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Phase One launches Media Pro asset management tool

May 10, 2011 at 18:31:44 GMT
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Phase One has launched Media Pro, a digital asset management program. The package has evolved from software originally created by iView Multimedia and later sold as Microsoft Expression Media. Now called Media Pro, the Phase One version provides a flexible way of cataloging, organizing and accessing stored media. Media Pro includes the raw image rendering engine from the company's Capture One software, allowing Raw files to be previewed (including any adjustments made in Capture One). Media Pro is designed to be independent of platform or software, to allowing use with the best contemporary processing tools, minimising the the likelihood of you having to re-catalog your media in the future.

Press Release:

Phase One Media Pro is Released

The Photo Management App for serious Photographers

Copenhagen, May 10, 2011 -- Phase One, the world’s leading pro photography equipment provider, today released Media Pro. Originally created by iView Multimedia, this professional digital asset management software has recently been known as Microsoft Expression Media. In its first release since Phase One’s acquisition of the product from Microsoft last year, it has been re-christened Media Pro.

Media Pro is a professional photo manager built for photographic, video and multimedia collection management. Media Pro offers a flexible and intuitive way to catalog, organize, and utilize digital media assets.

Its strength is in organizing photo files, no matter where they are stored -- on shared folders, CDs, hard drives, DVDs or other media. It’s an application comprising visual catalogs which can be easily and quickly browsed, searched, and annotated.

Images within these very large catalogs (Media Pro now supports more than 128,000 files per catalog) may be non-destructively edited with Capture One and other image editing applications. They may also be converted into other file formats. And all catalogs may be archived, backed up, published via slide shows, web galleries, and distributed via email, contact sheets, prints, and other custom options.

What’s new?
Seamless workflow with Capture One -- Phase One’s Capture One raw image rendering engine is built into the new Media Pro. Photographers can instantly magnify and evaluate raw images with correct colors, in detail, including adjustments. Images and adjustments made in Capture One are updated in Media Pro and the two applications offer integrated exchange of the metadata that describe images, and convey ownership and licensing information. This increased compatibility is a major improvement in the workflow between the two applications.

Openness
Media Pro offers exchange of metadata information by way of XMP, the extensible metadata platform. Media Pro also provides options to permit Windows-based systems to use Windows Imaging Components and Mac-based systems to use Core Image processing as their image rendering engines. This means that Media Pro maintains its independence as a best-of-breed digital asset management solution supporting other popular image editing software.

More camera support
Raw files from more than 100 new camera models are supported, including raw image and video support for Canon, Nikon and other popular pro and semi-pro digital cameras.

Larger Catalogs
The limitation of 128.000 files per catalog and the maximum size of 2GB per catalog has been removed to allow for larger photo collections. Users can still create an unlimited number of visual catalogs.

Updated User Interface
Media Pro comes with a redesigned user interface to match the sleek look of Capture One.
While this version continues to provide support for audio, DTP, font, text and HTML files, Media Pro is primarily a photo manager for photo and video files.
For more information about Media Pro, please see: www.phaseone.com/media-pro

“Working with Phase One to develop the new Media Pro tutorials has been very exciting, “said Peter Krogh, leading DAM expert and professional photographer. “I’ve long considered Media Pro to be one of my favorite DAM resources, and it’s clear that its future is bright.”

“Phase One is committed to investing in professional photo management and image editing software,” said Carsten H. Olsen, Phase One Software Product Manager. “This Media Pro release is designed to deliver a combined photography software toolset that will satisfy the world’s most demanding professional photographers.”

Capture One
Capture One is an image editing software that delivers the world’s highest image quality with excellent color and detail. The software comprises all the tools required to capture, organize, edit, share and print images for a highly efficient workflow.

Availability and Pricing
Media Pro is available now via download for USD 199 and EUR 139 through Phase One’s Online Store and through leading professional photography dealers worldwide.

Current Expression Media 2 customers can upgrade to Media Pro for USD 59 and EUR 39.

Current iView MediaPro/Expression Media 1 customers can upgrade to Media Pro for USD 69 and EUR 49.

Comments

Total comments: 6
BKSLDR7
By BKSLDR7 (May 14, 2012)

Has anyone had any better luck with this PhaseOne Media Pro more recently?

Does anyone have more up to date info?

0 upvotes
Bruce Sherman
By Bruce Sherman (Nov 1, 2011)

I switched early on in using iView Media Pro to using only Keywords, and people as my tags. This is because you can export these tags to the exif information with the photo. Then, these pics can be imported into any program and tracked, so you are not stuck with current versions of iView.
My main concern right now is Lion compatibility. I can't believe they would have released a PowerPC upgrade just before Lion came out unless they just failed to plan ahead. Can someone who has it installed check to see if it is a PowerPC port? Thanks.

0 upvotes
Robert Day
By Robert Day (Aug 7, 2011)

Well, the new version can't rotate thumbnails properly; it doesn't detect camera auto-rotate codes, and if you rotate a thumbnail, the full-size view is 90 degrees out of line; rotate that, and your thumbnails are wrong. Batch file rename doesn't work properly; the application can hang with most of the images renumbered, but then you can't complete the editing without shutting the application down and re-starting it, as it isn't handing off files back to the OS properly. Image import is very uncertain. These are just the problems I've found.

This is nowhere near as good as iView Media Pro v.1 was. They've had a year to develop this application since buying it off Microsoft. I thought these people were supposed to be producers of quality professional tools; increasingly, this is looking like a cheap rip-off produced by a bunch of charlatans. I was an enthusiastic user of the original Media Pro; I am rapidly becoming very disenchanted with what Phase One have done with it.

0 upvotes
Tolly Lee Won
By Tolly Lee Won (Oct 2, 2011)

I agree Robert, this represents several steps backwards, but I don't think I have a choice. I have 10 years of photo archiving that would be lost if I switch tools, because I can't find any other tool that will display Iview Media Pro catalogue data. I'm a Mac user and I'm pretty certain Iview Media Pro will cease to work on the new OS (Lion). So it's Crunch Time!
What bothers me most about the new Media Pro is the extremely long time it takes to render images. With Iview Media Pro you can rapidly skim through catalogues looking at images full-size. With Media Pro each image takes about 5 seconds to load... unbearable! There's a new Lightbox feature that seems like a pointless addition to me, but OK, if it would solve the problem of slow-rendering images it would be a help. But it doesn't.

0 upvotes
tjmason
By tjmason (Aug 7, 2011)

Can you give some examples of what that missing functionality might be?
[For those of us that didn't use the iView version.]

0 upvotes
camera4me
By camera4me (Jul 9, 2011)

Don't even think about buying or upgrading to this software until they bring back all the features (and more) it had when it was called iView Media Pro!! It's a shame how a great software got destroyed first by Microsoft and now by Phase One.
Don't take my word for it, download a trial version and see it for yourself!!

0 upvotes
Total comments: 6