North Plains Xinet
Profile Index
Vendor Details
Contact Name
Julie HuangCompany Profile
North Plains is recognized as the world leader in helping companies effectively leverage their visual media content including images, photos, videos, 3D designs, and others to maximize market success.
Providing a complete array of products, services and solutions, North Plains is uniquely positioned to help corporate marketers, advertisers, content creators, and publishers to be more agile in the creative development process, and in the management and distribution of marketing and brand communications.
Since 1994, North Plains has helped its customers stay ahead of their rapidly changing marketing needs by expanding and evolving its suite of offerings to include Digital Asset Management (DAM), Marketing Resources Management (MRM), Brand Asset Management (BAM), Creative Workflow and more. With offices in Canada, USA and Europe, North Plains counts many of the world’s leading companies and brands among its 1,400+ clients and 1,000,000+ users.
Providing a complete array of products, services and solutions, North Plains is uniquely positioned to help corporate marketers, advertisers, content creators, and publishers to be more agile in the creative development process, and in the management and distribution of marketing and brand communications.
Since 1994, North Plains has helped its customers stay ahead of their rapidly changing marketing needs by expanding and evolving its suite of offerings to include Digital Asset Management (DAM), Marketing Resources Management (MRM), Brand Asset Management (BAM), Creative Workflow and more. With offices in Canada, USA and Europe, North Plains counts many of the world’s leading companies and brands among its 1,400+ clients and 1,000,000+ users.
Contact Email
sales@northplains.comCompany Website
http://www.northplains.com/Years Trading
19Office Locations
- Toronto, Ontario
- Berkeley, California
- London, England
- Munich, Germany
- Tokyo, Japan
Product Name
XinetLatest Version Number
17.5.1Date Of Last Release
16/07/2013Documentation URL
http://www.northplains.com/resource-center/datasheets/Company LinkedIn URL
http://www.linkedin.com/company/north-plains-systemsCompany Facebook URL
https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Plains-Systems/161675280537110?ref=hlClients & Customers
- Wilson Sporting Goods
- Athleta
- Young & Rubicam Brands
- Husqvarna
Partner Network
If the vendor operates through a sales channel they may use intermediaries who have regional focus or additional specialisms in a given vertical market.
- Yes
Partner Network Notes
The list of worldwide partners can be found at http://www.northplains.com/partners.
Licensing
Licensing Model
This refers to the type of licence the DAM system software is supplied under. Proprietary means that the developer restricts access to the source code (the instructions used to generate the software). Open source means that the developer provides full access to the code so you can modify it yourself. Split model is hybrid and means they may offer both options with some restrictions removed (or added) depending on the model chosen. If split is selected, it is advisable to verify the differences with the vendor.
- Proprietary
Hosting
Software Delivery Methods
- Installed (On-Premise)
Technology
Client
Client refers to the type of hardware or software device that can be used to access or control the DAM system.
- Web client
- Desktop client
Server Operating Systems supported
This only applies for installed or hybrid DAM systems and refers to what types of OS they can be run on. This question is less relevant for DAM systems where a third party will be hosting it for you.
- Windows
- Linux
- Mac OSX
- Solaris
Web Server
The type of web server software that the DAM system can operate with. Not all DAM systems use a web server and for pure SaaS products the question is irrelevant. If you either want SaaS or non-web DAM systems, do not choose an option.
- Apache
Software Development Technologies Used
This means the programming language or development technology used to implement the DAM system. This question is more important for open source software or if you have IT policy restrictions that require you to use (or not use) some technologies. It may not be relevant if you require a hosted DAM and never intend to host the system in-house.
- PHP
- Python
- C
- C++
Database Technology
The Database that the DAM system uses. All DAM systems require some kind of storage for asset metadata and they are usually based on an existing technology - but that may not always be a conventional database. If the DAM will be hosted by someone else (e.g. SaaS/Cloud) this question may not be relevant.
- XML
- MySQL
Search Technologies
This refers to third party search components that the vendor uses to provide the text search features (and sometimes other related search functions).
- Custom (developed in-house)
- Other
Search
Search Features
This describes the search strategies that can be used to find assets. If you do not understand any of them, leave the options de-selected. Most DAM systems should support at least keyword search at a minimum.
- Folders
- Filters
- Linked Asset Search
Search Notes
Metadata search
Index/Search Text Content Of Documents
Some DAM systems can search the text content of document assets and that might be important for your DAM solution.
- Yes
Metadata
Embedded metadata support (reading)
Embedded metadata refers to information stored within asset files which can be searched from the DAM system. There are different standards for this type of metadata. Some image cataloguing software like Adobe Lightroom will write this data to asset files and a device like a camera may capture details also such as GPRS coordinates where an photo was shot. XMP metadata is often used with other types of files such as InDesign or PDF. If you are unsure whether this applied to you, do not check any options.
- IPTC
- IPTC Core
- XMP
- EXIF
- Dublin Core
Embedded metadata support (writing)
See the reading question above for more details on what embedded metadata is. This question refers to whether embedded metadata can be written back to files if edited within the DAM system.
- IPTC
- XMP
Embedded metadata support notes
Leverage through XMP
Controlled Vocabularies
Controlled Vocabularies are predefined lists of search terms. They can be realised in many different ways but the common factor is the user picks from a restricted selection rather than enters a keyword. Most DAM systems will usually support both controlled vocabularies and keywords.
- Yes
Asset Processing
Dedicated/Scalable Proxy or Derivative Asset Generation
Nearly all DAM systems will generate thumbnails and previews of media, including more dynamic types like video or audio. Some products use a separate server to do this which usually makes them more suitable for large scale asset ingestion and processing.
- Yes
Asset Manipulation
Image Manipulation
Many DAM systems allow users to manipulate images by resizing, cropping etc. Choose any features which are important to your users.
- Image re-sizing
- Image cropping
- Format conversion
- Flip images
- Rotate image
- Change colorspace
- Effects & filters
- Batch manipulate groups of assets
Video Manipulation
Some DAM systems may allow video assets to be converted or modified. If that is a potential requirement for you, specify those features which are likely to be needed. EDL = Edit Decision List and refers to providing in/out points when editing video footage.
- Format conversion
Integration
API
API means Application Programming Interface and allows third party software to control a DAM system. If you intend to integrate your DAM with another existing solution then you need to choose the API protocol that is compatible with that.
- REST
Authentication
Authentication Support
If you need to integrate with an existing corporate authentication service then this option will be important for you.
- Active Directory
- LDAP
Authentication Notes
Other = local users
Multi-Lingual Options
Multilingual Application Interface Support
The interface means the controls to use the DAM system. This is different from the metadata support which is usually entered by end users when cataloguing assets.
- English
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- Russian
- Polish
- French
- Spanish
- Italian
- German
- Dutch
- Norwegian
- Swedish
- Finnish
Multilingual Metadata Support
See previous question. Most DAM systems with multi-lingual support will provide it for metadata.
- Yes
Profile Last Updated: 13/02/2014