FME 2019 – The Most Exciting Release Yet

The FME 2019 BETA has been available to download since back in August last year, and it’s been a real hit with users.

Safe Software have created a huge buzz around the release of FME 2019.0, and it’s not without reason… it looks to be the most exciting version yet! Packed to bursting with a range of new features and capabilities that will benefit users across a wide variety of disciplines. FME is set to broaden its scope even further this year.

Below, we’ve picked-out some of the new features that will be coming to FME 2019. We think you’ll agree that they’re worth making a noise about. Our consultancy and development teams can’t wait to get their hands on the new release!

FME “Dark Mode”

Judging by the volume of requests for a “Dark Mode” option that Safe Software received, this is bound to be a real crowd-pleaser. FME 2019 is centred-around improving both usability and user experience. There are many benefits of “Dark” or “Night” modes for screen-users, with many discussed in this Digital Care post.

Visual Previews

You can now choose to see a live preview of your data as it travels through your workflow. Handy if you need to go back and amend specific transformers to get the output data you need, with no need to continuously fire-up Data Inspector.

Animate Mode

This feature allows you to animate certain outputs. For example, enjoy useful (and aesthetically pleasing!) visualisations of your layered/overlapping raster images showing change over time.

Object Recognition

FME is getting an object detection functionality. Users will be able to train a machine to recognise objects of interest within images supplied to it. We see great potential for this machine learning capability in areas of asset management and surveying, in particular. For example, an underwater survey may need to accurately detect certain objects on the seabed and complete a specified action each time (e.g. labelling and recording a geolocation).

FME Server Automations

FME Server has always been our go-to automation and scheduling tool for repeatable processes. The new “Automations” capability combines automation, notification, and system event functions into a single component for FME Server users. Read more about it here.

Presets

Return time and time again to your usual settings and parameters with presets. It’s there to save you time when setting up those similar and/or repeatable workflows.

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

A new functionality for FME at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence and machine learning. NLP uses computers to process and analyse large amounts of human natural language data, no matter the language or level of standardisation. Read about the new functionality and its potential uses for FME users, in Mark Ireland’s in-depth blog post on the Safe Software website.

Unreal Engine

FME 2019 will be able to write to formats recognised by the Unreal gaming engine. This addition to FME’s arsenal will allow users to create valuable 3-Dimensional visualisations and models. We think that this will be great for our customers in the Utilities, Building & Engineering Services (BES), and Surveying sectors who need to represent physical assets and objects on-screen.

FME Goes Mobile

FME Data Express allows users to turn their FME Server-hosted workspaces into apps for phones running on Android or iOS. This means that you can now submit jobs and inspect your output data on the go. For a short demo/introduction, see this tweet by Safe Co-Founder Dale Lutz.

MRI, CT and Ultrasound Scan Data

The DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) reader first came to FME with the release of FME 2018. Improvements in FME 2019 mean that users are now able to read-in and fully visualise data from MRI, CT and Ultrasound scans. The new ‘Animate Mode’ (mentioned above) is the perfect complementary function when using this kind of data. Users are able to scroll through a succession of scan images – a powerful advancement for FME, we’re sure you’ll agree!

FME 2019.0 is penciled-in for release in April, with incremental releases coming later in the year. Keep an eye on our blog and social media channels for the latest updates as they happen!