Production Planning

Production Planning

Before production begins on a project it is important to go through some form of planning. Production planning is something I have often neglected in the past. This research focuses heavily on how to plan for animations, as they are generally the projects in which my lack of planning cost me the most.

‘good project management = good time management,’ (England 1999)

Pre-production:
This is the platform that you build your production on. A thorough pre-production stage can possibly save large chunks of time when it comes to production. The pre-production for an animation may include; research, script creation, basic storyboard, detailed storyboard, animatic and a rough sound edit (O’Rourke 1998).

‘Try and cover everything in the beginning, if you keep having to make changes even small, they add up and you can quickly drift off schedule,’ (England 1999).

Production planning provides a valuable insight into what the final product will look like. Pre-production also helps lay down the creative goals of the project. This is especially important because according to Kerlow (2000), once a production has started, if the creative goals are changed or modified, many negative effects can occur as a result, especially delays and extra expenses. Pre production is also important in that it sets the foundation for the next stage in the process, production estimates.

Production Estimates:
When pre-production has reached the stage where the storyboard is at a high level of detail, this is applicable to animation, a list of all tasks that need to be completed to make the animation, should be made . This is easier if the animation is broken down scene by scene and a list is created for each. Once this list has been created each task is given an estimated time frame. It is human nature to under estimate so it is a good idea to slightly over estimate (O’Rourke 1998). All the estimates are added up and a judgement can be made as to whether or not the production can be completed before the deadline. If they suggest otherwise the storyboard can be modified to cut down on production time.

‘Frequently this editing results in a better storyboard, by forcing yourself to economise, you often find more concise and effective ways to tell the same story,’(O’Rourke 1998).

Production Schedule:
This involves taking the list of tasks created in the previous stage and scheduling them into a workable timetable. The detail of the schedule is dictated by the time frame and the importance of the project, however a good idea is to break the timetable down into at least three or four different versions, hourly, daily, weekly and monthly. Breaking up time so that you constantly working on varied tasks is a good idea to stay fresh over a lengthy period of time. Another good ploy is to try and set a solid routine where you spend the same parts of the day working on similar tasks (Subotnick 2003). Keep tasks small so that the turnover is quick and fulfilling and interest is maintained. Keeping a schedule is important, however flexibility is also equally important. Kerlow (2000) recognises this by asserting that to deliver a project on target (under budget, before the deadline, at a quality you are happy with) compromise will probably be necessary.

There are various tools that can help implement your schedule. GANTT and PERT charts are two common ones. The GANTT chart is especially useful in planning tasks and monitoring progress as the project goes on. The PERT chart focuses more on the relationship between tasks and less on time.
Software can also be used to help with managing tasks. Software such as the Mac’s iCal works well in organising daily tasks, like a sophisticated diary. Microsoft Project is a program, which allows you to construct GANTT and PERT charts digitally and monitor your project in that way.

Reference List:

England, E, Finney, A 1999, ‘Managing Multimedia: Project Management for Interactive Media’, 2nd edn, Addison-Wesley, Harlow, England.

Kerlow, I 2000, ‘THE ART OF 3-D COMPUER ANIMATION AND IMAGING’, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Cambridge, USA.

O/Rourke, M 1998, ‘Principles of Three Dimensional Computer Animation’, W.W. Norton & Company, New York.

Subotnick, S 2003, ‘Animation in the Home Digital Studio Creation to Distribution’, Elsevier Science, Cambridge, USA.

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