genuine fractals

I'm curious to know if anyone has tried using the Genuine Fractals software from onOne. I've recently had several requests for 40x60 images and thought it might be worth considering. I've not been real impressed with the trial version. Every time I try going that large (at 300 ppi because of the client request) the program crashes CS3, despite my having set the max. virtual memory to 6gb. And I've tried doing it in 2 steps, as suggested on the onOne FAQ web page. Still doesn't work...

I have HEARD that Blow Up from Alien Skin is excellent. Don't think there is a trial available, though. I have heard a mixed bag on Genuine Fractals.

http://www.alienskin.com/blowup/index.html

Here's an address.

Bill, as you know I have Geniune Fractals and I have never had any problems. I am running 4gig of ram on machine How much actual ram do you have on your machine? I will also check my virtual memory when I get home tonight.

There is a 30 day demo on the website.

Tom - My ram is maxed-out at 2gb Reducing the image to 8-bit doesn't help. And in the real world, 300 ppi is too high for the resolution. But if that's what the customer wants, I guess I have to be able to provide it. Guess I need to get a REAL computer...

I doubt you will find that GF does any better of a job than CS3 if you do it correctly. That was not always the case, but CS3 is so good the other guys are no longer any better. I rez up images to 42 x 52 frequently with very good results (D2X files and even 35mm film files - I did a 40 x 80 the other day from a 6mp file and it looked pretty good, all with just CS3 - your beginning file has to be very good to begin with).

By the way, whoever is requesting 300ppi doesn't know much about prints - you don't need anywhere near that much resolution for a print that large and you will probably end up creating a lot of additional and unnecessary artifacts...

I agree with Tim's assessment (both points). 180ppi is all you really need for almost any viewing range. I have compared rez'ed up 300ppi images to 180ppi with a loop and the artifacts from blowing up has more of an impact than the additional ppi gets you.

However; if you need a machine with 4G you can come by my office in B'ville and use my machine. I have 4G.

On a side note, its a good time for most of us to upgrade our systems. You can get quad processers now that are smoking fast. You might have to build it yourself to get it though. I just ordered parts for my mine. I was about an inch away from going mac but I recovered. I will be able to get 16gb(if they ever make 4g sticks). I can't find 2gb sticks now.(pc 8500) I use a 10,000 rpm hard drive too that is fast.

Holy smokin' PC, Tim F. - you'll leave my poor laptop setting still!

Tim E's comments regarding CS3 vs GF only reinforce things I've heard people like Jeff Schewe talk about. CS3 is certainly making it tough for 3rd party plugin builders.

The new version of GF is large improvement over the previous version. Before the new version I was not impressed with the results compared to upsizing in PS (I used an action that upsized the image over and over by 3% until the desired size). Now with the new version of GF I have notice a slight improvement of quality over my PS technique especially anything over 40 inches. The downside is that you need a powerful computer with a ton of ram to use GF with large image upsizing. For example I use a Macpro Tower with 2 dual core xenon processors and 6 gigs of ram and it still takes my computer some time to upsize the images. Also as mentioned above there is no need for 300 dpi, I output to 200 dpi because I use a Lightjet for my prints.