MAGIX Embraces Digital Transformation Across its Audio and Video Content Creation Solutions

MAGIX Software (www.magix.com/us/company) announced today it is strengthening its partnership with Microsoft and embracing the Microsoft prescribed roadmap to digital transformation across its entire family of audio and video content creation software solutions. MAGIX benefits from the productivity and collaborative features derived from three of the Microsoft pillars: Azure, Microsoft 365, and Windows Platform & Devices. MAGIX delivers solutions for audio, video, and other creatives, whether these are dedicated professional creatives, those who aspire to be creative, or those who need editing solutions for home, work or school. The Microsoft ecosystem provides countless opportunities for MAGIX to make its creative software applications even more productive.

The MAGIX customer is a Microsoft customer, and with over one billion Windows 10 users, and more than 200 million Microsoft 365 users worldwide – home users, professional creatives, corporate or EDU - these customers rely on Microsoft solutions. Future MAGIX cloud-based creative solutions will compliment Microsoft 365 perfectly by providing a ‘Better Together’ scenario that delivers an integrated ecosystem of devices, apps and cloud-based solutions. MAGIX customers will be creating, storing, sharing and collaborating using Microsoft Graph, Teams, Azure services including AI/ML, and benefiting from a new modern UI, support for new Windows devices including the new Surface lineup, and multiplatform deployment based on Windows Virtual Desktop. MAGIX’s integration of the Microsoft platform infuses productivity into MAGIX creative software applications.

MAGIX is committed to investing in technology and product development delivering media workflows running in the cloud, including collaborative editing and content archiving. Together with Microsoft, MAGIX will help empower its users to become even more creative by eliminating the obstacles to creative freedom and enabling more productivity. MAGIX extends this opportunity to all one billion plus Windows 10 users.

MAGIX also announced today that its audio and video content creation solutions will be highlighted in the Microsoft Build 2020 Conference Keynote Presentation as an example of a leading innovator in entertainment media technology solutions, with the ability to optimize their products and workflows with Microsoft technologies to meet an increased demand for remote collaboration. Since the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, MAGIX and Microsoft - co-partnering with NewBlue - have worked with EDU customers like the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to deliver a solution that would transform in-person teaching to placing all classes and performances online in a matter of weeks. Available solutions for live stream editing and post production include VEGAS Stream running on Microsoft 365 platform and VEGAS Pro (to be launched in August 2020).

“MAGIX customers have come to rely on us for powerful, efficient tools to perform their creative work. Today, more and more creatives are looking for solutions on the world’s most popular operating system, and the flexibility of the Microsoft approach appeals to users who care about productivity,’ said Klaus Schmidt, CEO, MAGIX. “The Microsoft ecosystem provides a wonderfully stable, flexible, and expandable base from which innovative software technologies can launch and thrive. MAGIX has proven that Windows-based tools can support the rigorous demands of creative work and the complex processing and mechanics of the creative environment. Microsoft continues to provide a unique and powerful blend of technological processing power and creative freedom.”

“MAGIX products are bringing audio and video content to a new level of creativity and productivity,” said Giorgio Sardo, Engineering General Manager, Microsoft. “They are enabling innovative scenarios leveraging the opportunities of Microsoft Graph, new modern Windows devices and Azure Cloud services to meet with emerging customers’ needs for more collaboration, remote working and ultra-mobility. We are convinced that, like San Francisco Conservatory of Music, customers will enjoy MAGIX’s best-of-breed audio and video editing experiences.”

Nicolas Gaume, Head of Strategic Partner Relationships for Microsoft added: “We’re thrilled to see MAGIX bring innovative user experiences to video editing on Windows. Features like People Finder, dynamic survey, polling and live streaming in Microsoft Teams take advantage of Microsoft Graph and Teams integration, and we think customers will love the ability to now easily leverage Enterprise/EDU data to live stream and edit video content.”

Microsoft Technologies Key to MAGIX Success and Digital Transformation

The MAGIX development team has begun integrating key technologies from the Microsoft Stack into its product lines. Key Microsoft integrations already underway for MAGIX customers include: Microsoft 365 Platform Integration in VEGAS Stream.

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music has been teaching in person for over 100 years. COVID-19 has completely changed that. When COVID hit, the school was forced to finish the school semester remotely and was tasked with putting all classes and performances online in a matter of weeks. But the nature of their highly interactive instructional approach requires tools that operate beyond basic online conferencing. They need a simple way to stream multiple sources of media and information to a wide audience while at the same time fostering interaction. VEGAS Stream provides them with a powerful solution. VEGAS Stream is best described as a “live video production studio” that requires nothing more than a computer. It's a tool that the conservatory can use to share their content over the Internet, and it leverages powerful Microsoft 365 to add dynamic data and interactive features to really connect teachers and students. Through Microsoft Graph APIs VEGAS Stream has access to and can create dynamic overlays with students’ names with associated contact information. It can generate dynamic lists, issue polls that reveal real-time results, and dynamically generate lower thirds. The conservatory can pull all the required information from within their Microsoft 365 account, and it all comes together seamlessly inside VEGAS Steam without manual data entry. The conservatory can conduct and broadcast its concerts online, and significantly, it’s more important than ever that the conservatory can easily share the students’ works with family and friends around the world.

 

• MAGIX, under its VEGAS Creative Software brand, has begun integrating the Microsoft 365 Platform into VEGAS Stream, the Company's new live video streaming solution. VEGAS Stream integrates Microsoft 365 through Microsoft Graph, the Microsoft Graph toolkit and Adaptive Cards to combine live video streaming with interactive and collaborative features.
• VEGAS Stream can stream live video to Microsoft Stream, Teams conferences, and Teams live events which offer far more security and privacy options than other streaming destinations.
• Microsoft Teams can be used as a video source to integrate a Teams call or conference in a live video stream.
• Teams chat messages, dynamic surveys and polling through Teams with live result updates can be used as an overlay in the live video.
• With People Finder users can instantly bring in personal information of anyone in their Microsoft 365 contacts as video overlays/lower thirds.
• Excel spreadsheets can supply collaboratively collected data to overlay live video.
• All of this gives the VEGAS Stream user power that reaches far beyond their local resources and into the vast world of Microsoft capabilities.

 

Windows Platform and Devices

Audio and video creatives demand solutions that get them into, and help them remain in, the creative flow. Content creators never know when the moment of creative inspiration might strike, so creative software solutions from MAGIX are designed to leverage the Microsoft Windows Platform and all the various models and configurations of laptops and 2-in-1s it runs on. Often MAGIX customers require editing in the field where ultra-mobility becomes critical, and through Microsoft Azure, MAGIX customers can continue to do all editing remotely.

 

• MAGIX will publish all major audio and video products in the Microsoft Store and start B2B offers in AppSource soon
• Additionally, MAGIX will optimize its video editing software lineup for Windows 10X and ARM64 platforms to support modern ultra-mobile Windows devices.
• In the fall of 2020, MAGIX will release a brand new freemium video editor, MOVIE EDIT NOW, which will be available at the Microsoft Store internationally. It supports x86, ARM devices and Windows 10X and is designed for next-generation target audiences both on tablets and notebooks.
• MAGIX developers will adopt Project Reunion as their favorite approach for future development, including WebView and WinUI 3.0 for modernizing UIs in its Win32 product lineup.

 

Azure Platform Integration

Creative professionals rely more and more upon flexible tools that they can use no matter where they are. They need access to their files whether they find themselves in their own studios or on the road in a remote editing situation. These fast-moving creatives want solutions that just work, even if they find themselves working on an unfamiliar computer that doesn't have the software they need to do their job or the media files they need. The Azure platform solves these problems, and MAGIX leverages the platform to keep creatives productive. Fast efficient Azure storage means that media files are available no matter when and no matter where.. Software applications that run on the Azure platform give MAGIX customers access to their tools and projects regardless of what operating system happens to be running on the local machine they have access to. This type of flexibility becomes increasingly important as the world changes due to COVID-19 and the restrictions imposed for collaborating in person.

 

• MAGIX will develop multi-platform deployment options via Windows Virtual Desktop and will develop an Azure-based, multi-device sharing, storage and collaboration platform for the entire VEGAS product line.
• MAGIX is actively working on migrating the majority of their internal IT service infrastructure to Microsoft Azure

 

About MAGIX

Since 1993 the name MAGIX has stood for powerful, cutting edge, and user-friendly creative software solutions. Our product range includes seamlessly integrated online mobile and cloud services as well as digital content. We place value on outstanding price-performance ratios in order to offer perfect solutions for the creation, design, presentation and archiving of digital photos, graphics, websites, video and music. MAGIX offers solutions for both Do It Yourselfers and Professional users including content creators who deliver media from award winning radio & television broadcasters, game studios, renowned musicians & studios, live concerts, and prominent social media influencers. For more information about our digital transformation, please visit www.magix.com/us/company/. For more information about VEGAS Creative Software, please visit www.vegascreativesoftware.com.