this type of flake.
If you try to match up each segment precisely with the previous one, the
lines won't show up very well in the end product. Fill in each segment,
until the flake has gone white, except for the Princess' face and the fiber
optic segments.
Step
21
To
turn the hair blonde!
Enter
at top of forehead along hairline, roughly follow zigzag hair pattern,
then go around side of head and over top of hair; eXit at top of head.
Step
22
Reverse
the background!
Enter
at the top of the head, circle around entire head inside the flake, eXit
under the chin, and circle around the outside of the entire flake counter-clockwise,
and cross over your starting point.
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Notice the lines left behind on the design. This is the Fiber Optic effect. The flaker can leave these lines as thin or as thick as they like. (I have done Fiber Optic flakes that leave NO lines behind, but I am fanatical, lol!) Try some basic Fiber Optic reconstruction flakes first with Pinwheels, Melting Starz, Novas, or any other "straight lined" flakes. Then try out a Princess, you will truly amaze yourself when you watch it unfold like magic! Be sure to "throw the flake into reverse" and take the lines back to where they started BEFORE trying to reconstruct it with Fiber OptiX. -X-
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Fiber Optic Webs
All Fiber OpticWeb flakes follow the same principles described in the Fiber Optic Princess instructions. With webs, it is not necessary to draw an extra design “in the dark” unless you really want something to appear seemingly out of nowhere. However, since the Webs have at least twice as many cuts as the Princess flakes, you may find yourself at the mercy of the SP before you are done with your flake, if you opt for the extra design.
Web flakes are basically two overlapping Fiber Optic designs, for instance one pinwheel and one star, as in flake 2154944. Or you could overlap two stars, as in flake 2155163. Once I made a flake with overlapping three designs: a pinwheel, and two stars. I don’t have the flake number handy right now. But I can tell you that towards the end, the reverses often become more and more difficult, and sometimes simply refuse to work at all in the direction you intend. To save your sanity, I suggest hitting the “Reset” button!
Here are the steps I used to make flake 2154944:
(1)
Cut a dark star by starting at Point B (lower left point of triangle),
heading upwards and around the outside of Point A (top of triangle), coming
to rest at a spot a little below Point A on line A-C.
(2)
Cut the dark star larger and larger, each time starting at Point B and
ending up on line A-C a little lower down than your previous cut. In flake
2154944, there are nine of these cuts.
(3)
Reverse the entire flake nine times, or as many times as you have cuts.
With each reverse, you should see a white segment appearing higher and
higher up, with the left point of the white segment always at Point B,
and the right end of the segment along line A-C. The final segment is a
white star that lines up along line A-B.
(4)
Fill in the next segment, starting at Point B, heading right outside the
triangle toward Point C, circling around Point C, and heading upwards toward
Point A. End up just a tiny bit below the white line that is the edge of
the star. The white star should now enlarge by one segment. If you were
careful where you released the mouse, you should see a thin black line
separating each star segment.
(5)
Continue in this manner, filling in each segment one at a time, until the
entire flake is white, but with black lines separating each segment. (If
you tried to connect each segment by exactly lining up the edges of the
segment, the dividing lines will hardly be visible. This might be desirable
in some situations, but if your intent is to make a web, it’s best to have
those lines visible.) When you finish with this step, the entire triangle
is white, except for some dark lines separating the segments.
(6)
Now make a pinwheel, which is the second design. It will overlay the star
design that was just completed. Start at Point A, cut outside, down and
around Point B, then cut into the triangle a little bit to the right of
Point B. A black segment now appears on the left side of the triangle,
showing the first pinwheel cut.
(7)
Continue with each pinwheel slice. In flake 2154944, I cut into line B-C
seven times, with the seventh cut very, very close to Point C.
(8)
Reverse the entire flake seven times, or as many times as you have cuts,
until there is one remaining white pinwheel segment along line A-B.
(9)
Fill in each segment, one at a time, by starting at Point A, heading outside
the triangle and down toward Point C, then heading left toward Point B.
End up a tiny bit to the right of the white portion of the previous pinwheel
segment.
(10)
Continue filling in segments until the entire flake is once again all white,
except for the dark lines showing the star cuts and the pinwheel cuts.
(11)
Reverse the entire flake once and you have a Fiber Optic Web! Decorate
as desired, or leave plain.
Variations:
You don’t have to always start at Point B to make a star; you can start at Point C. Or---here is a cool thing, you don’t have to start at any of the three points! You can start anywhere along a line. This can result in the amazing “inside-out” flake. I would not suggest this variation for novices! You can get totally messed up, the reverses will not cooperate, and all sorts of other unexpected problems can appear. You can also start from a completely negative flake, but you will need a template for your screen so you can tell where the triangle is. Also, you can make all the cuts before you start the reverses, plus you can make all the cuts and reverses before doing any fill-ins. Again, these variations assume you are in complete control of the basic Fiber Optic Web flake to begin with. Have fun, and may you make many, many amazing flakes, and perhaps even invent a new Variation, or even a new type of flake! Just be sure to let X know about your triumphs! Happy flaking!