iView mediapro. Your view please

[pameladuffyphoto]

I'm thinking about trying out iView for my photojournalistic weddings. I'm shooting raw for the first time. I want to be able to catalog, edit,, convert to jpg, make slide shows and have a work flow that is not endless. I am very new to digital. Would love to hear your experience and advice.

Pamela Duffy

[DierkHaasis]

First of all, you won't get iView MediaPro anymore since it has been superseded by Microsoft Expression Media since this June. It is still the same program and the same developer team. Most of the negative comments - not least from me - you will encounter in fora about MEM v1 stems from the fact that our expectations have not been met even remotely. MEM v1 offers no new features compared to MediaPro v3.1.3, retains all bugs a user can enounter, adds a few of its own, and disables one or two features [temporarily we are told].

This reads worse than it is for a newbie; only old-time users will be affected by most problems mentioned. There is one new bug in MEM on the Windows platform that is serious: selecting sets of images through the Organise panel is compromised. It is rumoured the team will work and publish as before, that is, bug fixes and minor features will be added without regard to any version lifecycles [they are working on it, I am saying].

In general, MediaPro [MEM, that is] is considered by many pros and serious amateurs to be the best DAM on the market. It is easy to use, sensibly featured, well maintained. Currently it uses some self-developed routines, Quicktime and Nikon's SDK to read and write files. The last one is especially interesting since it allows to write to NEF and reading Capture [NX] created NEFs.

My own work-flow using BreezeSystem's Downloader Pro, iView MediaPro* and Capture NX is very streamlined, close to a Lightroom-only work-flow:

1. Download and automatically annotate files from CF-card via DownloaderPro
2. Import [new] files into MediaPro, sort, cull and annotate further
3. Send files [per script] to Capture NX, optimise and edit
4. When finished in Capture, go to MP and hit Ctrl+b to rebuild thumbnails and previews

From then on you can do anything with the files, make derivates [JPEG, TIFF, PSD] for e-mailing, further editing, printing; you can generate galleries [example], slide shows, prints.

You should get the trial and have a look at it.

The other program you should have a look at - if you are on Windows - is IDimager, the trial period of which I find a bit short considering its UI is rather complex and not always clearly labeled. As well featured as MEM with a steeper learning curve.




*I stay with the last iView version 3.1.3 till they get their act together in Redmond.

[jimbloomfield]

I use iView and have the new Microsoft Version. Except as noted above,It has worked well for me. I don't use all its features . I found that it is the easiest way to do a visable search of photos. Which can be done without the media it is stored on available as it keeps small thumbnails of your work. You can get a trial copy to use.

[Walter_Rowe]

I have iView Media Pro (iVMP). I chose to not upgrade to Expression Media, at least not yet. I downloaded the installer and have my free upgrade license key. I love iVMP.

I had serious doubts about what Microsoft would force the development team to do to it, so I chose to hold off on any upgrades. I wish Microsoft had not purchased iView Multi-Media, but I can understand the lure of many Microsoft dollars by the owners/developers.