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CompuCell3D 4.8.0

Release date: March 7 2026

We are excited to announce that binaries and conda packages for CompuCell3D v4.8.0 are now available for testing! This release represents a significant effort in streamlining movie generation, improving cross-platform stability, and introducing better handling of physical units across the entire suite.

🌟 What's New in v4.8.0

Here are the highlights:

1. Improved Movie Generation & Visualization

We have overhauled how you capture your simulations:

  • New Workflow Enjoy a new graphical dialog and toolbar integration in the Player for movie generation.

  • Asynchronous Execution Movie generation now runs in the background, keeping the Player responsive.

  • Direct Access You can now open the movie destination folder directly from the Player interface.

  • Unit Display Added support for optional display of physical units in both 2D and 3D visualizations.

2. Scientific & Modeling Enhancements

  • NumPy Integration Access chemical concentration fields directly as NumPy arrays for easier analysis.

  • Physical Units Twedit's Simulation Wizard now supports unit metadata and conversion factors, ensuring your model specifications are physically grounded.

  • AdhesionFlex Support Added full support for AdhesionFlex Plugin configuration within the Simulation Wizard.

  • XML Validation Enhanced error detection and schema validation to catch configuration issues earlier.

3. Core Stability & Developer Tools

  • Robust Error Handling Introduced a "safe callback" mechanism and enhanced error reporting to help debug complex simulations.

  • Refactored Codebase Improved internal logic for movie generation and file handling into reusable modules for better cross-platform compatibility (Windows/macOS).

  • Single Source of Truth Unified the versioning system (Git hash, build number, and revision) to ensure consistency across all tools.

🛠 Bug Fixes & Improvements

  • Fixed logarithmic plot scaling issues in the Player.
  • Resolved platform-specific build and runtime issues for Windows and macOS.
  • Improved Simulation Wizard usability and fixed incorrect default parameter handling.
  • Fixed folder access and file handling bugs during long-running operations.

🚀 How to Install

Option 1: Binary Downloads

👉 Download CompuCell3D v4.8.0 Binaries

🪟 Windows

  • Choose appropriate installer (.exe)
  • If GPU issues occur → use no-GPU installer

If CC3D fails after upgrade: - Remove old installation directory - Remove _settings.sqlite if needed

🍎 macOS

Before installing:

rm -rf ~/CompuCell3D

Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)

chmod +x cc3d-installer-osx-4.8.0-arm64.sh
./cc3d-installer-osx-4.8.0-arm64.sh

To run:

cd ~/CompuCell3D
./compucell3d.command

Intel Macs

Binaries coming soon.

🐧 Linux

Before installing:

rm -rf ~/CompuCell3D

chmod +x cc3d-installer-linux-4.8.0-x86-64bit.sh
./cc3d-installer-linux-4.8.0-x86-64bit.sh

Install location: ~/CompuCell3D

To run:

cd ~/CompuCell3D
./compucell3d.sh

Option 2: Conda / Mamba

🔹 Quick install (existing environment)

mamba install -c compucell3d -c conda-forge compucell3d=4.8.0

Launch Player:

python -m cc3d.player5

conda create -n cc3d_480 python=3.12 -c conda-forge
conda activate cc3d_480
conda install -c conda-forge mamba
mamba install -c conda-forge -c compucell3d compucell3d=4.8.0

👉 On Windows, you may also run:

set PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8

⚠️ Notes

  • Use conda-forge + compucell3d channels only
  • Avoid main channel to prevent conflicts
  • mamba is strongly recommended

▶️ Running CompuCell3D

Player:

python -m cc3d.player5

Twedit++:

python -m cc3d.twedit5

Headless:

python -m cc3d.run_script

📦 Optional: Install Demos

Download from: Demos

Place in: ~/CompuCell3D/Demos