Data-driven graphics use a wide range of data sources to provide the most support. The work to provide authentication to HTTP and RSS data feeds has also allowed us to add support for Google Sheets in DataLinq™. Take a quick look to see how it is done, and if it can work for you.

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There are times when the operator would prefer that DataLinq™ not update a Take Item. It is now possible to click on a button to disable DataLinq™ Updates for a Take Item, until the operator uses the same button to re-enable DataLinq™ for that Take Item. 

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Not everyone uses traditional SDI or SMPTE IP workflows in their video production. Some use NDI, which is becoming a common video transport format. XPression included NDI as a choice for video I/O back in the release of XPression version 6.7. Here is a quick video showing how to set up NDI in XPression.

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Sometimes, the Shape Style tools are not enough. Maybe you need to show a pattern within the boundaries of a country, or only a portion of the country.

The Drawing Relation function of the Shape Editor tools allows the user to choose which item on the Map flight generates the mask when a shape and area overlap.  This opens up a great deal of freedom and power when it comes to adding visual aids to the map which might still be subject to being within the borders.

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If you watched the last video, you saw how much time it took to select and delete individual anchor points on an Area Shape.

…we thought it took too long, too…

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Once the Maps Designer has changed where the border of a country is, it might be required to change the outline of the country and re-define how it appears on the map.

Using the Area Drawing Tools, it is possible to define the actual shape, and provide a way to use the new country shape in both the XPression Maps Design software and the XPression Maps MOS workflow. Using the new User Predefined Objects workflow and Area Drawing Tools, and Drawing Relation tools, its pretty easy to create new country shapes.

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While there are globally recognized borders for countries around the world, there are situations where the borders recognized by one country may differ from where they are recognized by others.

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The point where a drawing tool or text label appears in an XPression Maps Flight has been based on the Zoom In and Zoom Out points. This might work well for XPression Maps artists working on XPression Maps Designer in the art department. However, sometimes, newsroom users want to have the drawing tools appear at the end of the map flight. Well, Drawing Tools Flight mode makes the drawing tool appear when the flight has completed, and the map isin the resting position.

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If you have created dozens and dozens of Maps and saved them using the XPression Maps HTML5 client, it can be difficult to browse through them all. To make it easier, they are now organized as pages of results, and users can now step through the pages with the new controls in the top right corner of the Saved Maps page. There are even controls added to define the sort order from oldest to newest or vice versa.

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When Open Street Maps was added to XPression Maps, the ability to customize everything gave a ton of creative freedom to designing maps. The functionality for customizing signs just got more impressive, with the ability to add a vignette and a drop shadow to highway shields. This allows designers to move past what looks like a simple cut-and-paste and customize the look and feel of signs on the maps you design and create a more creative look to them.

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