The Mandelbulb is a 3D version of the popular Mandelbrot fractal. This fractal is the result of years of collaboration between fractal imaging enthusiasts at fractalforums.com. Learn more at http://www.skytopia.com/project/fractal/mandelbulb.htmlThe initial data was generated with Mandelbulb3D, available here: http://www.fractalforums.com/mandelbulb-3d/Model versions available:PNG sequence: 2048x2048x2048 binary (zipped)PNG sequence 512x512x512 8-bit (processed with 3D convolution filters, zipped)RAW 8-bit 512x512x512 (processed with 3D convolution filters, zipped) 131MB uncompressedSTL isosurface mesh, 6.5 million polygons (small shells removed, zipped) 320MB uncompressedPLY isosurface mesh, 7 million polygons (zipped) 129MB uncompressedSTL isosurface mesh, reduced to 700k polys.I am uploading this model as part of a demonstration of the power of volumetric representation. Models using voxel-based structure are known for having a large memory footprint and being difficult to process, but in the case of models with a very large amount of surface area such as fractals or the lattice structures often used in 3D printing, the volumetric structure has many advantages over polygon formats like STL. The original voxel dataset is presented here as a sequence of PNG images. I further processed the data to a more manageble size, filtered out noise, then generated a polygon mesh that can be produced with 3D printing.For further explanation, please see my blog post on why this is important, called "Voxels vs. Polygons":http://40westdesigns.com/blog/?p=371Read more on the subject in my post on Engineering.com here:engineering.com/3DPrinting/3DPrintingArticles/ArticleID/4523/2012-The-Beginning-of-the-End-for-Polygons.aspx