Fuse VDP/Cross Media Application

[youston]

I've been given less than 24 hours to learn everything about this product and give a compare/contrast (w/XMPie) report in a meeting tomorrow.

Does anyone work in a shop that uses this? The website is chock full of examples of what it can do, and very sparse on information about how it works.

Any helpful input appreciated!

[david]

No, I have no info on the product and we don't use it.


but, you could just print out all the internet, that'll buy you some time.
Hopefully

[gnubler]

Sorry, Y. We don't use it either.

I'm limited to using Indy's Data Merge until we determine it makes sense to invest in a more robust VDP setup.

[DigiCorn]

Haven't used their cross media; I did a webinar on Expressions. Looks impressive... and cheap. Does everything XMPie does for about 1/10th the cost. Plus, XMPie is now in bed with Xerox or someone and their software is more geared toward that direction, where FP plays well with all friendlies.

[youston]

Haven't used their cross media; I did a webinar on Expressions. Looks impressive... and cheap. Does everything XMPie does for about 1/10th the cost. Plus, XMPie is now in bed with Xerox or someone and their software is more geared toward that direction, where FP plays well with all friendlies.

I see you don't know much about XMPie. The only thing that changed when Xerox bought them is that I started getting decent technical support.

Talked to a (shudder) salesperson from Fuse today ... their 3-year price gives you 1,000,000 records ... we blow through that in less than 6 months.

Aside from that, it's a pretty slick service, if you don't mind turning the control over to someone else. I do.

[gnubler]

Youston, my shop has also been dealing with sales(shudder)men also because word got out that we're in the market for a VDP setup. Sometimes the phonecalls get sent back to me and it makes me feel dirty.

I know for sure we aren't going down the path of having a record/click charge type of account.

[DigiCorn]

Haven't used their cross media; I did a webinar on Expressions. Looks impressive... and cheap. Does everything XMPie does for about 1/10th the cost. Plus, XMPie is now in bed with Xerox or someone and their software is more geared toward that direction, where FP plays well with all friendlies.

I see you don't know much about XMPie. The only thing that changed when Xerox bought them is that I started getting decent technical support.

Talked to a (shudder) salesperson from Fuse today ... their 3-year price gives you 1,000,000 records ... we blow through that in less than 6 months.

Aside from that, it's a pretty slick service, if you don't mind turning the control over to someone else. I do.

We looked into XMPie a few years ago, did their webinar and downloaded a demo plug-in. It seemed very restrictive and limiting. We did the same with FP. Personally, I prefer FP. More freedom and much, much lower costs.

FP gives you several options. You can host yourself - you get infinite records. You can have them chew data via internet hookup... it's like $2000 / month. You can buy a server from them that will handle everything. Or you can have them do everything for you. Earlier this year I was supposed to go to AZ to look into this (buying their server), but we held back because of cost (we're poor).

[gnubler]

(we're poor).

Define "poor". Do you get a decent salary and benefits? Are there any Mexicans working in bindery there? Just wondering.

[DigiCorn]

I would think my salary is decent; I know it's comparable to others in the area doing similar work. We have a staff of 4 plus the owner = 5 - all white; we have a part-time accountant - she's Mexican. I used to get free health insurance, but it cost me $150 to get buy my medical marijuana, so now I'm on my wife's plan and now a dime bag still just $10.

[gnubler]

it cost me $150 to get buy my medical marijuana

Is that for your vision problem?

[DigiCorn]

Yeah. I have astigmatism and myopia. It's a bitch.

[david]

Yeah. I have astigmatism and myopia. It's a bitch.

me too...


it's supposed to be puff and pass... 

[Slappy]

I've been given less than 24 hours to learn everything about this product and give a compare/contrast (w/XMPie) report in a meeting tomorrow.

So, how'd this pan out? I'm getting increasingly disgusted with Kodak's StoreFront crap. I doubt they'd drop a dime for anything other than Kodak here, but doesn't hurt to know what's out there.

[youston]

I've been given less than 24 hours to learn everything about this product and give a compare/contrast (w/XMPie) report in a meeting tomorrow.

So, how'd this pan out? I'm getting increasingly disgusted with Kodak's StoreFront crap. I doubt they'd drop a dime for anything other than Kodak here, but doesn't hurt to know what's out there.

Fuse seems like a solid product. Its cross-media solutions don't appear to be as flexible as XMPie, and their 'storefront' solution can't even compare. There are some things about the way the whole thing works (you send them everything and rely on them for the output files) that just wouldn't work very well with some of the jobs we get here (i.e. sometimes, after XMPie creates the files, we find that we need to change certain aspects of the layout in order to make a NexPress friendly file), and they have no solution for dealing with variable information on a transparent layer (variable dimensional clear, for example).

XMPie's storefront ... I hate it, but mostly that's because I'm not a software or internet app developer. The real power in XMPie's product can only be unlocked by someone who understands the APIs. Their 'out-of-the-box' storefront is okay -- we have a couple of clients who use it to place frequent orders -- but change the appearance of it (skinning it) will absolutely drive you crazy, as you have to do ALL of the skinning in CSS. Again, someone with more Internet experience would probably have an easier time with it. (Not really being an 'Internet guy,' I do not want to be overly critical of them.)

There are some things that it should do out of the box that it does not do easily -- one such thing is displaying the preprinted shell that a product will be printed on for a proof, but not including that information in the print file -- but really, it's all I've worked with, so I have no real ability to compare it to other solutions.

Aside from that, the functionality is rock solid.