Cumulus (software)
Canto Cumulus is a digital asset management software of the German - American company Canto. The used primarily in agencies, businesses and government system is used for archiving, organization and distribution of media files within a network infrastructure. A special focus of Cumulus is the integration into various third-party systems such as content management systems, SAP or product information management systems.
Development
History
Cumulus was established in 1992 as a supplement to the now-defunct flatbed scanner software Cirrus to organize your scanned documents and pictures on the Apple Macintosh. The software was one of the first commercial programs, which was delivered on CD -ROM. Among the main features of Cumulus 1.0 were the search function, auto-generated thumbnails and support for the AppleTalk peer-to- peer network.
Over the years, cumulus was supplemented over the years by different functions. Cumulus 2.5 introduced support for a total of five languages. In 1995, a developer Canto the scanner software Cirrus, to focus on the development of Cumulus. Cumulus 3 brought in 1996 for the first time a server version and the option to use the " Web Publisher " to distribute files over the Internet.
Because Apple Cumulus three offered with their workgroup server as a bundle, Cumulus has been one of the leading digital asset management systems on the Macintosh. However, in 1998 Canto dissolved the focus on Apple: Cumulus 4 appeared as a server for Mac, Windows, SOLARIS, Linux and SGI IRIX, with a client for Windows and Mac systems. Support for Solaris has been set back by now.
In the further development, in 2000, Canto Cumulus 5 own a API to connect Cumulus as an organization system for media files with other programs. The Version 5.5. imported component " Internet Client Pro" allowed access to the content over the Web.
With Cumulus 6 of functions for professional use by LDAP support and a new login API has been extended. In addition, in 2005 the standalone version has since been abandoned and licensed to the company MediaDex based in Dubai. Since 2009, the single-user version is named Cumulus again and was Canto reseller CDS Gromke (versions 7 or 7.5 would MediaDex 1 and 2 accordingly ) in version 8 sold.
Successively Canto has developed into a system for larger corporate networks. Cumulus 7 supported for the first time catalogs with a total size of up to one terabyte. In addition, the PDF functionality was added to features such as automatically inserted watermark.
In May 2009, Cumulus 8 appeared with a new core architecture in two versions, " Entry" for Workgroups and "Complete" for businesses. The new web client to replace the Internet Client Pro and in March 2010 published the Canto Cumulus Sites expansion that replaced the Web Publisher Pro.
The current version 9 was released in September 2013 and contains a revised Web Client, a cloud computing -based video management function and advanced reports and statistics on the use of assets. Further new additions are the new upload links via the external user data can also enter them.
Product Overview
As digital asset management software Cumulus has to cover the goal the complete cycle using a file. This begins with the cataloging of the file by uploading them to the archive at the Cumulus tries as much information about the file from the metadata to take over. For image or photo files that are typically EXIF, or IPTC data. Cumulus but also offers opportunities for import of information from other file formats such as PDF or Microsoft Office formats and can export the data in PowerPoint, QuickTime, QuarkXPress and RedDot formats. The metadata are used mainly to provide accurate results possible when searching the image archive. In addition, however, the use of embargoed data also supports license management for copyrighted material.
In the next step, the user can catalog the uploaded file and specify their use. The indexing is based on a predefined taxonomy that is based on the internal rules of the organization or industry standards. A user with the appropriate rights can also set via the content management system that a file may only be used for specific purposes or only certain groups of people. In addition, the management system also enables the versioning of files for production support work with revised files. About the publication function of Cumulus can be prepared for the distribution files via links or emails distribute directly. Also possible is also access from outside via the web interface Cumulus Sites, which allows read access your shared content from the catalog.
There are several variants, starting with the Workgroup archive servers to Enterprise Business Server for large companies. The servers are on the platforms Windows, Linux, Mac OS X (fat binaries ) and Solaris available, clients on Windows and Mac OS X. Both the server and client can be expanded by a Java-based plugin architecture. Since version 7.0, a Web client which is based on Ajax and a standalone UI has. For access from mobile devices on the Cumulus catalog is available since 2010 an application for Apple devices based on iOS.
Interfaces
Main focus of the Cumulus platform is the integration with other systems and services. At present, Cumulus supports according to the manufacturer the following services:
- Content management: WordPress, CoreMedia, FIRSTspirit
- Product information management systems: myview, Viamedici
- Video management: Video Manager
- Web2Print: CI-Book
- Enterprise Resource Planning and Enterprise Content Management: SAP, SharePoint
- Publishing: 1Publish, chili Publisher
Others
Although the product name suggests a cloud computing structure from today's perspective, Cumulus was initially an on-premise solution. However, since 2013 there is also a cloud-based deployment for Cumulus.
In 1993, Cumulus has been awarded by MacUser Magazine's Eddy Award for the best publishing and graphics program.
In 2011 was the founder and current Chief Technical Officer of Cantonment, Thomas Schleu the Creatasphere Prize " Dammy of the Year" for his earnings to Cumulus and the digital asset management industry.