Media manager merges document functions

Edited by the Manufacturingtalk editorial team Apr 17, 2007

Interactive Media Manager automates the gaps that exist in the workflow process to create a fluid handoff between tasks and individuals

Microsoft has introduced Microsoft Interactive Media Manager, a next-generation digital content management solution that combines digital workflows and media application integration with a collaborative front-end environment.

The solution, an extension of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, is designed specifically for the media and entertainment industry, including film and post-production studios, broadcasters, game developers, publishers, and advertising and marketing agencies.

"As the digital era continues to alter the industry, we're seeing the walls between previously disparate functions beginning to crumble as the strengths of IT are increasingly relevant and needed in the creative side of the house," said Gabriele Di Piazza, managing director for Media and Entertainment in the Communications Sector at Microsoft.

"Interactive Media Manager is a solution that spans those two formerly distinct worlds, automating the gaps that exist in the workflow process to create a fluid handoff between tasks and individuals".

Interactive Media Manager is a server-based product that provides a Web-based interface for accessing and interacting with media files.

The solution provides powerful tools for quickly building complex workflows, monitoring the performance of those workflows and facilitating the reviews and approvals in the workflow process by pushing tasks and forms directly to the recipient's Microsoft Office Outlook inbox or to an RSS feed.

Interactive Media Manager supports Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari on Windows as well as Mac OS.

The collective components that comprise Interactive Media Manager help media and entertainment organisations bridge the gaps in process that exist between content production and business departments, eliminate unnecessary manual workflow, and provide management with real-time insight into production details.

Interactive Media Manager also addresses the emerging space of digital content aggregation and management, enabling service providers to simplify the acquisition, management, protection and publishing of digital content in services such as Internet protocol television (IPTV), video on demand and broadband portals.

Interactive Media Manager includes components of existing Microsoft solutions such as Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, InfoPath XML forms and the newly announced Microsoft Silverlight, previously called Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere (WPF/E).

Building on the capabilities of Office SharePoint Server 2007, Interactive Media Manager provides the following customisable Web parts that target specific processes within the content production life cycle:.

* Media Library serves as a front end in which media content items in the digital asset management system are displayed as thumbnails.

* Media Viewer displays information such as annotations and time codes in Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers format and offers sophisticated, built-in playback controls.

* Media Annotator allows groups of people to collaborate on media assets through video annotations, digital inking and discussions.

* Media Import facilitates the upload of media files and automatically launches associated workflows, such as information-gathering processes.

* Media Cart provides an individualized area for storing media assets that people want to edit themselves or push out to appropriate editors.