Contents
To browse the media files on a device, just double-click its icon in the Device Manager.
The Mediant browser window will appear, showing thumbnails of the media on the device. If this is the first time you have browsed the device, the thumbnails will be retrieved at this point. While this can be a slow process, it happens ‘in the background’ and does not prevent you performing other operations with Mediant.
The device browser operates in a similar way to the standard Windows Explorer browser. Files can be viewed in a number of ways, with various pieces of information shown. Individual or multiple files can be selected, and operation performed on those files.
The status bar at the bottom of the Browser window displays status information and a progress bar for transfers. This bar will also show how much of the image library you are currently using.
If you pause the mouse over any piece of media, you will be shown a ‘hint’ with relevant information for that media, including titles and dimensions.
Thumbnails built by Mediant itself use a checkerboard background to indicate transparency. The size of the checkerboard gives an indication of the relative size of the image. Thumbnails for Easytext templates are pre-rendered by Miranda’s Textbuilder, and may not show transparency. Also, thumbnails generated directly by Imagestore 2 and 3 devices will not show transparency.
Media Types
Mediant can display most of the media and ancillary files used by Imagestore, including Still Images and Animations, Audio files, and Fonts. You can switch between the various classes of media by choosing Video, Audio or Fonts from the Browser’s View menu.
Choosing the View
You can view the files as a List, as Details or as Thumbnails by selecting the appropriate option from the View menu. When you have List or Details view selected, then the Image thumbnail will be shown in the ‘hint’ and in the item’s popup menu.
Filtering Files
You can easily filter out a selection of files by typing into the Filter Images box below the menu bar. As you type the image displayed are filtered according to the text entered. If the file contains the text anywhere in its name or title, the file will be displayed. For example, typing ‘arc’ would display files called “circle arcs”, “Architecture” and “barchetta”.
Viewing Details
If you select View Details, the media information will be shown in a tabular format. You can re-size and re-order columns by dragging the headings. You can also sort the data according to any of the column headings. If you right-click in the headings window, a popup menu allows you to select which columns are displayed.
If you right-click in the headings window, a popup menu allows you to select which columns are displayed.
Copying files from Device to PC
Simply select the files you wish to copy, and drag them into a Windows Explorer folder or onto your desktop. Note that transfers from the Imagestore device do not go through the queuing system, but you may still have to wait for the current file transfer to complete before your copy begins
Copying files from Device to Device
You can drag files between browser windows, or from a browser window onto an Imagestore device or group. In this case, all transfers are queued, and transmission and reception will operate in parallel if multiple files are transferred.
File Times and Dates
Mediant ensures that file times are correctly maintained when moving files. Even on Imagestore IS1 systems, Mediant will ensure that copied media is correctly time-stamped. This ensures operator confidence that files are transferred correctly.
Opening up files from the Browser
Double-clicking on a file from the browser will transfer it to the PC and open it using whatever tools are installed to handle that file type. We recommend you install the latest Miranda “Media Conversion Software” for display of Oxtel format audio and video files.
File Properties
You can view additional information about a file by right-clicking on it and choosing Properties. This includes data such as animation durations, image file types, audio sampling rates – as well as a higher resolution thumbnail. You can sort the properties by name or value by clicking on the columns headings.
Renaming files
Simply select the file, right-click and choose Rename. You are then prompted for a new name for the file.
Deleting Files
Simply select the file – or files – you wish to delete, right-click and choose Delete. All the standard ways of selecting multiple files (control-click, shift-click) work within the Browser.
Thumbnail Cache
Mediant’s thumbnail cache uses file time-stamping on all Imagestore units to ensure that thumbnails never get ‘out of sync’ with the devices. You can tell Mediant to rebuild the Thumbnails if necessary, by selecting Rebuild Thumbnails from the Browser menu.