Tech Talk Recap: XPression Maps – Mapping Your Future

Ross Video’s XPression team recently hosted an online Tech Talk event focused on XPression Maps 3.2, the latest release of the powerful mapping tool. During the session, Patrick Twomey (Director, Graphics Product Management) and Greg Ozimkowski (XPression Product Specialist) showed viewers how XPression Maps allows artists and journalists to create compelling maps content for video productions and MOS workflows. They also highlighted the new Maps Touch feature that empowers on-camera presenters to take viewers on a visual journey of the top stories of the day by flying to each location on a map with a simple touch on the screen.

If you missed the session, you can watch the full event on-demand or catch up with the highlights in the videos below.

{% video_player “embed_player” overrideable=False, type=’scriptV4′, hide_playlist=True, viral_sharing=False, embed_button=False, autoplay=False, hidden_controls=False, loop=False, muted=False, full_width=False, width=’1920′, height=’1080′, player_id=’47491501914′, style=” %}{% video_player “embed_player” overrideable=False, type=’scriptV4′, hide_playlist=True, viral_sharing=False, embed_button=False, autoplay=False, hidden_controls=False, loop=False, muted=False, full_width=False, width=’1920′, height=’1080′, player_id=’47491506461′, style=” %}

XPression Maps

XPression Maps leverages map content providers like Microsoft Bing, NASA’s Blue Marble project and now Open Street Maps to make map creation easy. The platform allows you to choose colors, fonts and textures to define your own style. You can create templates for your designers and newsroom users to choose from so that everyone uses the same content. This lets viewers easily identify your branded news product, whether it’s shared in a broadcast or digital news format.

Templated maps can be added to your MOS workflow, increasing the number of maps available for your newscast and the number of users who can create maps using the MOS workflow. Newsroom users simply select a map template, give it a final destination as either an address or GPS position, and create an animated map that zooms from the default location to the subject of the story – all in real-time.

What’s New in Version 3.2

XPression Maps Touch is a brand-new option that empowers on-camera presenters to take viewers on a visual journey of the top stories of the day by flying to each location on a map with a simple touch on the screen, providing more context to the story. The presenter can then seamlessly transition into the next story by interactively flying from the current location on a map to another location with just a touch. With this new feature, you can captivate your viewers and focus their attention on an entire series of stories linked together in a cohesive way.

Finally, the new HTML5 client makes your newsroom more efficient by removing the need to install client plugins, providing cross-platform support for newsroom computer systems like Ross Video’s Inception News, which lets users work with a Mac or PC. The HTML5 Maps client even allows users to work from home, which is very important in the current climate. Our new Maps download option in the HTML5 client enables digital media workflows by extending the use of informative graphics to web and mobile outlets without disturbing the broadcast newsroom.

Learn More

To watch the “XPression Maps – Mapping your Future” Tech Talk on-demand, click here.

For more information on the XPression real-time motion graphics system, click here to visit our product page.