GPlates 2.4 released

GPlates 2.4 released

A note about GPlates 2.4:-

This release contains mostly bug fixes (compared to GPlates 2.3). We've also added some Scientific Colour Maps by Fabio Crameri to our builtin colour palettes.

However, most new functionality is still in development and will go into the GPlates 3.0 release (late 2024). This is because it depends on the graphics engine upgrade currently in progress (that enables the use of relatively modern hardware in last ten years on all desktop platforms with the replacement of OpenGL with Vulkan). Dependent functionality includes generalized symbology (point symbols, line patterns, fill patterns; eg, subduction teeth), time-dependent 3D volumes, view tilt (in 3D globe and 2D map views) and a new 3D perspective view (to complement the existing 3D orthograhic view).

Download GPlates 2.4:-

Download GPlates 2.4 and compatible geodata from the Download page.

What's new in GPlates 2.4:-

  • Builtin colour palettes:
    • Added Scientific Colour Maps by Fabio Crameri.
    • Added Elevation palettes.
    • Can now invert all palettes (not just ColorBrewer).
  • Bug fixes include:
    • Fixed Net Rotation export when using a non-zero anchor plate ID.
      • Previously always used zero anchor plate ID (inside non-deforming topologies).
    • Fixed Shapefile geometries with Z (eg, elevation) or Measure (M) values not loading.
    • Fixed shortened map background/grid for non-zero central meridians.
    • Fixed missing pole sequences in Modify Reconstruction Pole tool.
      • Happened after using Kinematics Tool with a time range exceeding 512 time steps.
      • See this forum post.
    • Fixed rare crash when modifying rotation with Modify Reconstruction Pole tool.
    • Added tooltip showing full path of a missing filename when loading project/session.
    • Emit warning (instead of error) when reading Shapefile feature with no geometry.
    • Fixed "Failed to install message handler..." startup error message on Windows.
    • Compile fixes for latest gcc compiler (12/13) and Boost libraries (1.8x).
    • Build improvements for latest GDAL, PROJ, Python and Qwt libraries:
      • Copies GDAL plugins (like NetCDF) into package (for recent GDAL versions).
      • Codesigns all macOS shared libraries when installing Python standard library.

See the full changelog here.