Digital Media Asset Management Imagic ims doc is a highly modular Digital Media Asset Management system based on Java technology for Windows, Mac and Linux environments Scalability from basic editor workplaces up to complete systems providing acquisition and processing workplaces, automated media asset data import, browser-based query workplaces with e-commerce capabilities for external users, internal and public archives and integrated user management Communication with existing customer applications and archives for automated XML-based media asset import and link to customer-based LDAP/AD user management for the automated implementation of user access rights. Compliance with established database systems SQL Server and Oracle for reliable long-term storage, with MS Word and MS PowerPoint for the automated creation of presentations and reports, and with all established operating systems due to Java ims doc is a product of Imagic Bildverarbeitung AG, CH-8152 Glattbrugg www.imagic.ch
System Components ims Client The ims Client is the interactive user interface for all functions and features of the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc, such as image acquisition, processing, editing and presentation and provides the appropriate user workplaces for all established operating systems. These workplaces are configurable and can be easily adapted to user requirements and profiles. The intuitive archive view allows fast and easy Internet-like queries for customer-defined categories and free text contents. ims Publisher The ims Publisher is the browser-based archive view of the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc to provide easy query, visualisation and download of media assets and related meta data free of installation. In addition, it features optional e- commerce functionality for media asset download. ims Viewer The ims Viewer is a highly versatile visualisation tool for all established digital media asset formats. It comes free of cost with the Media Asset Management ims doc and may be used on local and remote workstations as a general viewer. ims Server The central ims Server is the core of the Media Asset Management ims doc to provide storage of and access to all digital media assets and related meta data, based on SQL Server and Oracle databases. A multitude of services allows time- or eventcontrolled execution of maintenance processes, such as the automated import of digital media assets from external archives, communication with external customer applications, automated digital media asset format conversion and meta data extraction for queries. Furthermore, the server maintains a fully integrated user and access right management and synchronisation with customer LDAP/AD. 2
Media Asset Acquisition and Management Document File Acquisition The Digital Media Assets can be acquired as original files into the archiving system via drag&drop directly from any file storage device or interactively via the ims Studio workplace. For this purpose, ims doc provides a multitude of file format readers, for the automated extraction of meta data such as calibrations, descriptions or geographical coordinates from EXIF, XMP or IPTC fields, to be used for display, media query, as well as for the automated conversion from source to target formats. The ims Studio workbench allows for highly intuitive processing, annotating and measuring of acquired images prior to storage in the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc. Auto-Readout from camera storage devices, macro-based series import with processing and movie trimming are just as few functional elements of the highly versatile acquisition concept. Import from external archives via XML Digital media assets from legacy customer archives can be automatically imported with minimal effort via the XML Import Interface into the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc. Export automation from legacy archive formats into XML import format is provided as optional service. Acquisition directly from Image Sources ims doc supports a multitude of analogue and digital image sources, such as cameras and scanners, for direct import of images and movies. In this way these digital media may be acquired into the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc in their usual work environment, avoiding the detour of creating intermediate files. Management of Digital Media Asset Originals ims doc stores the acquired media assets in their original file format or allows for automatic format conversion on acquisition. On import into the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc, the files may be encrypted or watermarked for protection purposes. For each digital media being acquired a compact reference image is created for fast, image-oriented queries without the need for. 3
Image Operations Image Processing Acquired image and movie files may be processed without the need for external applications directly from within the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc. On acquisition clients with attached imaging hardware, acquisition modes and sequences my be defined via processing macros. Rotation, Mirror, Histogram, Brightness, Contrast, Gamma, Inverse, Crop, Size Movie Editor Movies may be trimmed and restored with just a few clicks using the internal Movie Editor. Additional features are frame-precise single image extraction and re-assembling of sub-sequences. for AVI, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 formats Extraction of single images, assembly of sub-sequences, processing of files in GB size range, support Annotation and Measurement Overlay-based annotation elements my be added to images directly during the acquisition phase in the Studio workbench or later within the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc. Automated calibration on acquisition allows for immediate interactive measurements on images. Annotation and measurement data are automatically transferred to Word reports or PowerPoint presentations. Single distance, Multiple distance, Area, Circle, Angle, Object Counter 4
The Editor Workplace The ims Client The intuitive archive views of the ims Client provide a clearly laid out and Internet-like query interface even for untrained users. At any time the user has the overview over project and image relevant data for fast finding and visualisation of digital media assets. Distinct values of existing contents, synonym expressions, keyword lists are just a few control elements to speed-up query processes in the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc. The image gallery with overview and zoom display modes, showing the reference images of the original documents, allows for compact display and visualisation of the queried assets. Mouse-over on gallery thumbnail shows a high-quality reference image with attached project- and documentrelevant meta data. The flexible and dynamic form view presents the detail information of the original documents and allows editing of single or multiple media assets. Free text fields, keyword lists and autocompleting make data entry easy and avoid typing errors. Imported subject catalogues with built-in search-select features are available for documentations and queries. Check fields allow the selective release for various purposes, such as publication or automated export. 5
Digital Media Asset Visualisation ims Publisher The ims Publisher is the browserbased user interface of the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc, optimised for fast and intuitive media query, document visualisation and download. Without the necessity of local installation or training, the authorised user has immediate and global access to all published media assets. The Internet-like query concept, enhanced by professional tools such as category and synonym search, query operators and distinct value lists guarantees precise query results and short response times on all knowledge levels. The modular interface concept allows the creation of user and group-defined views with overview, detail and gallery displays. The flexible download access control may be based on user rights or meta data contents. And the optional e-commerce download functionality based on optional PayPal or credit card payment modes makes the ims Publisher a versatile digital media asset visualisation tool for internal and external users. Supports established Browsers, no installation and training required. Flexible download functionality for digital media assets, user authorisation via access rights management 6
Digital Media Asset Visualisation Image Comparison Images of a projectoriented query selection may be visualised and compared to each other using the ims Client module Image Comparison. Multiple reference images of the selection may be directly compared with the complete image collection. Up to 8 static reference images, image gallery, Original and reference image display, launched directly from archive view or Collection Point. Ims Viewer The Digital Media Asset Management ims doc supports the display of established file formats using the ims Viewer. This stand-alone application may be used as a general-purpose visualisation tool. Images and movies can be imported directly via drag&drop and image and movies imported from the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc for visualisation can be exported into the file system. Universal viewer for image and movie files, external stand-alone application, flexible grid view for the visualisation and direct comparison of multiple documents 8 7
Interaction und Communication Map Module Map displays maps and map sections and allows searching for locations and addresses, zooming in and out, assigning world coordinates to archived images and showing images with assigned coordinates on the map. The module supports image acquisition with direct read-out of EXIF coordinate information from image sources providing GPS localisation, as well as displaying multiple images or image collections on the map. Interactive graphical section search with automatic database query and display of related images on the map extend the fields of application of the map module.. Chat Module Chat allows written communication between multiple ims Client users, as well as the exchange of image links. A chat history may be recalled, and via the image links being just dragged into the chat window, the chat partners may directly view the related images. 8
Presentation Image Collections The Collection Point is a gallery workbench for collecting and free arrangement of documents from the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc. In the Collection Point, topic-oriented media collections can be created, arranged, stored and re-loaded. The formatfree collections may be moved or copied via drag&drop to one of the Showcases for further processing or output on a target device. Showcases In the same way as the Collection Point, Showcases are arranged media collections and can be output on a keystroke as Word Report, PowerPoint Presentation, Slideshow or printed pages. Showcases can be stored and loaded for dedicated users or user groups. Simple drag&drop copy and move processes from one Showcase into another allow the creation, extension, rearrangement and sorting of presentations in a few seconds. PowerPoint Presentations and Word Reports Using modules Word Report and PowerPoint Presentation, complete and automated reports and presentations may be created on a click from the assigned Showcases, from the Collection Point or via drag & drop directly from the archive view. Customer-defined Word and PowerPoint layouts enable the automated transfer of project, document and related meta from the archive view into Word documents and Power- Point presentations. Images may be post-processed, and optimised directly in the Word document. With additional functionality like showing zoomed image sections or locating images back in the Digital Media Asset Management ims doc, creating Reports and presentations in established formats has never been so easy and efficient. 8 9
ims doc - Technical Specifications ims Server Programming Language Java 1.6 Database System Communication Protocol MS SQL Server 2005 / 2008, optional: Oracle 9i / 10g / 11g TCP/IP Supported Operating Systems Windows Server 2003 / 2008, Windows 7 / Vista / XP, Unix (requires Java 1.6), Linux (requires Java 1.6) Licensing Memory Installation Configuration System Control XML file, license pool for distributed concurrent session, group assignment on function level, client PC assignment for acquisition stations Min. 4 GB on database server Copy onto target path Configuration Wizard for all system settings Web-based System Monitor User Management Manual or via LDAP System with following functions: Automated user import from LDAP into ims user management system, user / password verification on Login into ims Client and ims Publisher System Failure Security Load Distribution Task Management Login distribution to multiple ims Servers (server clustering) Automatic load distribution to multiple ims Server (server clustering) Multiple time- and event-controlled server tasks for data import, export, synchronisation Optional Modules for ims Server Signature XML Import XML Export LDAP Import XML Control Interface Watermarking Remote Sync Offline Acquisition Server Clustering Signature is stored as in archive with image check Check for original state on keystroke Established signature algorithm Reads XML file from source path Creates / updates archive entries with field data and images/documents User documentation and examples Creates XML file in target path Copies field data and images/documents Event- and content-controlled export activation Authentication of logged-in user via user/password verification in LDAP Automatic Import and update of users in ims system management Support for nested LDAP structures (nested membership) Support for MS Active Directory (AD) and Novell edirectory XML-based command/data structure, socket connection or file exchange between external application and ims proxy service Control of ims Client functions Data exchange with ims Server Activation of ims Publisher Merging of text or image into large reference image (Emboss) Transparency and size selectable Unidirectional synchronisation of remote databases into central archive time- and event-controlled activation Login to ims Client for image acquisition without network connection Storage of acquired documents and related meta data in local XML files Manual and automatic transfer of local data into archive on network re-connection Multiple ims Servers on different database servers connecting to single database node 10
ims Publisher Programming language Java 1.6 Web Server Servlet Engine Operating Systems Communication Protocol Installation Configuration User Management Tomcat 6.0 (integrated standard installation) Apache2 Tomcat 6.0 (integrated standard installation) Glassfish Windows Server 2003 / 2008, Windows 7, Vista, XP Unix (requires Java 1.6) Linux HTTP / TCP/IP The integrated standard installation is achieved by copying files to a server path. If Servlet Engine already exists, WAR file is transferred to Servlet Engine. Depending on Servlet Engine, this can be achieved by copying to a dedicated location or via administration software Browser-based Configuration Wizard for all Publisher settings Username/Password Login with verification on ims Server ims Client Programming language Java 1.6 Communication Protocol Operating Systems Word Report & PowerPoint Presentation Camera and Microscope Drivers, TWAIN Image Sources Installation Configuration User Management TCP/IP (addresses and ports for ims Server) Windows 7 / Vista / XP Linux MAC OS X Windows only (7, Vista, XP) Windows only (7, Vista, XP) Copy of small loading application to client path, or Copy of full client into client path, if dynamic software Update prohibited (e.g. Terminal Server environments) No system settings required at client station. Pre-configured user workplaces automatically started from ims Server on log-in Central user management integrated into ims Server Log-in into ims Client via user name/password/domain Optional Modules for ims Client Imagic Source TWAIN Source Image Processing Movie Editor Annotation Measurement Map Chat Word & PowerPoint Manufacturer-independent user interface for the control of all analogue and digital image sources supported by Imagic Read-out and write-back of acquisition-relevant device parameters, cconsistent interface for all supported devices, user-defined, storable configurations Canon EOS cameras: 40D, 450D, 500D, 50D, Leica DFC cameras, Jenoptik cameras C3, C5, C14+, CF, CFcool, CFscan, CT3, MFscan, Mfcool, Zeiss AxioCam cameras, Video sources: Y/C (S-Video), FBAS (Composite Video) Support of image acquisition from sources providing proprietary TWAIN driver Image processing module providing standard functionality: rotate, mirror, brightness/contrast/gamma, invert, histogram equalisation, image size, crop, snapshot, binarisation, windowing (brightness/contrast for images providing high dynamic range) Editor module for the trimming of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 movie files, assembly of sub-sequences Extraction von single images Annotation of images on overlay plane: line, rectangle, circle, textbox Globally and locally editable and configurable annotation properties, Show and hide function Automatic transfer into Word reports and PowerPoint presentations Measurement of images on overlay plane: istance, multiple distance, parallel distance, area, circle, angle, object counter Globally and locally editable and configurable annotation properties, Show and hide function Automatic transfer into Word reports and PowerPoint presentations Assignment of geographic coordinates to archived images based on an interactive, graphic map interface Automatic display of archived images with assigned geographic coordinates in interactive map interface Extraction of geographic coordinates from EXIF fields of image files Communication between multiple ims Client users, based on integrated chat interface Transfer of image links via Drag&Drop from archive view; direct image display by clicking on image link in chat window Chat History for each individual connection Automated creation of Word reports and PowerPoint presentations on a keystroke Image/text transfer directly from archive view or via Showcase modules Automatic transfer of images and field contents from archive, user-defined page layouts for Word and PowerPoint 11