Inevitably on a real timeline, things get messed up because you expect parts to come in at X date, and they don't always, or Y is behind or needs to be retested, etc. But he wants to get us used to the fact that we work with schedules and timelines.
Believe it or not, when we came in today, that was what I was planning to do in any case, which is funny. It's how we're used to working where I work. That's how you get approved and can pitch your ideas; by giving a realistic depiction of your ideas and defending them in such a manner. It's actually rewarding because it means you have to think things through. I can't tell you how many art classes I've taken where it was clear the guy or girl BS-ed their way through a design (I just put it in there "just because" won't cut it) and the whole time I was thinking that if it were for real, someone from manufacturing would rip that to shreds. I like the practicality of this stuff a lot. And well, building r0bots is just a LOT of fun!
Yup, producers make these charts all the time for production schedules. You try to stay on track but murphys law sometimes unexpected things come up. I def need one of these for my graphic novel, I'm already falling behind.. What program do you use to make this?
ReplyDeleteI used P0werpoint; there is a template called "T!meline" that can be downloaded for free. There is a plus version that you can pay for, but I just used the free one. I saw that SA has a weekend class (I hope I can snag it in the future; right now I'm on the wait list) called "Illustr@tor for Designers". I'm hoping to take that because I feel like that programme might be better for setting up a template for both sets of charts, because of the versatility of the programme. I'm thinking something like F!lemaker could also be retrofitted, as well as Excel.
ReplyDeleteI think the producers have this one they use, it was at the DGA, but I don't remember the name; it's the industry standard. They promote it at Digital D@y at the guild every year and give demos.
Good to know, thank you K! I use filemaker at work but did not know you could use to to make schedules too. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteYeah, filemaker is just a database, so you can do lots of different things with it.
ReplyDeleteI've been to three different companies that all used Filemaker, and none of the databases were the same. Each one was just custom fit to fit the company's needs; some extremely simple and others way more complex. Or you can do the proprietary format (which one company used).
Databases are a powerful tool; my dad has made several on his own (from scratch) for systems/organizations. It's just something that he does and the way his mind works. They're well paid, too; you can charge 150K for the job, etc. Most people don't know what they're doing, though (heck, most people claim they know how to use "excel" but when you really get down the nitty gritty they don't know the programme and its real functionality; any monkey can input a number but many don't know how to make and edit and use functions, etc!), so the highly paid people know how to do it quite well. It takes the right kind of person to be able to have a holistic view of the system, and also be able to instruct (or create) the details of that system.