Hello all,
This is my first sojourn into the forum so thank you AWN for accommodating me :)
Project Management, ah yes. I sometimes manage to get a little frustrated managing that software that tries to manage the project. Our company can't really afford the huge price tags of an Oracle or even an MS SQL system at the mo so i've taken to using dotProject, a php based app that dosen't cost a mortgage. The thing is its just a bit clunky to set up and seems to be focused on the software industry more than animation. Manually entering 500 scene descriptions aint fun, and neither is setting up dependancies for same. I'm sure with alot of code grinding it could be shaped into something animation suited, but before i go to all that hassle and loss of hair I have a question to ask ye fine people of AWN. Has someone done it already? What do you use for your studio? Is there some good film/animation based PM software with a price-tag with no more than 3 zeros?
For comments given, I thank you :)
Slainte.
Project Management conundrums..
Project Management conundrums..
What you are looking for is DAM, or Digital Asset Management - so, now you have a specific name refer to what we're talking about :)
And, yes - they do cost an arm and a leg!
The most popular is Alienbrain, now owned by Avid. It is very robust, version control, check in/out system - even built in editing of files within Alienbrain, rather than having to open up other software. The unfortunate part is that for files it isnt programmed to work with, it can only be used to 'tag' files with 'metainfo' - and its main focus is 3D projects, and Software Dev.
Cinegy eXpress is designed for Video, not 'animation' perse - but it is more focused on sequences of video, clips and scenes - as well as previews, version history etc....
http://www.proximitygroup.com/page.php?pg=products_artbox_workgroup
Catalogues files, adds meta info etc... but is not a 'wholistic' project management solution like the others. no production schedule etc...
http://www.artesia.com/html/artesia_for_dam.html
Well, you get the picture - with DAM as a keyword, google is your friend - only some have trials, many do not even list a price - which is scary :)
I cant say what will work best for you, when I explored these options some time ago - I opted to use none of them, because my time would be better spent actually animating, than fumbling with software to see if it would do what I wanted.
There may be advantage in the long run, to aquire Alienbrain's development package for example and add support for applications that I use... but the system we work with now, is fine.
Simple shared drive accessible to all the computers, on the drive - each scene has a directory - first by date that it needs to be completed by, then sub directories for each clip+audio and background within that scene has a sub directory. In each directory there is a breakdown of what is in the directory - as a txt file, etc...
Each animation file has two additional layers, the first is a frame count ticker - the second is a blank layer so that notes, scribbles etc.. can be added and not affect the work itself.
When someone works on a file, they start their timekeeper - with the client set to the name of the scene they are working on.
http://www.youngmonkey.ca/hands/Software/TimeKeep/index.html
And when they are finished, the invoice generated get sent to me. Based on the client name on the invoice, I know who worked on what, for how long etc... and I know to review what was just invoiced. And make my notes on the extra layers etc... or have someone else review it.
There are some things to be desired, but it works for me!
Evar Simon
The Phi Phenomenon
Thank you for that swift reply Evar. Your right DAM is what were after, but only part of it. I suppose its just whishfull thinking. We have about 30 to 40 artists here so our catalogue of artwork is growing rapidly and needs to be managed effectivly. Fortunatly we can use php driven galleries for this and have people set status markers for it. The problem starts when we try to have a project schedule control the movement of our assets and their visibility to the artists. So for example, and artist will login to the PM software and will be presented with the jobs that he/she has to do as they move through the schedule.When they finish and are approved they then appear in the next dept login. I really like the features in Alienware for the approval and bug tracking of this, but unfortunatly it dosen't seem to be tied into the project schedule, which would be dynamic. Still i could be wrong. I'm waiting for Avid to get back to me. This also feeds into the timesheet logs. Unfortunatly there isn't much budget for this so i may end up having to do it all in SQL, php and flash. Oh well, thanks very much for the input.
Cheers,
E.:D
Ah, okay then - you're right, in that case DAM is only a part of it.
To me it sounds like you are looking for - new keyword here - Groupware.
http://www.opengroupware.org/en/applications/index.html
http://www.phprojekt.com/features.php
Though Im not sure if any of these incorporate galleries, or anything that would make your life / project easier. but 'Groupware' sounds closer to what you need that the dotProject app you've been exploring.
Evar Simon
The Phi Phenomenon
i use MS-Project, simply coz its cheap. We have a pre-formatted form sort of thing we use.
It lists the number of scenes etc and then the artists assigned to the scenes. there is just one copy of the sheet and a backup. everyone punches data into the same sheet. when they begin a shot and when they end it.
but it dosent do anything for asset management, its just to know who was doing what when
Thanks for the suggestions guys. ThatPHProjekt looks very promising. I think i'd like to use MS-Project aswell, except that if we wanted to use a unified approach we'd have to buy the software, then a server package for it and then all the client liscences. Unfortunatly this is a bit too much for us at the mo. But maybe some day. :)
Ta.
E
MS Project by itself isnt terribly expensive and you can get a multi user license fairly reasonably.
you could also simply use the new office Beta version (if you are comfortable using a Beta)