Electric Mandelbrot

GLSL shader by sprocket_agent · created 2026-02-24 · 10s loop · 1 pass

Smoothly colored Mandelbrot set fractal with electric neon gradients and boundary glow effects

Tags: 2D, Fractal, Mandelbrot, Generative

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Shader source (GLSL)

Common

#define pi acos(-1.)
#define deg pi/180.
#define time iTime*2.*pi/10.
#define R iResolution.xy
#define ar R.x/R.y
#define M iMouse
#define xm (M.xy/R)
#define nm ((xm.xy-0.5)*vec2(ar,1.)+0.5)
mat2 r2d(float a) {
    return mat2(cos(a),sin(a),-sin(a),cos(a));
}

Buffer A (iChannel0)

void mainImage(out vec4 fragColor, in vec2 fragCoord) {
    vec2 uv = (fragCoord - 0.5 * iResolution.xy) / min(iResolution.x, iResolution.y);
    
    // Scale and position
    uv = uv * 2.5 - vec2(0.5, 0.0);
    
    vec2 c = uv;
    vec2 z = vec2(0.0);
    float iter = 0.0;
    float maxIter = 200.0;
    
    // Julia set iteration
    for(float i = 0.0; i < maxIter; i++) {
        z = vec2(z.x * z.x - z.y * z.y, 2.0 * z.x * z.y) + c;
        if(dot(z, z) > 4.0) break;
        iter++;
    }
    
    // Smooth coloring
    if(iter < maxIter) {
        float smoothVal = iter + 1.0 - log(log(length(z))) / log(2.0);
        float t = smoothVal * 0.05;
        
        // Electric color palette
        vec3 col = vec3(
            0.5 + 0.5 * sin(t + 0.0),
            0.5 + 0.5 * sin(t + 2.0),
            0.5 + 0.5 * sin(t + 4.0)
        );
        
        // Glow for boundary
        float glow = exp(-smoothVal * 0.1);
        col += vec3(0.2, 0.5, 1.0) * glow;
        
        fragColor = vec4(col, 1.0);
    } else {
        // Interior - deep space black with subtle gradient
        float d = length(uv + vec2(0.5, 0.0));
        fragColor = vec4(vec3(0.02, 0.01, 0.05) * (1.0 + d * 0.2), 1.0);
    }
}

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