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iView MediaPro is evolving!
Introducing Expression Media...
Expression Media is a professional digital asset management tool to visually catalog and organize all of a creative professional’s digital assets for effortless retrieval and presentation.
Expression Media is due to be released in Spring 2007 and will retail for $299. Expression Media will be a FREE upgrade for registered users of iView MediaPro 3 (free until the end of July, $99 from August 1 2007).
Q: Why did Microsoft buy iView Multimedia Limited?
A: iView Multimedia Limited was acquired in June of 2006 by Microsoft. iView created iView MediaPro, a professional digital asset management tool for creative professionals which makes organizing and using a wide variety of media faster and easier. Since its first product release in 1996, iView has attracted a reputation for market-leading innovation in the digital asset management market.
Microsoft bought iView Multimedia Limited because they are the premier provider of digital asset management (DAM) technology. Today’s creative and business professionals create, share and store large volumes of digital files. iView MediaPro has become an essential tool for streamlining workflows to manage and use media files. Its evolution to Expression Media will offer customers and partners a wider scope for organizing, sharing, and distributing their creative digital assets.
Q: Who are iView MediaPro users today?
A: The majority of iView MediaPro users are creative professionals who work with a variety of media files and have a need for asset management—this includes professional photographers, graphic designers, video and interactive media designers, and producers of content for web sites and multimedia application development. For more information see our Showcase section.
Q: What is Microsoft Expression Media?
A: Expression Media is a professional digital asset management tool to visually catalog and organize all of a creative professional’s digital assets for effortless retrieval and presentation. Expression Media (due to be released in Spring 2007) is a natural evolution for iView MediaPro, an essential digital asset management application for creative professionals. Expression Media is part of the Microsoft Expression Studio of tools.
Q: When will Expression Media be available, and how much will it cost?
A: Expression Media will be made available individually and as part of the Expression Studio, scheduled for release in Q2 of 2007. Expression Media will be priced at $299.
Q: What is the upgrade path for existing users of iView MediaPro?
A: All registered owners of iView MediaPro 3.x will receive a free download of Expression Media (this free upgrade offer will only be available until the end of July 2007 - the upgrade will cost $99 from August 1 2007 onwards). They will also be eligible to receive a discount on an upgrade to the full Expression Studio set of tools.
Owners of earlier versions of MediaPro can upgrade to version 3.x to be eligible for these benefits; please see FAQs for existing users for more details.
Q: Will iView MediaPro catalogs be compatible with Expression Media?
A: Yes, catalogs made with iView MediaPro 3.x or higher will be compatible with Expression Media.
Q: Will Mac versions of Expression Media be available, and will there be an upgrade path for existing Mac users?
A: Yes. Expression Media will be offered for both Windows and Mac for two reasons:
- The product was originally built by iView first for the Mac platform, then for cross-platform use and today enjoys a large and healthy community of Mac-based users. These users can continue to use new versions of Expression Media, which supports the same catalog files and workflow they have come to enjoy.
- Creative professionals often use both Mac and Windows platforms in a collaborative environment; by continuing to offer Expression Media on the Mac, Expression Studio can be used across a large team where visual designers and other contributors using Mac software can directly contribute to the project workflow and media archive.
Q: What will be the key features of Expression Media?
A: Expression Media is a professional digital asset management tool to visually catalog and organize all your digital assets for effortless retrieval and presentation. Key features include:
- Effortless Organization: Make digital asset management easy with Expression Media—just drag and drop to import more than 100 different media formats, including digital RAW files. Start working with your files right away while Expression Media quickly creates thumbnails and full-screen previews. Store your files anywhere: shared folders, hard drives, or CD/DVDs, and use the integrated search tools to find them in seconds. Wherever they are, Expression Media will keep track them all. Even when your originals are offline, Expression Media’s visual catalogs allow you to browse, search, and annotate your assets.
- Seamless Workflow Integration: Stick with the workflow that works for you and Expression Media will help you streamline it. Support for RAW formats from the most popular cameras and industry-standard metadata formats means that you can depend on Expression Media to read and write metadata in the safest way. Keep keywords consistent with custom dictionaries—just drag and drop to quickly tag thousands of files. Rename an entire folder of files or change their format easily with batch conversion, or use flexible scripting tools to get tedious tasks out your way. Make sure all your valuable digital assets are protected with built-in archiving and backup features.
- Image & Video Editing: Save time by taking care of basic image editing tasks like rotating, cropping, and resizing from right inside Expression Media. Color management profiles are preserved throughout, or you can quickly adjust levels, sharpness, brightness or color balance yourself. With Expression Media Encoder, transcoding video is as easy as converting images. Apply filters or add watermark logos to your video files, or re-encode video for optimized playback on the Web or Windows Media™ handheld devices. Expression Media Encoder is only available on Windows.
- Professional Presentations and Delivery: Sharing is what it’s all about. Publish and distribute media with cross-platform slide shows, video, and Web galleries, or quickly export media into multiple formats for delivery to your clients. Produce high-quality contact sheets and prints of any size and layout. Use dozens of professionally designed Web gallery templates, or customize to suit your own style. Deliver Web-ready video for interactive WPF/E experiences.
Complete details of Expression Media’s feature set will be announced in the coming months, stay tuned.
Q: What is Expression Media Encoder?
A: Expression Media Encoder is an included application with the Windows version of Expression Media. Expression Media Encoder allows video media assets to be batch encoded into various formats for deployment on the web, on devices, and in applications on Windows.
More on Expression Media Encoder:
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Why isn’t Expression Media Encoder included with the Mac version of the product?
Expression Media Encoder is built using Windows specific technologies, both for its encoding of video, as well as for its rendering of the actual user interface of the product (shared amongst the Expression Studio family of tools). These Windows specific technologies were very important in building the product and a Mac version was simply not feasible.
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What Video formats are supported by Expression Media Encoder?
Expression Media Encoder will support input of AVI, WMV, WMA, QT, and additional formats with suitable (DShow) decompressors installed. Output formats will include WMV and WMA.
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Can Expression Media Encoder be run on a server/farm to batch run jobs?
Yes, Expression Media Encoder includes powerful command-line options and batch job profile support for exactly these scenarios.
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Is video generated by the Expression Media Encoder supported by “WPF/E”?
Yes. Expression Media Encoder can encode videos and generate pre-set template “skins” for deployment of video to the web as part of integrated webpages that combine WPF/E video and other content.
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Is video generated by the Expression Media Encoder supported by Windows Media Player?
Yes. Expression Media Encoder fully supports Windows Media Video codecs and formats.
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Is video generated by the Expression Media Encoder supported by the new Microsoft Zune devices?
Yes. The Zune devices support Windows Media Video format, which can be rendered by Expression Media Encoder.
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Is video generated by the Expression Media Encoder supported on mobile phones and devices that support Windows Media Video/Player?
Yes. The same videos that run in Windows Media Player on a Windows PC can also be used on mobile devices that include Windows Media player or support for Windows Media Video.
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Is video generated by the Expression Media Encoder supported by the Apple iPod or the Sony PSP devices?
We are still investigating support for these devices, we’ll have further details in the future.
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Q: Will Microsoft continue to support and sell iView MediaPro?
A: Yes. iView MediaPro will continue to be available for trial, purchase and full product support via the iView website between now and the release of Expression Media in Spring 2007. After that, iView MediaPro customers can upgrade to Expression Media to receive full web and phone support from Microsoft. All MediaPro customers will continue to have access to rich web content on product and common issues and be part of the forum community.
Q: Will Microsoft Expression Media be the new version of iView Media?
A: No, Expression Media will be the new version of iView MediaPro. iView Media is iView’s entry-level program for those not requiring the rigorous functionality of the professional product..
Q: What is the upgrade path for existing users of iView Media?
A: Users of iView Media can upgrade to iView MediaPro and enjoy the benefits of free download of Expression Media and discount for Expression Studio when they are available. Please see FAQs for existing users for full details.
Q: Is a trial version of Expression Media available?
A: Yes, you can download the Expression Media 60-day trial here.
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