Bamboo Agile was hired to modernise and enhance a multiplatform application for creating interactive playlists that support a large variety of file formats.
About the Project
Overview:
- Project team: 8 people
- Delivery date: ongoing
- Time spent: 15 months; the project is in progress
Challenge
The owners of MediaGun approached Bamboo Agile in February 2021. They wanted us to modernise their Windows-exclusive application with multiplatform support for Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and Android, as well as make improvements to the software’s general performance and design.
We also had to implement a number of new features, such as multiplatform Microsoft Office file support on devices that don’t have the Office software package installed, cloud support, and portfolios.
Solution
Bamboo Agile remade MediaGun from scratch. The new and improved application allows users to create presentation-like playlists that combine all sorts of file types – audio, video, text, PDF, etc. What makes it unique is that it can display Microsoft Office files on Linux and Mac OS (and Android in the future), even if there is no Microsoft Office software installed.
Technologies we used:
Qt (C++), C#, Microsoft Azure, MySQL, MacOS, Linux, Windows
General Features
The core of the application. The playlist creator allows users to quickly and easily generate playlists from a huge number of file types, set up transitions, interactive elements, and events.
Say goodbye to the headache of converting dozens of files just to be able to insert them into your presentation. MediaGun can handle an astounding number of file types, which includes:
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- video files (AVI, MP4, DIVX, WEBM, WMV, XVID, VOB, and many others);
- image files (JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, PSD, and more);
- audio files (MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, OPUS, etc.);
- documents (TXT, PDF, XLS, PPTX, DOCX, etc.)
.
As mentioned before, the new version of MediaGun is available on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Android support will be made available by the time the full version is released.
An upcoming feature. The users will have the ability to synchronise playlists across different devices and easily back them up via fast and secure cloud integration.
An upcoming feature. Playlists can be exported as so-called “portfolios” – file playlists that can be compiled, shared, and played on any device. They can be interactive and play in a seamless loop, making them the perfect choice for information stand displays, conferences, airport screen displays, advertisements, and so on.
Development
The pre-development phase of MediaGun involved a lot of research. We had to make sure that making Office files playable on all platforms and devices that did not have the Office package installed was possible at all. We also had to decide on which libraries would be the best for playing different types of files.
The development team consisted of 2 Frontend Developers, 1 Backend Developer, DevOps, a Project Manager, a Business Analyst, a QA Engineer, and a UX/UI Designer.
The desktop application was developed using the Qt framework. The backend was an interesting challenge – our engineer was additionally tasked with working on the application’s cloud functionality.
Results
As of today, the new MediaGun solution is in its beta stage. The version is available on Windows, MacOS, and Linux, featuring the basic playlist creator functionality and the multiplatform support of Microsoft Office files. The development team is now occupied with bugfixing, and will soon move on to implementing the remaining cloud and portfolio features, as well as mobile support for Android devices.
