I think this is quite fascinating......

For a long time now other flakers have accused me of being some sort of "computer freak" because my flakes are abnormally "perfect".  I have been accused of several things, such as using programs to make my flakes.  I have even been accused of being a robot or computer, lol!  I DO love the attention, but have never understood it....until NOW!

A recent flake of mine, (#1705576), which wasn't TOO special to me, (until now), got a response from Shalina that said, "WOW...I zoomed in as far as I could on this one and it is perfect...as usual!".

Now I have known about the zoom feature that is available through Macromedia Flash for quite sometime, but have NEVER actually used it in Snowdays until Shalina made this comment on my flake!  (Any flake you want to see "really close up" can be zoomed in on by right clicking on it and hitting "zoom in", you can then repeat the procedure several times and get REALLY zoomed in!)   I decided to see what she was talking about, so I "zoomed in" as far as I could.

I was AMAZED at the accuracy of the flake I had made!  I have "cheated" in the past by measuring out the spaces of my cuts by marking them with a felt after measuring them out with a ruler and THEN cutting out the design, (for ULTIMATE accuracy!),  but I haven't done that for MONTHS, this flake was done "free-hand" with no pre measuring or "cheating" involved!

Here are the screen shots I took whilst "zooming in".  I can't believe that even after zooming in to the maX, the lines appear "perfect", and STILL eyeball popping!  The colors have been enhanced to "x"pose the accuracy.  I no longer think it is "unusual" that other flakers think I am a "freak", .....mainly because, OBVIOUSLY,  I am!!!!  lol!

#1705576, as it appears before enlarging.  Watch that center
white "blur" as we enlarge it!


Nothing special so far, it is a bigger version of the original.  No wonder
I don't use this feature....whoopty-doo!


As we zoom in again, the center of this flake begins to show off its detail!


WOW, the center of  the flake seemingly goes on forever....


Notice how the optical "effeX" in the center do NOT change in size, no matter how large I make the flake.


This was as far as I could zoom into the center using the flash program's
"zoom in" option.  As you can see, the center could be "zoomed" into
several times more and would STILL be uniform and geometric.


Naturally, I had to throw the flake into another program so I could
continue my investigation into WHAT "x"actly lies in the center!


And THIS is IT!
If the rest of the flake were to be added to this screenshot, it would be approX. 10 feet across,
so I'm not sure if this is a distortion from zooming in SO far, or if it actually "x"ists!

Notice that ALL the screenshots previous to the 2 last ones which I made with a different program,
have the same distortion in the middle, however it remains the same size no matter how far I zoom
into the design.  This "thing" did not appear until I stopped using the Zoom In option and actually
enlarged the largest shot that I was able to get that way, (the last 2 piX above).
Well, whether it does or does not "x"ist, I think the logical name for this near microscopic thing
that I might have discovered  would be the Flake's NUCLEUS.

I am really at a loss to "x"plain this flake's "x"treme accuracy.  As I mentioned before, this flake was done freehand, with no areas pre measured before I started chopping away at it.

From now on, the "zoom in" feature is DEFINITELY a tool I shall  be using on a regular basis while flaking at Snowdays!!!

This is also a testament to the accuracy and detail that the Snowdays program allows.  Infinity is a hard concept to grasp at the best of times, however it is demonstrated beautifully in this flake that was certainly NOT designed to do so!  It also shows the importance of spacing your cuts (no matter what design) as evenly as possible so you can achieve both symmetry and a uniform balance to your flake : )

Now I'm not trying to blow my own horn here....but, but, but, ...unplug me before I get an overload to the ol' circuits, LOL!

-ThanX Shalinakinz,  how KEWL!
:DDDDDD

(For more information about "Zooming In" on snowflakes, also see QUESTIONS/COMMENTS.)