iScreensaver Designer 5 Release Notes

iScreensaver 5 Announcements
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iScreensaver Designer 5 Release Notes

Please note that version 5 has severe limitations on macOS 10.13, and does not work at all on macOS 10.14 or higher.

All version 5 users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to Version 6
See https://iscreensaver.com/features6.shtml for more information.

Release Note Summary
Version 5.2.2.1158 - Released 10 Oct 2019
Version 5.2.0.1156 - Released 25 Sep 2017
Version 5.1.1.1148 - Released 13 Jul 2017
Version 5.1.0.1146 - Released 01 Jul 2017
Version 5.0.4.1135 - Released 14 Jan 2017
Version 5.0.3.1128 - Released 05 Jan 2017
Version 5.0.2.1125 - Released 09 Jun 2016
Version 5.0.1.1124 - Released 20 May 2016
Version 5.0.0.1123 - Released 03 Feb 2016
Version 5.0.0.1122 - Released 01 Feb 2016
Version 5.0.0.1121 - Released 30 Jan 2016
Version 5.0.0.1118 - Released 19 Jan 2016
Version 5.0.0.1117 - Released 15 Jan 2016
Version 5.0.0.1115 - Released 14 Jan 2016

Version 5.2.2.1158 - Released 10 Oct 2019

Version 5.2.2 fixes a bug that prevented license registration from working. It is also delivered using a notarized and code-signed DMG.
Please note that version 5 has severe limitations on macOS 10.13, and does not work at all on macOS 10.14 or higher.
All version 5 users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to Version 6
See https://iscreensaver.com/features6.shtml for more information.

Version 5.2.0.1156 - Released 25 Sep 2017

Version 5.2 includes a number of bug-fixes and improvements, most notably providing support for macOS 10.13 High Sierra. Please note that support for 10.13 is Beta at this time. We encourage all authors needing support for macOS 10.13 High Sierra to re-build and re-distribute their screensavers.

Version 5.1.1.1148 - Released 13 Jul 2017

Version 5.1.1 enhances animation performance when using Overlay images or Text Captions and fixes a memory leak that could impact screensavers which were left running for more than 24 hours at a time. All authors are encouraged to re-build and re-distribute their screensavers at their convenience.

Version 5.1.0.1146 - Released 01 Jul 2017

Version 5.1 includes multiple improvements and bug-fixes. All authors are encouraged to re-build and re-distribute their screensavers at their convenience.

This release focuses on tools for professional photographers and video artists.

Video Transitions

When using the dissolve or fade effect between two videos, the effect looks much better (the A->B transition now starts before video A has ended rather than after A ends).

OpenGL / ColorSpace / Gamma Improvements:

The image processing pathway has been improved to more reliably manage color spaces and gamma. Images no longer have shifts in colors, brightness or gamma from the source image to the final screensaver. For best results, we recommend importing images that are in the industry-standard sRGB colorspace. The “Use OpenGL Compression setting was not working properly and has been fixed.” Some minor image quality bugs have been fixed for AMD/ATI GPUs on Windows.

Photos.app and iTunes and Metadata Improvements:

Metadata (author, title, description, album and artist) is now pulled from the media file itself when possible (using IPTC tags from images or ID3V2 tags from audio files). On macOS metadata can also optionally be obtained from iTunes or Photos.app library data. Dragging & Dropping images and movies directly from Photos.app is now supported. Memory usage has been improved for authors with large Photos or iTunes libraries. Support for iPhoto metadata has been removed (Apple has deprecated the app).

Building Screensavers

Numerous improvements to the building process: increased reliability when encountering filesystem errors, more sensible warnings about .MOV files (based on the actual video codec being used), and more consistent behavior when canceling a build.

OS X Screensaver

Fixed occasional crash when previewing the screensaver with the System Preferences panel open.

Version 5.0.4.1135 - Released 14 Jan 2017

Version 5.0.4 improves performance and reliability for screensavers displaying images / pictures via the OpenGL framework.

Screensavers on Windows:

  • faster performance for OpenGL animations, especially on AMD/ATI GPUs

  • more reliable when dealing with large OpenGL images, especially on older/slower computers.

  • better workarounds for driver bugs on old graphics cards (AMD, Intel)

Designer:

  • Image Compression: Higher quality presets (4K, UHD, etc.) now enable OpenGL texture compression by default. Authors may manually disable this setting, which will result in slightly higher image quality, but this will come with a 4x increase in RAM and Disk usage, so should be used with caution especially on older, slower computers with old GPUs / Drivers.

Version 5.0.3.1128 - Released 05 Jan 2017

Version 5.0.3 improves compatibility with MacOS 10.12 Sierra and the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, improves performance and reduces visual flicker, has better Unicode text support, and fixes a number of other bugs. All authors are encouraged to upgrade and re-build/re-issue their screensavers using this version.

Screensavers on Windows:

  • The Single File Executable (SFE) installer on Windows is more reliable when encountering file system issues and properly handles Unicode filenames.

  • When using a Video or Flash asset with a background color, the initial flicker of the background color has been removed.

  • In the Screensaver Control Panel’s small preview window, Flash (SWF) items now show up reliably.

Screensavers on Mac:

  • Eliminated visual flicker during movie transitions when running under 10.12 Sierra.

Designer (General):

  • Videos and Flash now honor the Custom size settings. If the custom width or height are left blank, the size will be proportional. Note that when using percentages, the size is relative to the screen size (not the movie size).

  • Missing files are handled better - there is now a “Skip All” button to ignore all missing files, useful when loading a large project. Saving a project file with missing items no longer shows error messages.

  • Helper apps no longer crash when encountering a missing file.

  • Copy & Paste, Drag & Drop improvements when selecting multiple files.

  • Pasting a list of codes from a spreadsheet into the Locking Codes List is more reliable.

  • Editor/Info/Media: the - (minus) button to delete a media file from a sequence item now works reliably.

Designer (Windows):

  • Now using InnoSetup installer version 5.5.9 with security improvements.

  • Improved support for file and folder names that include Unicode characters.

Designer (MacOS):

  • Disabled 10.12’s automatic in-window Tabbing behavior as this was causing problems with the window layout.

  • Fixed a bug that could be triggered by creating two new project windows in a row.

Version 5.0.2.1125 - Released 09 Jun 2016

Screensavers:

  • On Windows 7, the detection of a missing or out-dated Flash plugin was not working. Fixed.

  • On Windows (all versions) if an item couldn’t be displayed (e.g. due to a missing plugin) the yellow warning message wasn’t always showing up on screen. Fixed.

Known Issues:

Designer:

  • No changes

Version 5.0.1.1124 - Released 22 May 2016

Screensavers:

  • Fixed several bugs with Screensavers for Windows 7 and 8, which could cause the screensaver to show a blank screen, and/or crash. Anyone using iScreensaver Designer 5 to deliver screensavers for Windows 7 or 8 clients are encouraged to upgrade.

Known Issues:

  • Using a video file that includes an audio track (even if the audio track is silent) or using a video file that is not fully H264 compliant has been shown to crash the screensaver on some Windows 7 systems. The recommended fix is to edit the video, remove the audio track, and re-export the movie using a known good H264 compressor (we recommend QuickTime Player 7 or QuickTime Player X on Mac OS X). See https://iscreensaver.com/help/notes/video_encoding/video_encoding.shtml for more details.

Designer:

  • No changes

Version 5.0.0.1123 - Released 03 Feb 2016

Designer:

* A bug introduced in 5.0.0.1122 could cause the build to report zero file sizes when building.  Fixed.

Screensavers:

* no changes

Version 5.0.0.1122 - Released 01 Feb 2016

Designer:

* The Date in a zipped build was off by about 30 days.  Fixed.

* The build system now more reliably shows custom icons in the Finder.

* Windows that were opened on a secondary screen that is no longer connected will now move back to the main monitor when opened.

Screensavers:

* no changes

Version 5.0.0.1121 - Released 30 Jan 2016

Designer:

  • Improved build system to better tolerate running within a network share or synchronized folder system (such as DropBox).

  • Build system no longer shows the files as they are being built so you can’t use them before they are ready.

  • The “Reveal” button at the conclusion of a build will show the correct folder(s).

  • Increased reliability when grabbing Poster Frames (“Thumbnail” images) from Movie files.

  • Loading older version 3 or 4 project files no longer gives a blank filename when “Save As” is chosen.

  • The Project List window could get into a state where it wouldn’t show the list of projects and couldn’t be resized. Fixed.

Screensavers:

  • Windows 7: fixed a crashing bug with some movie files when used on 32 bit versions of Windows.

  • Windows 7: fixed an issue regarding detection of which version of Windows was in use.

  • On older versions of windows (prior to 8.1) on computers that have more than one screen, installed screensavers will default to only playing on a single screen. The end user may change this setting to use more screens if they wish and performance is adequate.

Version 5.0.0.1120 - Internal Build

Version 5.0.0.1119 - Internal Build

Version 5.0.0.1118 - Released 19 Jan 2016

  • Fixed some bugs with Text overlays not having the right transparency values in built screensavers.

Designer:

  • The “Run Full Screen” command was getting stuck. Fixed.

  • Project List Window now warns before forgetting items when you press the Delete key.

  • Screensavers and Screensaver Installers now are more compatible with Windows 7.

Version 5.0.0.1117 - Released 15 Jan 2016

  • Windows Single-File-EXE Installers would not run after being authenticode code-signed using a SHA256 certificate. Fixed.

  • Using an Overlay image with multiple sequence items but with different display settings was not working reliably. Fixed.

  • Loading a very old project (4.0) with missing items could crash. Fixed.

  • Entering 0% for width or height on Custom display sizing would cause a malfunction. Fixed.

  • The Zoom effect now considers the image rotation angle (set in Display tab) as setting the Final angle as well as the Starting angle, since this is more logical (and you always get one 90 degree rotation no matter what angle you start with).

  • Drag & Drop Images: Designer was getting confused if you dragged a Movie onto an Image drop zone. Fixed.

  • Command-R now functions as “Reveal on Desktop” in the project list window as it does in the project editor window.

Version 5.0.0.1116 - Internal Build

Version 5.0.0.1115 - Released 14 Jan 2016

iScreensaver Designer 5.0 is a major new release, re-engineered from the ground up to support today’s modern operating systems (Mac OS 10.10 and Windows 10).

We will be updating these notes periodically so please check back.

Known Issues:

Screensavers:

  • Multi-monitor playback on Windows PCs can have low performance. This appears to be an OS- and Video-driver issue on some computers, where a movie will play back perfectly well on 1 screen but will stutter on 2 or more screens. Solution: use the screen saver settings control panel to select only one screen for playback. Authors can try using a lower-performance movie (smaller pixel size, lower frame rate).

  • With some effects such as Dissolve, the “out” timing may not be precisely what is set in the editor, depending on how long it takes the computer to prepare the next item.

  • Older movie codecs (such as the QuickTime Animation Codec) may appear to work, but fail on the 2nd loop of a movie. This appears to be an OS bug. Solution: recode your movie files to latest MPEG4/H.264 format.

  • Interactive Flash (SWF) items under OS X may not receive mouse movements or single-clicks, so features such as cursor-over highlighting and single button presses will not work. This appears to be an OS issue. Solution: no workaround is currently available.

  • On Windows, if you install a screensaver “for me only” the screensaver will function normally. However if a user then changes which screensaver is selected, the computer will lose track of the screensaver you just installed and it will no longer show up in the list of available screensavers. This is an OS bug on Windows. Solution: the default “Install for All Users” does not have this problem.

  • On Windows 10, if you have not yet Activated your copy of Windows, the OS will prevent you from accessing your screensaver settings. Solution: either activate your copy of windows, or simply hit the Start menu and type “screensaver” to directly access the screensaver control panel.

  • On Mac OS X (10.8 thru 10.10) certain video codecs will cause the screensaver to immediately exit. This is an OS X bug that was fixed in 10.11. Solution: either update to 10.11, or better yet, re-encode your video using Quicktime Player to a safe MPEG4/H.264 video format.

Designer:

  • On OS X, with the HUD showing in full size mode, the CPU % used readout will read about 5% to 10% too high. This is an OS issue.