Be sure to check out Parts 1-5 of Production Planning to learn about basics such as the production pipeline, budget analysis and production planning.

All images from Inspired 3D Short Film Production by Jeremy Cantor and Pepe Valencia, series edited by Kyle Clark and Michael Ford. Reprinted with permission.

What To Do if Your Time Estimate Doesn’t Jibe with Your Deadline
If you are expecting to create a successful and memorable CG short in a matter of weeks, you’re probably going to be rather shocked when you schedule out your tasks and discover just how long it is going to take to realize your cinematic vision. Quality takes time. Jason Wen’s lush and ambitions f8 took three-and-a-half years to complete. Kevin and Moon’s Henry’s Garden took two-and-a-half years. Moonsung Lee’s elegantly “simple” Bert required a 13-month production cycle (see Figure 18). Victor Navone’s 43-second Alien Song took approximately nine months to produce (working part time).

If you do have a deadline and your preliminary estimate suggests that you will not be able to finish on time, don’t give up on your film or lower your quality standards just yet. There are several ways you can effectively shorten your production cycle to fit within your timeframe.

• Extend your deadline

• Spend more money

• Simplify your intended cinematic vision

• Bring in more teammates

Extend Your Deadline
The most obvious yet potentially least feasible option is to change your deadline to a later date. If you are working alone and your deadline is merely self-imposed, then you will need to consider the ramifications of taking this step. Will extending your deadline adversely affect your life by forcing you to postpone other plans or projects? Will your finances drop to zero if you work on your film longer than you had planned? Or do you think you will simply burn out or lose interest if your finish line is pushed out farther? If you are working with a team, the idea of extending your deadline will need to be discussed and will be less likely to occur. If your deadline is externally imposed by a client, a boss, a publisher or a semester end-date, this option might be extremely difficult or perhaps even impossible to implement.

[Figure 18] Quality takes time. For these films that goal required production cycles of 45, 30 and 13 months, respectively.

Spend More Money
Consider a faster computer with more RAM. Greater computing power will mean higher interactivity and faster rendering times. More powerful (and expensive) software will often be more efficient and allow you to generate more assets in less time.

Buy instead of build. If you think it will take you a month to digitally sculpt your characters, think about purchasing models from friends or websites instead. You can also purchase assets, such as character rigs, texture maps and software scripts/plug-ins, rather than constructing them. Buying digital elements almost always takes less time than building them yourself.

Simplify Your Vision
As we discussed in the budgeting section, the simpler your film, the less expensive and less time-consuming it will be to produce. Examine your intended cinematic vision and make sure it is as economical and efficient as possible. See what you can do without, such as dialogue, particle effects, multiple characters, complex backgrounds and so on. If you can eliminate or simplify any of these elements without compromising your quality standards or the clarity and flow of your story, you should be able to produce a successful film in a reasonable amount of time.