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What's New: New Feature List

The new 2->5 class of components incorporate both space transformation and RGB color textures. They allow very complex images to be created from simple trees.

• New iteration/looping modes. New iterative/recursive components recursively transform space with each loop. The possibilities are beyond imagining.

The new Looper components make it possible to create complex images from simple trees.

• Global input matrix. Eight global inputs allow you to route new kinds of data into the tree, including audio input and data from ArtMatic Voyager.

• Programmable/routable audio input. Audio can now be routed to the tiles of your choice so that you can control how it influences animation.

• ArtMatic Browser included with all versions of ArtMatic.

• Improved tree editing and fewer tree restrictions. Many structure tree limitations have been removed and tree editing has been improved with many new shortcut keys and the ability to reposition tiles for better readability.

• Tree support for more outputs. Extra outputs can be used by ArtMatic Voyager to control wetness, and ambient light.

When an ArtMatic tree has a four-output component at the bottom, it can supply both the elevation map and the color texture map in a single file!

When the structure tree has an "extra" output it can supply ambient light or wetness information. In this example, the extra output supplies the lava's glow.

• New RGB Alpha Bump color shader for RGB trees.

The RGB Alpha Bump color shader creates rich 3D-Textures on its own. It also helps visualize how combined color texture/elevtation maps will appear in ArtMatic Voyager.

• New Y-Indexed gradient component allows the gradient to be selected by its inputs.

Y-Indexed Gradient allows the gradient to be changed by its inputs. This makes it possible for each layer of a loop to use a different gradient.

• Improved compiled tree handling. It is now possible to add a new compiled tree on the fly and to edit a compiled tree’s structure in place. Global inputs can be routed to inputs inside of a compiled tree.

• Structure tree preset popup now dynamic, created dynamically from the ArtMatic systems found in the folder Structures Presets.

• Full screen animation preview improved. Full screen animation now hides the menubar and centers the image. This feature is especially nice when running a system animated by audio input. Drive the animation from iTunes and keep yourself entertained for hours.

• Audio output refinements. Many new components have been added specifically for creating audio output, and the tree now treats two output systems as stereo. Sound designers will love the new sounds that can be generated.

• Scalable canvas view. The size restrictions for the ArtMatic window have been removed. Both the tree editing area and image display area (canvas) change with the window size.

• Parameter grid.

• De-interlace option for input movies. The Input Pict Movie Setup dialog now has an option for deinterlacing input movies.

• ArtMatic Browser can now preview audio for systems saved in Sound mode

• Tile improvements. New tile components allow creation of larger tiles than previously and replace the old Tiles mode.

• Multi-threading. Some operations are now multi-threaded for improved performance.

• Improved partial rendering. The QuickTime setup has been changed to make it possible to render only a portion of an animation.

• The pict/movie components can now handle any file displayed by QuickTime.

• Dimension limits when rendering a movie as a List of Pictures have been removed.

• PICT files now display correctly in Preview.app in OS X.4

• Many bug fixes and refinements.

Component Highlights

There are over 140 new components. These are just a few of the highlights.

• Audio primitives. New components like 1->4 Shifted Harmonics and Scaled Harmonics create fascinating waveforms and the 1->1 Semitones Seq creates note sequences.

• Tile primitives. The 2->2 Orthogonal Mirror Tiles and the 2->5 Mirror Tiles make creating tiled graphics a cinch

• Math primitives. New components provide a number of useful math primitives for implementing equations.

• New Disk inversions. Several new components that perform disk inversions have been added. Complex Moebius turns a half plane into a ring and is just one of a number of disk inversions that have been added. Disk inversions turn infinity into 0 and 0 into infinity.

• Voyager primitives. Many new components have been added that are great for creating planet surfaces and seas in ArtMatic Voyager. Ocean & Foam is great for creating custom oceans. The new four output tiles are great for creating ArtMatic systems that provide both the color map and elevation maps to Voyager. Several new cloud primitives are great for creating custom Voyager skies.

• Alpha components. Many new components have been added for manipulating or making use of the new Alpha channel information provided in 4-out components.

• Memory components. Memory Diff has been added and combines successive layers using a Differences transfer mode. Memory Fractal Add adds successive layers with attenuated or amplified brightness depending on the parameter settings.

• Packed Memory components. A few new memory components have been added that provide both memory (accumulation) and packed mixing functions.

Changed and Removed Features

A few features were removed either because they are now redundant or are in conflict with important new features.

• Black and White mode removed. This mode/room has been removed since it is no longer needed.

• Tiles mode removed. The Tiles mode/room mode is no longer needed. Much more sophisticated tiling is possible with ArtMatic’s old and new components. To create tiling like the old Tile Mode, insert a 2 -> 2 Orthogonal Mirror Tiles component at the top of the tree.

• Some sound output algorithms removed. The sound mode/room has been simplified and streamlined. To create note sequences, the 1 -> 1 Semitones Seq component has been added. See the Master LFO Test series for examples using this component.

• Automated audio animation removed. We have provided a new mechanism that allows you to control how audio input influences the animation. The new functionality completely replaces the old non-programmable audio animation.

• Packed mixers no longer have memory. In version 3.5/3.6, mixing components for packed streams had “memory” when used in iterative systems. This allowed the mixers to collect the iterations. This technique had many bad side-effects and also made it very unclear which streams were being accumulated. In version 4.0, packed mixers have no memory (with the exception of a few new components). They simply mix the streams fed to them. To use memory, you must use the memory components specifically designed for accumulating iterations. By explicitly using a memory component, you have better (and clearer) control over which of the streams are iterated. Putting a memory component before the packed mixer allows you to iterate one or more of the streams without iterating the other streams. Some new memory components have been added that provide packed mixing. See the Conversion Guide chapter for more information on this topic.

• Some components behave somewhat differently. Some component parameter values particularly those of some noise components) may not result in precisely the same image in version 4 as in earlier versions. You will need to tweak the parameter values to make the image match that created with earlier versions. We recommend that you hold on to your old version of ArtMatic Pro for those systems whose appearance changes in version 4.0.

• Trees and compiled trees limited to 32 tiles. There is now a strict limit of 32 tiles in the top level of the tree. Compiled trees are also limited to 32 tiles. See the Conversion Guide chapter of the manual for more information.

• Animation duration no longer set in QuickTime Export dialog. TheAnimation duration is now set either in the main interface or in the Camera Path & Animation dialog. This makes it possible to render only part of the animation.

Other Notable Changes

• Any picture type readable by QuickTime can now be used. (Added version 4.1)

• Pressing the escape key when another application is in the foreground no longer aborts a render in progress IF enable background render is turned on. If it is turned off, escape will always abort the render..

• QuickTime render user interface. The QuickTime icon now always invokes the QuickTime render dialog. In Sound mode, use option-click to render the audio only.

• Partial QuickTime rendering is now possible. It is possible to render just a portion of the animation rather than the entire animation. This makes it possible to easily divide a render between multiple computers or multiple users for faster rendering.

• Some shortcut keys changed.