SAFARI Montage 4.0.x Release Notes

Released: 07/29/2009

New and Updated

CreationStation

  • Newly Supported File Formats
    • Video File Formats
      • Adobe® Flash® Video Encoder (FLV)
      • MPEG-1
    • Interactive File Formats
      • Adobe Flash Player (SWF)
    • Document File Formats
      • Text/Rich Text
      • Microsoft® Office – Word, Excel®, PowerPoint®
      • Open Office – Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw
      • Adobe Acrobat® – Portable Document Format (PDF)
    • Interactive Whiteboard File Formats
      • SMART™ Notebook
      • Promethean support expanded to include Resource Packs
  • Licensed Media Metadata

    Licensed Media information (e.g., Licensor, Performance Rights, Duplication Rights, etc.) can now be maintained directly with licensed media.

  • Enhanced Permission Management

    Permissions can now be assigned independently to individual user types.

  • Virus Scanning

    All files are scanned when uploaded via CreationStation to SAFARI Montage. Virus definitions are updated nightly (requires Internet connection).

Playlists

Keep playlists organized in a familiar folder hierarchy.

  • Playlist Foldering
    • My Playlist Folders – Single repository for user created playlists with user created folders.
    • District Folders – Single repository for district shared playlists with district created folders.
    • Drag and Drop - Easily organize playlists with the familiar ‘click and drag’ technique.
    • High volume management - Districts and users can organize multiple playlists quickly by selecting more than one playlist when organizing.

  • Permanent Links

    Hyperlinks can be included in presentations, documents and whiteboard files or web portals.

  • Expanded File Support

    Playlist support for – Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Open Office, Acrobat PDF, SMART Notebooks, Promethean Flipcharts and Adobe Flash Player and Video Encoder.

  • Enhanced Permission Management

    Permissions can now be assigned independently to individual user types.

  • Playback

    Updated to view playlist items and transition to manual playback when a playlist includes content that has no standard duration for automatic playback, e.g., documents, interactive whiteboard files, etc. Prior versions allowed automatic playback and skipped such playlist items.

Interactive Whiteboard Support

  • Interactive Whiteboards Now a Fully Integrated, Standard Feature
    • Interactive whiteboard support is no longer a separately licensed module.
    • Each user’s interface is customized to their individual interactive whiteboard preference.
  • SMART Board Notebook Support
    • SMART Board™ – Full support with the ability to freeze frame video and annotate.
    • SMART Notebook – Files can be uploaded via CreationStation and are fully searchable in SAFARI Montage.

SAFARI Montage Managed Home Access

  • Upload From Home

    Users can now upload original content from home.

  • Remote School Server Support
    • Remote school server user accounts are now automatically synchronized through LDAP integration to allow home access, eliminating the need to manage remote school server users separately for home access.
    • Content uploaded from home is automatically transferred to remote school servers for in-school access.
  • Administration
    • Limited administration access is now available from home.

SAFARI Montage Live!

  • SAFARI Montage and SAFARI Montage Live! Are Now Integrated

    • Playback previously recorded SAFARI Montage Live! archives directly from the SAFARI Montage dashboard.

SAFARI Montage Media Player

  • Variable Speed Playback

    • Enables variable video and audio speeds.

    • Supported Formats
      • Apple® QuickTime® Movie
      • MPEG-4 (H.264)
      • Windows Media® Video
    • Speed Range – .7x to 2.5x

Selective Video Streaming

  • Improved Organization

    • Group live video streams by type: Digital TV (DTV), DVD players, Internet feeds and live Cameras.

Search

  • Search By Media Types

    • Search filter has been updated to include newly supported media.

  • Reinstated Search Filters

    • Reinstated filters that include Other Attachments and attributes for Home, Spanish and Closed-Captioned.

SAFARI Montage HD Network

  • SAFARI Montage HD Network Community Site

    The SAFARI Montage HD Network is available to teachers and administrators directly from the dashboard.

SAFARI Montage Interface

  • Updated Usability and Performance
    • Dashboard – updated to list items most recently played by individual user.
    • Increased Performance – Faster page response times.

Administration and Other

  • Add-ons are now referred to as Modules

Known Issues

Interactive Whiteboard File Upload

Interactive Whiteboard Settings are not correctly set upon new school creation; therefore, associated file types are not supported when attempting to upload the file types via CreationStation.

To remedy, verify the school’s “Interactive Whiteboard Settings” and resubmit the settings by clicking the “Update” button.

Supported Content Packages

This release supports the following content packages; video packages are available in QuickTime, Windows Media, and H.264 formats.

Video
  • Algebra'scool Teaching System (BestQuest)
  • Math'scool Teaching System (BestQuest)
  • Almanac Newsreel
  • K-8 Core Content
  • 9-12 Core Content
  • K-12 Core Content
  • Middle School/Junior High Supplement
  • National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
  • Reading Rainbow
  • Schlessinger Media K-8
  • Additional Schlessinger Media K-8 - UPDATED!
  • Additional Upgrade Schlessinger Media K-8 - UPDATED!
  • Additional Rev. A Schlessinger Media K-8
  • Schlessinger Media 9-12
  • Additional Schlessinger Media 9-12 - UPDATED!
  • Video Encyclopedia of the 20th Century
  • K-6 Supplemental

Still Images
  • Schlessinger Image Library
  • World Factbook
  • Paintings by the Masters
  • Images from NASA
  • IRC: History Pictures
Audio Clips with Supporting Still Image
  • IRC: History Pictures

Interactive
  • Visual Dictionary

Release Log

Version 4.0.30

  • Enhancement to SAFARI Montage Media Player Detection
    • System Settings – Added administrator control to manage whether users are or are not prompted about player updates.
      • Enabled – With SMMP set as the ‘Media Player,’ detects SMMP version at login and alerts the user of available updates.
      • Disabled – With SMMP set as the ‘Media Player,’ will not alert the user of available updates.

        Exception: Under conditions where SMMP is required (e.g., when set as the media player, when using Managed Home Access or when using Apple Mac OSX) but undetected, the user will be alerted to download and install regardless of the ‘Alert User to Install Latest SAFARI Montage Media Player’ setting.

  • Corrected static image alignment pertaining to full-screen playback.

Version 4.0.31

  • Annual update to new State Standards.
  • Corrected issuse with missing text when using Closed Captioning within SAFARI Montage Media Player.
  • Corrected numerous Playlist functionality in regards to document and whiteboard files.
  • Corrected known issues relating to Version 4.0.30.

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