I just received this from Frederick Slijkerman, the author of UltraFractal,  The price on the UF website is $129!:

This Thursday, October 5, I have organized a special Ultra Fractal
promotion
sale in collaboration with Bits du Jour. On this day, you can purchase
a
copy of Ultra Fractal 4 Animation Edition for just $39 (US), a 70%
discount!

Do you still want to upgrade to Ultra Fractal 4, or to the Animation
Edition? Or would you like to give away a copy of Ultra Fractal as a
present
to a friend? This is your chance!

The discount is valid only on Thursday, October 5, 2006 (GMT-5, Central
America time) at Bits du Jour.

To order on Thursday, go to: www.bitsdujour.com

Sincerely,
Frederik Slijkerman

i had that too, very cheap comparing, but not sure what the extra is, if you exclude the animation-part.

perhaps someone can explain this to me?

monica

Attached Link: http://www.ultrafractal.com

Upgrade from an earlier version

If you already own a license for Ultra Fractal 3 or 2, you can purchase an upgrade to Ultra Fractal 4 for a reduced price. Your online order will be processed on a secure server to protect your privacy.

Ultra Fractal 4 Animation Edition
Users of Ultra Fractal 3 or 2 only   $69 (US)          
Ultra Fractal 4 Standard Edition
Users of Ultra Fractal 3 or 2 only   $39 (US

New users

Purchase your copy of Ultra Fractal 4 online and start working right now! Your order will be processed on a secure server to protect your privacy.

Ultra Fractal 4 Animation Edition
New users only
   $129 (US)          
Ultra Fractal 4 Standard Edition
New users only   $59 (US)

So if you are a new purchaser, you can get the UF4 ANIMATION Edition for the same price as an upgrade of the STANDARD edition.  Basically the difference between the two is the Animation capability.  You can read all about both and make up your mind at the above link.

~Viv

I think ligt meant what's new in UF 4 besides the animation. The only thing that occurs to me is the explorer function, but I haven't used the demo extensively.

yes, that is what i meant, does the explorer function make the move worth it?

what does it do?

monica

I think the Explore function is in the Standard version as well as the Animation version? I bought the ani version just to help out and because I actually owed Frederik $29 for UF2.04 from way back when. He was unable to cash a personal check from an American bank at that time but didn't send it back for a year. And I just always seemed to forget to send him a cashiers check back. So maybe now we're square. He was never worried about it and had said not to worry about sending a second check. So, karma - what goes around comes around and that means the good stuff as well and especially...

There are some funkies with the ani version that might bug you. The insertion of random seeming "Key Change" steps in thr History tab is weird. For animations, there is an extra option in many parameters to "Insert Key". I never do ani's, just bought it to square up with what I felt I owed. If you inadvertently insert a key, it will slow rendering a non animated WAY down. I did that once when I first got it and one of the folks who REALLY know how UF works found it for me. But if it's not in the standard version, the Explore function is well worth the extra $$. Though it does take out some of the 'thrill of the hunt" out of searching for just the right parameter values. But then, you'll find things you probably never would have found so....

c-ya!

Rick

thanks to all of you,

monica

I loooooooooooooveeeeeeeeeee the Explorer function!!!

Any chance that this wonderful price might be offered again in the not too distant future? 

i don´t know. i took the offer of frederik and i´m now the proud owner of uf4.

perhaps the site of uf can provide you with an answer.

good luck.

monica

I wrote him an email because I wasn't around on the day. He was very accomodating. You can give that a try.

Timbuk2,

I'm sorry, are you saying that you were able to get the discount after the fact by explaining that you missed out on it when it was briefly posted?  That was very nice.

Regards -

I'm hesitant to imply anything here. But yes, that is correct. What happened is that I emailed Frederik before the day of the sale and told him the situation. He then sent me a web page URL that allowed me to have the discount anytime in the following week. The situation here is obviously different, but maybe he has plans for another sale. What I can say is that he seems a reasonable and personable sort of guy.