Hi everyone - wondering if I could get a little feedback on our technology. We’ve been creating tools to deliver high-res images on the Web for several years. Our viewers thus far have been limited to ActiveX, Java, and QuickTime. Finally, we’ve managed to do it entirely in Flash - Flash 6, to be exact.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, www.zoomify.com/flash. Note - we’re a technology company, not a design company!
If you click on one of the demos at the top of the page you’ll see what I’m talking about. The SWFs are about 10k - all the image data resides on the server until you actually move to that area and Flash makes a request for that part of the image.
Also, we’ve developed an annotation system for UC Davis which also only requires Flash Player 6: www.zoomify.com/enterprise/zas/. Adding labels, notes, etc., is disabled for the demo. The image itself, if you’re interested, is a tissue sample from a cancer research study.
Also, you can download a portable example (emailable, etc.) here (just right-click “Save Target as…” on windows). It does require an internet connection to work since data is being pulled on the fly.
Anyway, love to hear your impressions, suggestions, feedback, comments… whatever you’d like to share. Thanks!
Thanks eilsoe! We try to be pretty flexible with regard to pricing. Our intro product which allows you to convert images and display within Flash 6 is only $129 (and edu discounts are 30% off that). Yeah, the Enterprise version which includes the annotation is $795 - but it’s designed for use by universities, museums, libraries, etc. The Enterprise version also includes command-line conversions (so you can script it with CF, ASP, PHP, etc).
Version 1.75 of Zoomifyer for Flash will be coming out in the next few weeks (it has the speed enhancements in the demos). Maybe we’ll have some drawings for free copies. :beam:
Hey ASchroeder,
The technology behind it is really nice! I am sure this program will be a great success in areas where images can be zoomed in for a clearer picture (medicine, topography, subway maps, etc).
that’s pretty cool. though technically not too hard to do in flash. you’d just need several versions of the pictures in several different resolutions, chopped up just right. of course, if the program does all that work for you, that’s great, and worth the money if you have a lot of pictures to process.
it may be loading in the background. once a certain resolution is loaded, it assumes you are going to zoom, so starts in loading the next one, and so on.
at any rate, i didn’t mean to put it down by saying it wasnt too hard to do, it’s pretty impressive. just looking it over and realizing that it’s not some super alien technology, just a very ingenious packaging of stuff that is pretty basic in flash.
Thought I’d jump in and mention that you’re correct bit-101 - this experience can be replicated with separate files. However, the tiling and tiering process is automated by our encoder (saves you tons of time). Also, our single-file approach is easier to maintain on a site, we can support files many many gigabytes in size (where’d you’d literally have millions of tile files otherwise - too many for a file system to handle), we can do 3D and panos (not in Flash…yet), we’ll soon be supporting JPEG2000 storage…etc. We’re hoping all this justifies the (small?) price.
In any event, we do provide the FLA with the program, so you can open it up in Flash MX and see how we did it. We have sort of an open-license approach - you can’t claim our code as your own, but you can use it, modify it, build upon it, etc.
i agree. as i said, if the program automatically chops and coordinates the images, that’s worth the money, as that would be the biggest amount of time, i’d think.
It isn’t nagware, shareware, trialware, anything-ware - it’s free to use as long as you want <:}. Of course, we ask that you purchase Zoomifyer for Flash (just shipped version 1.8) if you want to modify the source and change the splashscreen, toolbar, or incorporate it into your Flash movies, etc.
So, even though it’s niche, Rev, it’s free.
Thanks for hearing me out guys. If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me at alex-at-zoomify-dot-com.
There is something I dont get - how come I can download it for free, but you still give the option to buy. I looked around on the site to see if it was trial software but there was nothing that would lead me to belive that it is…
I know it’s hard to see out from under that toque, but
It isn’t nagware, shareware, trialware, anything-ware - it’s free to use as long as you want . Of course, we ask that you purchase Zoomifyer for Flash (just shipped version 1.8) if you want to modify the source and change the splashscreen, toolbar, or incorporate it into your Flash movies, etc.
Thanks for posting this at Kirupaforum ASchroeder. Always nice to know that we’re being thought of as a serious test audience for these products.
I like it… though as others have said, a little too much money for my usage at this time. (and freebies without the ability to modify the source are not really useful for me, though still apreciated.) I’ll keep it in mind if I have any projects that could find it useful.
again… thanks for taking the time to post your info here and interact with us and our comments.
I don’t personally have a use for it, but that is **** nice. 