Mediasite EX 6.1 Gains User-Generated Content Module, MP4 Support
Sonic Foundry is previewing an update to its Mediasite EX Webcasting and streaming media suite, incorporating a range of workflow and content creation enhancements.
The new Mediasite EX 6.1, being demonstrated at the Educause 2012 conference happening this week in Denver, CO, includes a new module (the User Generated Content Module) that connects with the new My Mediasite and Mediasite Desktop Recorder to allow students and faculty to create and edit rich media presentations from any location.
"The Mediasite Desktop Recorder will be easier for us to maintain than other software-based options," said Brian Smith, IT Specialist, University of Florida, in a statement released by Sonic Foundry today. "The app is just so easy to use, I know even our most tech-challenged staff are going to quickly adopt it. And because it's a Web client, our user-generated content will automatically upload to our Mediasite EX management platform."
It also includes a Web-based tool called Mediasite Editor, which allows users on Mac OS X and Windows to edit their rich media presentations.
On the workflow side, Mediasite EX 6.1 includes new support for content approval workflows. As Sonic Foundry described it, this feature is designed to "ensure quality-controlled user-generated content by enabling authorized users to review, comment, edit and approve video before it's published."
"With more faculty requesting control over their own content, and with the University looking at creative ways to allow students to add presentations into our LMS though Mediasite, it is important for us to have workflows that not only allow us to review, edit and approve presentations, but also maintain multiple revisions over time," said Thomas Kemp, director of instructional technology and learning at Ashland University, also in a prepared statement. "With Mediasite 6.1, we can automate and streamline how we publish these presentations through the approval pipeline. We are excited about the possibilities of how it may also lend itself to our admissions department in the marketing of our university."
The new version also adds:
- User tagging;
- Automated thumbnail generation of video for navigation;
- Indexing of text embedded in videos to make them searchable;
- Support for importing MP4; and
- Centralized downloads of Recorder updates.
Mediasite EX 6.1 is expected to be released in December. It's being previewed this week at the Educause 2012 conference in booth 1433. Additional details can be found on Sonic Foundry's Mediasite portal.