Where to get the Quicklook plugin now?
The Quicklook plugin now is available as a free download from here.
Why was it removed?
The Finder Quicklook plugin for .flame and .flam3 files (included with Fractal Architect 2 in earlier versions) renders all of the Finder fractal thumbnails and renders the Quicklook previews for fractals on demand from the Finder.
Continue reading Finder Quicklook Plugin for .flame and .flam3 files removed from app
Update: Version 2.3.1 works around the OpenGL display driver bug found on Mountain Lion (10.8) that affects all Macs with Nvidia GPUs. The issue with Fractal Architect showing blank Preview windows is now fixed.
Two serious bugs and a number of minor improvements/fixes for the new functionality in the Folio release. This release fixes the blank Preview window bug on Mountain Lion for Macs with Nvidia GPUs.
Changes for Version 2.3.1 (Folio)
Improvements =========
BugFixes ========
Update (10/16/2012)
Version 2.3.2 on either Lion 10.7.5 or Mountain Lion 10.8.2 now supports OpenCL rendering using the Nvidia GT 650M GPU. This runs 5.5X faster than rendering with the CPU. (measured on Retina Macbook Pro on Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
Using CUDA rendering, on a non-sandboxed app (on Mac Lion), the GPU rendering performance is the best yet seen on Macs.
The CUDA render runs 7.2X faster than the OpenCL render on the Intel CPU on a Macbook Pro 2012.
OpenCL rendering on Intel CPU is 38% faster compared to last years 2011 Macbook Pro. CUDA rendering on Nvidia GT 650M is 2.78X faster than OpenCL rendering on ATI 6750M with last year’s 2011 Macbook Pro.
OpenCL rendering on Intel CPU (Macbook Pro 2012) is 2.6x slower than OpenCL rendering on ATI 6750M (Macbook Pro 2011).
On Mac Lion, you have to have a non-sandboxed app to run CUDA. Apps on the Mac App store have to be sandboxed and can’t run CUDA.
Changes for Version 2.3 (Folio)
This release is all about Fractal keyframe collections.
The app has always supported multiple keyframes, but never before with PDF Folios, Loop/Morph Video Animation, or instant Finder Quicklook Preview support. It has been performance optimized for files with thousands of keyframes too.
Big New Features =========
This release was released by Apple to Mac App Store on July 5, 2012.
This release is all about Fractal Collections (often called KeyFrames). These collections can be used as is or they can be the foundation for fractal video animation.
Here is a quick tour of using the Stash to create a new file with a KeyFrame collection in it. We also introduce a new application file type (.fa) which can hold pre-rendered images, PDF Folios, or even Movies. Mac OS X supports all of these media types with Quicklook and the Finder.
Continue reading Quick Tour of Version 2.3 (Folio) New Features
Just so you know, there are 2 new GPUs that have never been tested with Fractal Architect: Intel HD 4000 and Nvidia 650M in the new Macbook Pros. We don’t get any sneak peaks on upcoming hardware, so we have to wait for them to be released and become available just like anybody else.
Hopefully, Apple’s OpenCL drivers for those two new GPUs will allow Fractal Architect to run on them just fine. If you that is not true, please send an email to support@fractalarchitect.net.
One of the new Macbook Pro models has a Retina display. It seems to not be available yet, so we can’t test how the app looks on it.
One note concerning a Retina display is that it has 4 times as many pixels compared to a standard display. Rendering high resolution images targeting these new Retina displays will take 4 times longer too. (Rendering times are proportional to the number of pixels in the rendered image.)
Testing with a Retina iPad shows that its not necessary to render at a higher DPI. A standard resolution image still looks very good on a Retina display.
We will keep you posted once we have the opportunity to test the app on these new Macbook Pros.
Apple just released Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4 today, May 10, 2012.
The OpenCL compiler in 10.7.4 has changed resulting in the failure to render on ATI GPUs with the GPU accelerated OpenCL renderer in version 2.2.0 of Fractal Architect 2. (OpenCL CPU based rendering is unaffected.)
There is a bug fix release of Fractal Architect (version 2.2.1) that is still in Apple’s review queue. Hopefully it will be released on the Mac App store soon.
Flame Stash
Save your favorite random and variant fractals to the Stash. Makes it easy to cull the best fractals you find and collect them into one place. You can then create a new composite fractal with Stash contents.
Random fractal generation with Symmetry.
You can add Symmetry as a random fractal generation parameter and see how it affects your randomly generated fractals. Here the symmetry was set to 4.
Fractal Architect 2 has been released. See Announcement and Release Notes for all its new features. Apple released it on the Mac App Store today.
Its a brand new product on the App Store and is not a free upgrade for customers that bought the original Fractal Architect on the App store. Since Apple does not yet support cross-grade pricing on Mac App Store apps, we are offering the product at a special reduced price through March 15, 2012.