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Whats New in Version 4.6

This chapter is reference for users familiar with earlier versions of ArtMatic Pro. It summarizes features added or
changed in version 4.6. For detailed information, see the appropriate chapters of the reference manual. If you are
upgrading from an earlier version of ArtMatic Pro, be sure to read the chapter Upgrading from an Earlier Version.
NEW REQUIREMENTS
ArtMatic Pro 4.6 requires Mac OS X.4 or later. It is Mac OS X.5 compatible.
NEW FEATURES - QUICK SUMMARIES
Universal Binary. Intel Macs will experience massive performance improvement.
TIFF output. Still images are now saved as TIFF images rather than PICT format.
Multi-processor optimization. Rendering is now dual-threaded which signifcantly decreases rendering times on
multi-processor/core computers.
Higher than high-def animation. The maximum frame size has been increased for higher than high-def anima-
tion.
Keyframe envelope editor. A powerful new editor allows all of a tiles parameters to be edit across all keyframes
in one convenient window.
Real-time preview resolution doubled.
The number of movie/picture slots has been increased to 8.
Quartz-based user-interface.
15 new components have been added since version 4.1. 237 have been added since version 3.5.
Compiled Trees. Tree editing and user interface improvements have been made.
Improved camera motion.
Existing components have been optimized and fne-tuned.
Evaluate only for colors option for designing RGB+Alpha systems for ArtMatic Voyager.
New keyboard shortcuts.
Many behind-the-scenes optimizations, bug fxes, and improvements.
Detailed information about these features is found at the end of this chapter and in the appropriate sections of the
reference manual.
NEW FILE FORMAT
Due to a change in fle format, Intel Mac users need to run either ArtMatic or the ArtMatic Browser in Rosetta mode
to convert fles created with pre-4.0 versions of ArtMatic to the current format. Instructions are found in the chapter
Upgrading from an Earlier Version
CHANGED FEATURES
Save Picture icon added to left-hand toolbar.
Full Screen Animation Preview is now done by option clicking the Render Full Screen icon.
REMOVED FEATURES
The background rendering preference has been removed since it only applied to OS 9.

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REFERENCE: What's New (4.6)
NEW FEATURE DETAILS
Preview pixel size option (Preferences). This new preference allows you to set the real-time preview resolution. In the
past, real-time preview was done in blocks of four pixels. You can now select 2 pixel blocks. The smoothness of
the performance depends on the computers speed and the computational complexity of the ArtMatic system being
previewed. If the preview is not smooth, set the preference to 3 or 4.
New keyframe parameter envelope editor. This powerful new editor allows you to edit all of a tiles parameter chang-
es across all the keyframes as well as to insert and delete keyframes. A mini-preview and timeline are also provided.
Animation duration can also be changed. To invoke the editor click on the Keyframes Parameters icon in
the main window.
Increase maximum movie frame dimensions. It is now possible to render movie frames that are up to 10,000 pixels
square. To render at large sizes, you must render as a list of pictures or list of tiff.. When rendering as a QuickTime
movie, the maximum dimensions (due to OS limitations) is 4000 pixels square. Most movie editing programs (in-
cluding VTrack) can use a list of pictures/tiff as a movie. You can also use the QuickTime Player to convert an image
sequence to a QuickTime movie (if you have QuickTime Pro).
Compiled Tree management. We have improved the user interface for connecting a compiled tree to its parent and
the global inputs. In version 4, it was not always clear whether connections inside a compiled tree were to the parent
tile or to the global inputs. This has now been made explicit. The parent tiles input appear on the left as i1, i2, and
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REFERENCE: What's New (4.6)
so on while the global inputs appear to the right. Also, auto-completion now works inside of compiled trees.
Tree editing improvements. ArtMatic Pro no longer does automatic tree compaction after most tree editing actions. In
some cases, the new behavior may introduce empty space than before. If this happens. use manual tree compaction
(shortcut: c) to tidy up the tree.
Many new components. A number of components were added including several that enable the creation of fantastic
new landscapes and cities in ArtMatic Voyager. See the component reference for more details.
Evaluate only for colors option. This new option (found in the Shaders Options popup) is for trees destined for Art-
Matic Voyager. The option causes ArtMatic Voyager to ignore the tile when doing the elevation pass. This option
speeds up computation dramatically in 2->4 trees that have complex branches devoted to color computation (since
those branches will only be computed during color texture computation). If possible, put all color-computation in a
compiled tree and turn this option on for that tile. See the ArtMatic Voyager example fle The Tower Shadow (which
uses the ArtMatic fle: StructureBranchTower)
Improved Camera Motion and parameter interpolation. Camera motion and zooms are much smoother than before.
For an example, see the example fle Mandel Fire Zoom T2.
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Upgrading to Version 4.6 from Earlier Versions
Archive Old Files And The Software Used To Create Them
We recommend making backup copies of all fles created with earlier versions of the software and archiving a
copy of the software as there may be cases where the new software renders a fle somewhat differently than the
old version. (The nature of complex mathematical systems is such that slight changes to an algorithm can have a
dramatic impact in some situations.)
How to Open Files Created with Older Versions On an Intel Mac
ArtMatic Pro running natively on an Intel Mac cannot directly read fles created with ArtMatic 3.6 and earlier. These
older fles can be read by temporarily running ArtMatic Pro or the ArtMatic Browser in Rosetta mode as described
below. If you have many fles to convert, see the section Using the ArtMatic Browser to Convert Files below.
Running the software in Rosetta Mode
Quit the application if it is running.
In the Finder, use the Get Info command to show the applications information.
Make sure the General section of the window is displayed.
Turn on the option Open Using Rosetta as seen below.
Close the Get Info window.
Rename the .prefs fle temporarily. (The application will need to create a new prefs fle when it runs
in Rosetta.)
Launch the application. You may need to re-enter your serial number.
IMPORTANT! Dont forget to turn off the Open Using Rosetta option after converting the fles as the software runs
much slower in Rosetta mode. You will also need to throw away the prefs fle when switching back to native mode.
If you are going to need to do this more than once, you may want to copy the ArtMatic Pro folder and devote the
copy to running in Rosetta mode.
Updating the ArtMatic Files
To update fles from the old format, perform the following steps while running in Rosetta mode.
Create a backup copy of the fle to be updated.
Open the fle.
Choose Save to save the fle.

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Appendix: Upgrading From Earlier Versions
Using the ArtMatic Browser to Convert Files
If you have many ArtMatic fles to convert, you can use the ArtMatic Browser in Rosetta mode to update the fles
to the new format.
To use the ArtMatic Browser to update fles:
Make a backup copy of the folders containing ArtMatic fles that you will be converting.
Launch a copy of the ArtMatic Browser in Rosetta mode. (See the instructions earlier in the chapter if
you are not sure how to turn on Rosetta mode).
In the browser, hold down the option key when clicking on the name of a folder of presets.
If the folder contains more than a pages worth of presets, hold down the option key when clicking on
the next button to convert the next page. (Repeat for each additional page.)
Option-click on a folders name
to convert its presets. If the
folder contains more than a
pages worth of presets, hold
down the option key when
clicking on the next button to
convert the next page.