 | |
 The Quartz Composer 4.0 interface and a composition | |
| Developer(s) | Apple Computer |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 4.6.2
/ December 12, 2016 |
| Operating system | Mac OS X Tiger (Version 2.0) Mac OS X Leopard (Version 3.0) Mac OS X Leopard + iPhone SDK (Version 3.1) Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Version 4.0) macOS Sierra (Version 4.6.2) |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Visual programming language/Software development tool |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | Apple - Quartz Composer (User Guide) |
Quartz Composer is a node graph system provided as part of the Xcode development environment in macOS for processing and rendering graphical data. It is capable of making sophisticated animations for keynote or presentations and creating animated screensavers.[1]
Quartz Composer uses OpenGL (including GLSL), OpenCL (only in Mac OS X Snow Leopard and later), OpenAL, Core Image, Core Video, JavaScript and other technologies to create an API and a developer tool around a simple visual programming paradigm. Apple has embedded Quartz technologies deeply into the operating system. Compositions created in Quartz Composer can be played standalone in any QuickTime-aware application[2] (although only on Mac OS X Tiger and later), as a system Screen Saver,[3] as an iTunes Visualizer, from inside the Quartz Composer application, or can be embedded into a Cocoa or Carbon application via supplied user interface widgets. While Quartz Composer is included with the iPhone SDK, as of December 2015[update] there is no way of running Quartz Compositions on iOS devices. Starting in macOS Catalina, the Quartz Composer framework has been deprecated, although it is still present for compatibility.[4]
- ^ Chen, Jim X. "Guide to Graphics Software Tools".
- ^ Quartz Composer User Guide Archived March 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Quartz Composer Users Guide - Making a Screen Saver Archived March 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Xcode 11 Release Notes