What's new in AVS 2.1 ?

AVS 2.1 adds :

  • the ability to open online video streams. So far, you could only analyze and create video web thumbnails available locally on your hard drive or from a network share. But it is now possible to open a Windows Media file available from a http server or a Windows Media server. AVS can open Windows Media script files (.asx) and let the user choose one video stream among the several video streams that a Windows Media script sequence can declare. Quicktime streams and Real Media streams are not supported.
  • the ability to create video hyperlinks. Video hyperlinks let you define, share, and play a particular segment of the video, by manipulating the AVS user interface. There are two ways to achieve this. The first is to create a video hyperlink in the clipboard so that it can be pasted in an html page. Just select one or more shots, right-clik, and choose create a videolink. The other is to publish video hyperlinks by using $(VIDEOLINK) keywords in template files. The latter allows to create video web thumbnails which for instance will start playing a particular video segment when the user clicks a shot of the thumbnail.

Some of the features introduced in AVS 2.0 include :

  • preview your media files, including videos, bitmaps and html templates.
  • when publishing your thumbnail, use a html template instead of relying on the default generator (which was introduced in version 1.1 and is still available).
  • edit your html templates and add formulas, conditional content and conditional formatting to unleash your imagination and the power of video web thumbnails, all by taking advantage of html
  • simplify deployment and save bandwidth by creating web-archive based thumbnails, that retain all pages and shot pics within a single file.
  • transparent shot bitmap templates can be used to personalize the shots themselves.
  • UI enhancements like the ability to show timecodes everywhere (video professionals will love that), the ability to mark a video segment for play and/or processing, and the image refiner.
  • last but not least, the entire UI now works with shadow-looking dialogs. This gives a neat look to the product.

Some features have also been improved :

  • the publish to the web dialog box has been replaced with a full-fledged 4-page wizard with dynamic options. You can choose your html template. Additional files (css stylesheets, javascript files, external pictures) can be aggregated in the resulting thumbnail.
  • the automatic shot engine has been improved a bit when it comes to fade-ins and fade-outs.

All these new features are covered in great detail in the sections of the documentation.