#0033 Software for Breakdowns

Reader Jeremy asks: "What software do you prefer for breakdown/spreadsheets?"

While there are several great options, I like to use Open Office best.  I've been using this software now for 10 years on PC and MAC.  I like the price point of Open Office -$0, and the philosophy of open source.  With a quick easy install I have access to a full suite.  I mostly use the document writer and spreadsheet editor, but have dabbled with presentations, drawing and databases using Open Office.  I update with the latest release about once a year or more often. 


I last worked with Excel 2007.  The interface redesign was just annoying for me.  In my opinion, I cannot understand why any company would invest in a technology when a perfectly excellent option is available for free.  There may be issues of standards and compliance.  I believe the main reason for the GUI change in MSoffice was to differentiate from the competition with 'trademark' user interfaces.  By moving MSoffice users to a different GUI paradigm, the retraining hurdle makes it harder for companies with established users to switch.  Even so, Excel is a great program, but buying it and keeping it up to date is pricey. 


For collaborative work, I like Google Docs spreadsheets.  It can import/export from many formats, including Open Office.    I've used Google Docs a great deal for project management / approval tracking as well, so let me speak more to that...

I use color extensively to help speed reviewing a spreadsheet, and love to use conditional formatting.  Conditional formatting is the ability to set the color and other attributes of the cell based on it's value or some other test. One thing great about a Google spreadsheet is that it allows FIVE conditional formatting sets.  Open Office and Excel ( last time I checked) were both limited to three, although they allow you to change font style, size, and other attributes while Google only allows you to change font and cell color. For example, on The Universe, we used Google Docs to track every shot, and color-coded shots based on status codes and other information. For status, as the color became warmer, the shot was becoming closer to final.   It helped a great deal, because on the last day, I just was focusing on shots with a non-final color.

While you can use Excel or Open Office collaboratively, a Google spreadsheet has the advantage of allowing N-simultaneous viewers and X-simultaneous editors.  It was a viable and free way to manage our projects.  At any given time I was managing material flow, direction and approvals this way for several shows, multiple episodes and hundreds of shots while sharing the information with several supervisors, directors, post supervisors and a crew of 20-40 artists. Without having to pay any fees to license a database application, database server or use a subscription shot tracking software.



Some users have access to and like Filemaker Pro very much.  I've not worked with the program, so cannot comment.   A number of my friends and colleagues who have used it swear by it and would not use anything else. 

The question for my readers is,
what do you like to use?

#0014 CG labor issue: Part 3, the Satellite office

If your VFX or CG production company is in a large city, like Los Angeles, finding ways to increase capacity without a large increase in cost should be a concern, and satellite facilities may be an option.  

In post #0011, we looked at the possible capacity problem:

"Some leaders of the visual effects business, both at vfx shops and at studios, are warning there could be a shortage of vfx capacity within a year -- a shortage that could drive up costs and even threaten release dates." 
--David S. Cohen VFXTalk

At some point in the near future, the economy will revive for visual effects and other CG work, and the question execs will face is whether or not production capacity can be restored or expanded quickly enough while still recovering from reduced cash flow.  Even though, when the time comes, there may be a great deal of unemployed talent available to be snapped up, some will be lost to career changes. When this economy breaks good VFX production in the US could take another hit simply because we don't have the production capacity and filmmakers will outsource even more production.

Outsourcing Costs Will Rise
While opening a shop in India, or buying services in Morocco may be a perfectly great way to get work done, prices for overseas outsourcing will gradually rise.  I read in the Los Angeles Times in March 2006 that outsourcing contracts tended to move to less expensive countries every few years because talented labor brought rising wages. While this is great for world-wide capacity, it has the negative effect of building infrastructure and talent that will at some point rise to prominence and begin replacing the Hollywood filmmakers and decision makers themselves.  Keeping as much core competency local as possible is good for US filmmakers.

Buy Low, Sell High

Now is actually a good time to look at expanding facilities, or draw up plans to expand facilities, using a 21st century model with a core facility in the urban center and subsidiary facilities in outlying areas nearby.   While this may seem expensive, it will be less expensive than expanding capacity within high density and high rent urban centers.

Opening satellite facilities in low-rent, comfortable, affordable, suburban cities outside the main hub helps solve the problem location brings to attracting a workforce and will allow companies to double in size without doubling costs.  Many artists, seeking affordable housing, live an hour or more from jobs. Because this is often a quality of life issue, workers might be more willing to relocate to a similar bedroom community.  For example, a worker might consider a relocation from a $200,000 home in one outlying city to a similar home in another outlying city before moving into the core, where an affordable home is out of the question.

A satellite facility would be located between 90 and 150 minutes from the main facility.   Ninety minutes is approaching a major threshold for commuters, and a practical one for employers wanting workers fresh and alert. It's far enough away to keep everyone from asking to go there, and close enough that an executive could make a visit and not be out of the office overnight.  Finally, it's far enough away to get very reasonable rents.

Some Benefits of A Satellite Operation

• access to an experienced and familiar labor pool
• workers close by for collaboration
• supervisors and management are close enough to meet
• main offices close enough that workers could participate in company training
• labor can be kept inside company morale-building programs
• offices outside high-rent zones
• lower city and property taxes
• ease of expansion in contraction through short term leases
• attract workers who don't want to commute to city core
• increased worker productivity due to shorter commutes
• civic participation in traffic abatement programs; may qualify as a remediation
  

Not a new idea

Some may ask why not just move to Nevada, Arizona or New Mexico.  Sony Pictures Imageworks did just that in 2007, in part, opening a facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I'm sure this move accomplished much of what I am talking about.  Likewise, Imageworks has tapped remote resources by opening facilities in Novata, California and Chenai, India.

The downside is that these facilities are far enough away to stretch communications to the limit and require an overnight (or extremely long day) to get any face time with workers in Culver City.  The idea of the satellite office is to attract and keep talent in the greater metropolitan area while allowing the highest degree of collaboration possible.


Other companies have multi-national operations, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Canada, England, etc.  So the concept is not entirely new.

Keeping Your Base Strong
No matter where yourbase of operations is, you want to keep it strong.  For many companies, the base is Southern California, which still has perhaps the single largest labor force in visual effects, games, multi-media and animation.

But this could erode if work continues flowing outside.  While satellite operations in California will not stop outsourcing to other states and other nations, nor should it, it will help to preserve the talent base and keep production capacity high.  The labor market here is big enough and scattered enough, that one or two satellite operations a 90 minute drive or so from the main office could reap benefits for local companies.

With all the talent we have here in SoCal, we should be looking at ways to reduce overhead and wages here. Workers not faced with half million dollar mortgages and long, costly commutes will and take and can be offered lower wages. Overhead can be brought way down in outlying areas.

I'm not just talking about Los Angeles. This could be said for London, New York, Melbourne and dozens of other cities.  At some point cities become too big, and dispersing the work force makes some sense.

It seems to me that a studio with several facilities in the same time zone with highly talented pros could be a good thing.

Perhaps you have a thought on this?  Please jump into the discussion, comment on this article or write me at CGsupv@gmail.com

Thank you for dropping by! 

#0013 CG labor issue: Part 2, Location

I recall spending several weeks winnowing through resumes and hiring a talented 3d artist, another few weeks bringing the artist up to speed within our breakneck production pipeline, only to have her suddenly resign because she found a job with a 20 minute commute instead of a 75 minute one.  

Finding good talent at a good rate with good work ethics and attitude challenges CG Supervisors and Producers again and again when production labor needs rise.  A key factor in this equation, often ignored or disregarded, is the company location. 


There are many reason why a company locates where it does, and for most of us, this above our pay-grade. Even so, you may someday be in a position to make or influence or advise on the decision on where to locate offices.  Today, I want to look at not where a company locates its primary offices, but rather, how it can attract more experienced employees through the use of satellite expansion offices.

Among the problems that may not be unique to the United States workforce is our aging population.  This effects where many workers choose to live in a peculiar way.  Young people are attracted to dense urban environments with singles-oriented activities.  Mature workers, with families, often want a more suburban environment with good schools and quiet neighborhoods.  The upshot, as we see in Los Angeles, is a labor force often composed of young college graduates living fairly close in and experienced workers commuting long hours, which carries a cost. 

Some companies solve this problem by allowing very experienced and valued artists to telecommute.  However, for large companies, the pace of collaboration can make this difficult.  The company is located where it is to be close to clients, the industry hub, the urban vibe, or whatever; artists are needed at this location to get the job done.

The thinking currently is to have a core group of talent local, who can design effects and collaborate more closely with VFX supervisors and directors, and to outsource overseas for massive labor projects.  This rational makes sense, but it depends on maintaining local production capacity and attracting a maturing workforce.  


In Part 3 An alternative to local expansion or outsourcing

Perhaps you have a thought on this?  Please add your comment on this.

Thank you for dropping by!

#0011 Another hour -- the CG Supervisor's budget nightmare

It's happened to us all:  working hard on a project and someone from accounting comes in with the news of doom --the project is over budget. 

You've worked hard to make sure everyone has the tools they require and the information they need.  You've busted your tail and so have your CG coordinators to make sure the materials pipeline is flowing, command and control pipeline is productive, and every artist and tech is passing the torch as planned.

Yet, there's this budget thing.  Over.  Too high.  Bad news.

 

It's happened to us all...  
the project is over budget.  

Take a moment and consider this scenario:  a company with a staff of 40 artists cranking away on the project.  One by one, as the weeks go by, without anyone noticing, they are all missing their production goals by a measly one hour per week.  Your best compositor needs an extra hour to bring his shot into the sweet zone the vfx supervisor's looking for.  Your modeling supervisor isn't satisfied with the detail on The Big Bad Ugly Monster, so the organic modeling specialist is going to need an hour to fix things up.  UV's are off.  An hour.  The matte painting still looks fake.  An hour.  The camera and layout were not as ordered.  An hour.  The transition from running to jumping when your hero character comes to the rescue is awkward.  An hour.  An hour. An hour. An hour.

"I just need an hour to fix this."  We've all heard it.

Now, our crew of 40 artists and techies has each spent an extra hour to get the work done, so now, your either a week over budget (or should we count that as time  and a half?) or a week behind schedule.  Behind schedule is not an option.

An hour per person per week is, and must be within your budget tolerances.  That's 2.5% of your labor costs, and that should be in your safety margin.  But suppose it's an hour per person outside that safety margin?  You need an extra worker to cover that hour (or, should I say 97.5% of it) per week.

Put another way, each artist who misses production goals by 2 hours a week, adds 2 weeks production cost to a forty week schedule.  Each artist.  Multiply 2 hours of lost productivity by your entire staff and by the average wages paid, and you've got some serious money fast.  It's the death of a 1000 tiny cuts.

 Four hours extra a week = 10%  over 

As a CG supervisor, you need to allow for inefficiency in the workplace, and your company has to decide how much it can tolerate.  This is a subjective and artistic endeavor, after all, so plans can and will go awry.  That's why your producer is doubling any number you give; that's why the Exec Producer should be adding something on top of that.

The issue cannot be solved just with budget padding.  At some point it becomes your problem, a problem you need to face with imagination and diligent watchful management.

Think about it.

I'd like to hear some of the ways you solve this problem.

Please leave a comment 

Best success on your projects!

Thanks for tuning in to The Art of CG Supervision

#0010 CG Supervisor's Shot Breakdown: Part 4 - The form

Ultimately, the format of your breakdown depends on what information you include or are required to present. What information you should put in your spreadsheet depends entirely on what type of breakdown you are preparing and what method you are using for arriving at a cost estimate. You will need to consider the methods of cost estimation explained in post #0007 and the types of breakdowns discussed in post, #0008. Post #0009 can help you with the issues you should keep in mind when making your choices.

Here we can cover the essentials and offer a few suggestions applicable to most breakdowns; you can adapt this to suit your needs.


The Form of Breakdown Presentation
Use a Spreadsheet not a Text Document
Sometimes I've seen a breakdown presented as a text document, but this is a rare and inconvenient form for others to work with. Even if the text document contains tables, it is clumsy for others to add their own data, tabulate results, project what-if scenarios and the like. So, unless you are using a database or some other software for preparing estimates, you should use a spreadsheet. If you are running a small shop and using Quickbooks or similar software to prepare customer estimates, you should still develop your breakdown in a spreadsheet, for your benefit if not your customers'.

The Essential Data
Minimally, you should have a shot ID #, a description of the shot, a description of the effects work and a labor or cost estimate.

The shot ID number is often taken from the script or assigned to you by a vfx supervisor or producer who has pre-selected what shots you should consider. Unless this ID# is formatted in an unworkable way for your approval system or file naming conventions, you should use it as provided.

You will need a shot description. I usually give every shot both a descriptive phrase of my own and the full description provided. (If you are working with a script, it's on you to figure this out.) The descriptive phrase consists of three to five words, something easy to remember and something that could be written on a white board or in a small spreadsheet cell. The full shot description, if provided by a director or other person, may contain information both about what the shot is about and what you need to do. However, I usually break that into separate data fields in my spreadsheet, because one is about story and one is direction on the work required.

If necessary I will rephrase direction, but I usually prefer to keep the original words of the director intact so I have them when needed later. For this reason, I usually put the director's requests in one column, mine in another, and may allow additional columns if subordinate supervisors are helping prepare the breakdown.

Keeping an eye on the story is important, because it helps you make sure you're meeting shot objectives and continuity between shots. To help the descriptive field, I often have a field with the script segment or transcription of the audio sound bite. Again this has to do with story. However, I would not take the time to transcript the audio from a tape or video clip, this should be provided in a document or you should just leave it blank, it's not a good use of your time. (A coordinator could add this for you later, but it's better if you just can cut and paste it from a script or preliminary breakdown.)

I've experimented with listing characters, props, backgrounds and other scene elements. I've experimented with giving camera direction, lensing and lighting direction. I've experimented with breaking down what tasks are required.

When doing a widget-counting breakdown, I've found that it works best to put the widgets in rows. This way I can collapse and expand rows using subtotal functions to hide data details or drill into the estimate as needed. This leaves columns for each scene, shot or shot shot options.

Use Formulas to Make Your Breakdown Flexible
Put in formulas where needed. When you do this, define variables (elsewhere on the same sheet or make a variables sheet). This will help you play with scenarios when you're in a competitive bidding situation. For example, you could make your labor costs, pads, and so forth variables.

Don't forget to add administrative overhead -- you need to capture the labor costs of coordinators, supervisors, clerks and IT personnel. Custom programming should be anticipated as a line item if you're counting widgets --the point is to be thorough.

If using classification methods you can set-up cells to restrict input to certain phrases or codes and then use formulas to convert those into labor and cost values.

Always pad. I like to pad at a low level, for example, I add a pad to each area of labor: modeling, animation, painting and so on. In this way I've pre-padded my labor. (However, if you tell artists this number, there goes your pad!) I've done it the other way also, a global pad. Sometimes I put in a bit at both levels.

Make it Read
Always make your spreadsheet neat. You need to help your readers quickly comprehend the data and focus their attention on what's important.

For presentation, you don't need to print or display every column and every row. Build it well and by clicking the collapse and open symbols, you can have a single document that allows a summary presentation, a detailed presentation, and a full (and confidential) work presentation. When I use subtotals, I put them above the details (automatic subtotalling puts it below) because then when I collapse the data below, the subtotal remains as a sort of index tab.

Use color and fonts to focus or reduce attention. Use alignment to make text flow better. FOr example, I turn on word wrap for cells with descriptions and instructions, set all cells to align at the top, and the results look great.

Avoid leaving empty rows to create space in your spreadsheet. Instead, control the placement of text vertically and increase the row height. Empty rows make editing the spreadsheet very cumbersome.

Keep Some Things Confidential
Finally remember that an estimate should not reveal too much about your operation. So unless you're presenting the breakdown internally, I suggest you hide most of the details about how you come up with your estimate, giving just enough detail to show you've been competent and build confidence. Print it or export it as a PDF, and send that out to people. If they really require a spreadsheet, copy the data to a new sheet, but lose anything confidential. How you arrive at a bid is part of your company's proprietary strategic method of operation. Do you want your client sharing it with competitive bidders?


Remember, it's YOUR work
Think about what other information is important to you; be flexible and experiment. Err toward too much information. If done properly, your breakdown becomes your database source for managing your show's direction and approval pipeline. You can hand a good breakdown to a coordinator and have that entered into your company's collaboration system and be 90% there.

Keep it useful, keep it need and remember this is a presentation to your client about how well your company functions.

As a final note, remember your breakdown is an intention, an informed guess. If you can tactfully convey this idea to others you will take some pressure off yourself. Because at the end of the day, your breakdown will never match with production reality.

#0009 CG Supervisor's Shot Breakdown, part 3 - Choosing what's best

As a Computer Graphics supervisor, you'll find choosing a method of cost estimation and a breakdown approach is constrained by various factors, including the information given, project scale, preparation time allowed, your breakdown audience, your objectives and whether your breakdown is given freely or for pay.

In previous posts we examined some approaches to cost estimation: widget counting, difficulty ranking, attribute classification and difficulty ranked attribute classification (#0007) and the types of breakdowns (#0008). Today we will examine the factors that would influence your choice of estimation method and breakdown type. Tomorrow we wrap it up by looking at the presentation of your breakdown.

Considering Limiting Factors
Quality of Information
The major limiting factor in preparing a breakdown will always be the quality of the information available. You may receive the information in the form of a list in a text or spreadsheet. If you get it in any form other than a spreadsheet, start by converting it to a spreadsheet.

Often the list may not contain all the information you need, so you may have to interview the client or director or whomever you need to to get the correct direction. Sometimes all you will have is your interview with the director as you go through the script together.

If you are unlucky enough to be handed a raw script and nothing more, you should go through it with a high lighter, mark any shots you think should get effects or graphics, and mark or tag each page. If you mark it, I suggest a dot in the upper right corner. Small POST-IT flags work well also. Go through it twice if time permits, then take a third pass and enter the data in your spreadsheet.

Of course, if you are lucky enough to be handed a raw script and nothing more, you may discover shots that you could help with effects that someone else may miss. Either these shots will not get visual effects support, will be done a more expensive way, or could be sent to someone else. They could also end up on your lap a week before computer graphics shots are due because someone discovered them in the editing process.

Be especially wary of oral direction at this stage. Do your best to get everything written down. It's a good idea to have a coordinator or producer back you up in when reviewing shots orally so two people can reconcile notes later. If someone else is writing notes it also gives you more time to think about the shots.

Ultimately, your breakdown will only be as good as the information you have. As the saying goes,"garbage in...."

Scale of Project and Time Constraints
As we discussed in post #8, CG Supervisors Shot Breakdown, part 2, the scale of the project may dictate how detailed a breakdown you do and what method you use for estimating costs.  A huge project, or one with more shots than you have time to consider, could compel you use sampling or shot classification methods.  Always the time allowed is a factor.

The audience - who are you giving the breakdown to?

Your audience determines how you structure your breakdown,what methods you can consider using for cost analysis, and how you present the information.  An estimate for an external client may look very different than one you prepare for an internal client, meaning a producer in-house or your boss.
It also will influence how candid you may be about revealing your methodology, how much you limit the scope of the project, what caveats and exceptions you would flag, and so on.


Keep your breakdown objective in mind

Your reason for preparing the breakdown may determine what kind of breakdown you must provide and hence ultimately how much effort you must expend.  If your objective is to win a new client, there may be a deadline for submitting the bid, and even if one is not given there is a de facto business understanding that you need to give an answer quickly.  I use 24 hours as a standard with simple bids and may ask a week on a big project.  Whatever time constraint you have, bear in mind that you don't want to miss the boat.  Ideally, in a competitive situation you don't want to come to the game too late.

Likewise, why you're making the breakdown will determine again how candid you are, how much information you provide, and how careful you are in preparing the cost estimates.  If you are bidding a season of work or a major project, you most certainly need to prepare a labor or resource analysis as well.


A final consideration - who is paying for your time?

You may not think of this, but preparing a good breakdown takes a great deal of time.  If you are working on your own it's part of the cost of doing business, but can you justify spending a week on a bid?  Maybe you need to pare down your breakdown work to make sure you're doing other work that needs to get done.  If you work for a studio, your boss's outlay may be something to consider.  Do you take the time to do a detailed budget when your boss wants a ballpark?  It's his dime, give him what he wants.  You can advise him that a more complete study may turn up some costs you haven't considered - or some savings.


Don't overthink it

All this explanation on how to prepare a breakdown is something you want to absorb but not allow to absorb you.  Ultimately, you have a big job to do as a Computer Graphics Supervisor and while preparing a breakdown is a huge responsibility and can be of vital importance to properly estimating costs and resource needs, ultimately it is a plan of action given what you know at a particular instance in time.  Once work begins, a whole new set of realities will arise that will demand your best skills as a supervisor.

Thanks again for dropping by.

#0008 CG Supervisor's Shot Breakdown, part 2 - Types of breakdowns

When breaking down a CG project, the CG Supervisor has several types of breakdowns to choose from, including the ballpark estimate, sampled estimate, production budget, and production plan and resource analysis. Preparing the right kind of breakdown for the situation can reflect greatly on your critical judgment and performance as a CG supervisor.

In my last post we examined some approaches to cost estimation: widget counting, difficulty ranking, attribute classification and difficulty ranked attribute classification (#0007). Today we will examine
the types of breakdowns (#0008). In our next post we will look at how to choose what's best (#0009). In Part 4, (#0010), we will conclude with how to format the breakdown presentation.


What kind of breakdown?
A few good choices
As a CG Supervisor you have several basic choices in your breakdown, including the ballpark estimate, which makes a loose commitment of time and money; the sampled estimate, which uses a portion of the shots as a sample and extrapolates costs from that; the production budget, which could look solely at labor but may include other costs; the production plan, which leaves out cost and focuses only on time; and the resource analysis, which subordinates most details to focus on resource needs. These are a few ways to classify the types of breakdowns; the boundaries may be fuzzy or arbitrary, but it allows us to discuss breakdowns in terms of your objectives and audience.

Essentials of any estimate
No matter what kind of breakdown you are preparing, there are certain essentials that must always be present.

• Job related specifics: who, what, when due, when work must start (to avoid additional fees), and contact information (yours and theirs). Put your name on it. (Prepared by)
  
• Validity period: most estimates expire after 30 or 60 days. Give the current date and the expiration date or period.
  
• Scope of work description. It is vital to specify and limit the scope of work.
  

The ballpark estimate

Most supervisors are familiar with the ballpark. In its simplest form, it's a quick review of the available information and a brief oral statement or email with a number. At this level it's usually the least responsible and least reliable of estimates. What we want to consider is the written ballpark, sometimes called the estimate or budget estimate.

The important thing to consider when preparing a ballpark is whether your audience will view it as a ballpark and respect it as such. It does you no good at all if your audience considers it a firm number. Because the tendency for producers and others to do so will be high, you should remember to clearly state on the document itself and in accompanying documents that this is a rough estimate or ballpark and as such not binding.

However, most producers want something a bit binding they can take to their boss, so you might soften it or quantify just how binding it is. For example, you might say that the estimate is "contingent on material review", "contingent on final shot order", "contingent on footage shot", and so forth; the idea is to leave a back door out. Sometimes you may have a contingency amount which is the amount over the bid you can go given certain circumstances.

When preparing the ballpark, time is usually a factor. The widget counting approach is not advisable. The use of difficulty ranking may be sufficient, but you may want the added assurance you get by using difficulty ranked shot attributes to estimate costs.

The sampled estimate
Really large productions, involving hundreds of shots, will initially give a ballpark based on a sample of shots. I became aware of this when I was bidding a small vfx indy film with a list of 28 shots. Thinking they were ready for the big time, the producers took it to a major vfx post production studio, who met with them and dutifully reviewed the shots. At the end of the meeting the studio remarked that the information provided was sufficient for them to estimate costs, they just needed a total shot count to extrapolate the estimate from the sample of 28 shots.

It's an amusing anecdote, but it revealed to me a method of estimation I had never considered. Sampling.

Essentially one needs a few representative samples of shots that need to be done. It could be as few as one of each type, but three or four is probably better, because you want a range of difficulty. You can then employ whatever method you like, even widget counting, to arrive at a typical shot count. Multiply that by the number of shots with each given effect, and there you have it! I can think of no way to estimate the cost on a major vfx project such as an entire feature film or a television series.

I used this myself when estimating visual effects for season 2 of the UNIVERSE at Flight 33. Given a single episode and a brief discussion about the number of new shots and total minutes of new visuals desired per episode, I was able to work up a fairly reliable estimate for building a CGFX studio and producing 13 episodes.


The production budget
A budget is usually considered a bit more firm than an estimate, but to some degree it's just semantics. An estimate might be given to a client whereas a budget might be an internal presentation.

When preparing a production CG budget, you need to find out what other than labor you are expected to include. For example, it may be you will only include hourly personnel, with salaried personnel being handled separately. I think that's a bit unusual, but if you're not responsible for coordinators and other staff, you might not include them because the producer will be adding them. However, your subordinate supervisors and shot leads might be administrative overhead you need to consider.

Other costs you might not think to include are facilities rent and utilities; burden, an accounting term for payroll taxes and benefits, craft services and so forth. Do you need to include new equipment expenses or depreciation?

When preparing a production budget, you would want to work with the production accountant or controller to determine what you need to include, unless you have a producer telling you. It may be you actually need to get hard numbers from these people. However, unless you're responsible for a facility, you are unlikely to need to do a full CG production budget.

The production plan
A stripped down form of the production budget could be called the CG labor budget or production plan. In this you might only be evaluating the breakdown in terms of labor time. You would then send your spreadsheet on to a producer or production accountant who would then apply hourly rates, salaries, studio overhead and whatever else. This is likely to happen if your supervising a portion of a show or even an entire show at a large studio. In this case the studio wants to keep it's cost and compensation data confidential from you. So just provide what they need, a plan or estimate of labor time.


The resource analysis
A resource analysis differs from a budget in a subtle way, it considers both how long things will take to get done and how long you have and allows you to focus on what personnel and software and machines will be needed to get the work done on schedule. Often, this is an important step in budgeting, especially if you think you may need more resources or overtime to get the job done.

A good resource analysis should breakdown labor by job function. You need X number of modelers for X weeks. Or more precisely, between date A and date B. And so forth.

With a resource analysis, you have a tool to go to management with to request more help as needed, avoid layoffs that might cripple your operation, or restructure your staff needs. It's an important decision making tool.

Other resources
Some organizations publish bidding guidelines that producers and directors in these fields rely on. For example see the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) guidelines at http://www.aicp.com/doingbusiness/guidelines.html.

This series of articles should prepare the novice CG supervisor to make good breakdowns and could help an experienced supervisor make better ones. Eventually, much depends on your general experience in shot construction and specific understanding of methods and techniques you will use (or rather, your crew will use) to get the job done. remember to consult your experts when you get the slightest bit outside your comfort zone.

If you want further information on estimates, I'll just point out that the search terms, "how to prepare an estimate" returned nearly 12 million hits. It's a vast subject and their's plenty of help available.

#0007 CG Supervisor's Shot Breakdown, Part 1 - Estimate Methods

When it comes to preparing efficient and effective shot breakdowns, the CG Supervisor needs to select the approach most appropriate to the situation.

Several factors effect what kind of shot breakdown you will prepare: time constraints, remuneration, audience, breakdown objective, scale of project, and information available.

Kinds of breakdowns you might prepare include the ballpark estimate, sampled estimate, production budget, resource analysis and each of these could be submitted either in detail, summary or both.

When estimating costs in the breakdown CG supervisors will use widget counting, classification by shot difficulty, classification by shot attributes and combination methods.

Cost Estimation Options
Widget Counting
Widget counting is a way of estimating costs for any given shot by decomposing the shot into a detailed analysis of the work to be done. If you plan to do this, you need to spend time developing a template spreadsheet listing all the possible services or work you would provide.
You then, for each shot tabulate how many of each kind of widget, and then sum all the shots.

For example, your Modeling section could consist of Stock Models, In-house Library models, simple models, average complexity models, high complexity models, mechanical models, organic models, etc. Each of these types of models is then assigned a labor cost, and as you analyze the shot you would mark down how many of each are needed. If the models are going to be used in multiple shots, you might break them out as modeling overhead, so that no single shot has to carry the modeling cost. If models are used in selected scenes, you might have a scene overhead, so that later if that scene is cut, all the costs associated with it disappear.

As you go, each decision will cause cascade effects. For example, an organic model implies a rig and skinning and probably some texture preparation and special shaders. A rig implies character animation. A sophisticated spreadsheet would thus focus in on characters, mechanicals, static props and the like and when these are counted, the appropriate fields for modeling, rigging, texturing, animation, etc are completed.

Widget counting is advisable when working with very tight budgets and effective when the shot count is low, because analyzing a shot at this level takes considerable time. For this reason many CG supervisors and producers employ shot classification.

Classification by Shot Difficulty
Classification by shot difficulty is an extremely fast way to develop a ballpark estimate for shot costs. It cannot be used to give any accurate estimate, but, when dealing with large volumes of shots with similar but not identical production requirements, can be effective enough when one can expect to recapture cost overruns on any given shot by managing the entire volume.

A typical scenario is to classify shots on three levels of difficulty, for example, A, B, and C. This allows a relatively subjective approach where estimators rank a shot's difficulty based on factors such as length, complexity of effects, and complexity of cleanup and roto work. Because it's subjective, it's a good approach when a team of supervisors and producers are looking at an offline edit of a bunch of shots. Everyone gives a ranking and the producer or supervisor doing the actual paperwork writes down the concensus. A numerical approach could also be used, like judges scoring an Olympics event, and the average score becomes the shot difficulty ranking.

Clearly, this is an imprecise method. But, if you need to go through 50 shots at the end of the day when your exempt staff is tired and wants to get home, this is an efficient way to ballpark the work. Just remember to qualify the estimate as a ballpark or rough estimate and if possible, avoid getting locked into a contractual figure. IF a contract needs to be prepared, add a large contingency, anywhere from 10% to 300% percent, based on your confidence in the process and your experience producing similar material.

Classification by Shot Attributes
Classification by shot attributes attempts to find a middle ground between counting widgets and rating difficulty. In this method, an individual or team classifies shots by what work is involved, without necessarily quantifying that work. For example, some shots have roto, but not all. Some have 3d, some have motion tracking in comp and some need it in 3d space. Some have major matte work, some have dynamic effects, some have characters. And so on.

A spreadsheet like this could list the shots in a column and have check boxes for each service. Each service can be assigned a cost value or a cost value can be assigned based on the quantity of services.

Combination Approaches to Estimation
Looking at the two classification methods, classification by attribute and classification by difficulty, it is easy to see how the two methods could be combined to get a modified widget counting approach.

Suppose you took your attribute classification spreadsheet and instead of simply marking each service area on or off, you were to give each service area a difficulty ranking or labor-effort ranking. Then each service could be multiplied by it's labor effort and factored against a rate for that labor. The result is you have an estimate of labor hours and a cost estimate. Because you are not trying to count how many widgets are in each shot, the ranking can be done fairly quickly. Because you've broken it down by service, you have a labor estimate by service that can be plugged into your staffing plan. And because you've put more effort into quantifying your estimate, it is more accurate than either of the simpler classification methods.

Approaches to Cost Estimation
Generally, these are the main ways you can look at a shot to estimate it's costs: widget counting, difficulty ranking, attribute classification and difficulty ranked attribute classification. With some imagination, or further research into general production management, you may come up with another method you like.

Whatever approach you use when estimating costs in a shot breakdown, you will need to consider the factors of time constraints, remuneration, audience, breakdown objective, scale of project, and information available. The important thing to remember is that not every cost estimation method will be appropriate in every situation.

In my next post I will explore this further. Thanks for tuning in.

#0005 The Essential Tasks of the CG Supervisor

Employment ads are often the closest a CG supervisor ever gets to seeing a written job description. What's really interesting, in my experience, is that there are many kinds of CG supervisors. More importantly, co-workers often have very different expectations of what a supervisor's job should be.

#1 The CG Supervisor is the Technologist
This role is often the key role of focus in want ads and the minds of co-workers. Employers often want someone who is the key expert on the tools in use. Staff looks to the Technologist to provide them mentoring and guidance in the use of the tools.

Naturally, one cannot be an expert in every tool used; one could be knowledgeable in the core technologies and be familiar or become familiar with the others. (see blog #0002, Tools of the Trade, for tips on how to separate your supervision function from the expert user function.) The best way to prepare yourself to be the Technologist is to be strong in a couple of core technologies and then spend a little time learning something about the other technologies in use.

#2 The CG Supervisor is the Fixer
Often combined with number 1, the Fixer is the go-to-guy to solve any problem. The difference is the fixer may not be an expert in using every tool, but he knows how to solve problems and get things fixed efficiently.

The ability to diagnose and work a technical problem is a very unique and important skill. (I address this in blog #0002, Tools of the Trade, and will visit this again in blog #0006, The CG Supervisor's Trick Card: Understanding The Software Paradigm.) A degree of knowledge is necessary, a degree of logical thinking, and a whole lot of intuition. One has to get inside the head of the artist with the problem and the programmer who wrote the code. I don't believe this is a skill that comes naturally to some people and I've never seen anyone try to teach it (other than myself) to artists, but if you know this and can teach it to others, you are going to find your job gets much easier.

#3 The CG Supervisor is the Designer
Often the supervisor is looked to by management and crew to give visual direction. Depending on the shop, this function may be the province of the VFX Supervisor or the Art Director. Even so the CG Supervisor often has tremendous clout when it comes to giving visual direction. Still, giving visual or artistic direction usually plays a back seat to being the Technologist and the Fixer, roles the VFX Supervisor and the Art Director are less likely to fill.

Preparing yourself to give visual or artistic direction can be accomplished through art or film school, watching and analyzing lots of movies (or if you work in TV, titles, advertising you watch those things), constantly looking and observing. If you're doing photo-real work or natural work you want to spend a lot of time observing the kinds of subjects you will be depicting. This is where the acquisition of visual references early in the process is vital and why the internet and a good researcher are invaluable allies. Motion graphics CG supervisors will want to spend time looking at art books, art magazines and pop media. because motion graphics is a fashion industry.

Of course, one other skill you should cultivate is the ability to draw storyboards. You should be able to draw quick thumbnails during a meeting, and when needed, do more detailed boards.

#4 The CG Supervisor is the Production Planner
Because you know what tools and artists you have available or can obtain, as CG Supervisor you'll be looked at as the go-to guy for analyzing a shot list and planning the CG work. Sometimes your "shot list" will only be a reel or clip showing the rough edit, and sometimes you'll get a text document or spreadsheet listing the shots and, if you're lucky, a little guidance on what the director or vfx supervisor would like to see happen. Another way some productions work is you will sit with the director or vfx supervisor and go through the material and together determine what should be seen.

Whatever way it comes to the CG Supervisor, he has to be able to breakdown a show and analyze what the shot calls for visually and determine what tools and people are needed (and consider availability and alternatives). Then the fun starts, because the next step is to quantify the work and the cost, and determine how to get it done on time and on budget (allowing a HUGE margin of error).

In some operations, the CG Supervisor may stop at quantifying the breakdown in terms of labor needs. Then the producer or production manager will take this and convert it into costs and budgets.

To prepare for this job function the CG Supervisor needs to learn how to use spreadsheets (at a minimum). Everything else comes from experience. But remember, as we discussed in Blog #2, Tools of the Trade, the CG Supervisor needs to develop experts he (or she) can consult when breaking down a job.

#5 The The CG Supervisor is the Crew Boss
When I was tapped to CG Supervise visual effects at R. Greenberg & Associates for the feature Mortal Kombat, I recall discussing with the VFX Supervisor Stuart Robertson what he expected me to do. He drew up the analogy of himself as captain of the ship, determining direction and objectives and standards and deadlines. The CG Supervisor, he explained, is the first officer, who actually runs the ship, managing the crew, setting schedules, guiding the crew in the execution of their assignments, and so forth. Another way to look at it, the vfx supervisor (and/or director and/or producer and/or Art Director) establish WHAT needs to be done and WHEN it is needed (and from time to time WHY and WHERE). The CG Supervisor is more likely to decide HOW and WHO will do it, decisions that influence WHEN it gets done.

Management and the crew should usually see you as the crew boss, unless your a VFX-CG supervisor wearing more other hats. In that case the crew bosses might be the 3d and Comp supervisors, or other unit-level supervisors. For example, when I was CGFX Department head at Flight 33, my job title as hired was "CG Supervisor". But the scope of the job left me little time to be the crew boss, so I delegated this to unit leaders with reduced scope. I was managing ALL shows and ALL shots and ALL units, whereas the unit supervisors were responsible for a portion of shows, shots and had a unit focus.

Some operations put a producer or production manager in the role of Crew Boss. However your company operates, you should, if you're responsible for meeting deadlines, have some authority about assignments and time off.

The best preparation for being a good Crew Boss: work for one. Alternative: Read "The Art of Supervision." (Yes, this is a blatant plug!)

#6 The CG Supervisor is the Scheduler
Once, I was working as a Compositor/Shot Lead on a film and towards the end of production, someone criticized the Producer for not drawing up a schedule for the crew. I responded that it wasn't his job, it's the job of the CG Supervisor. (Of course, this was also the only production I ever saw that had no CG supervisor.)

Some will argue that the producer should draw up the schedule. I will say no, and here is why: the producer is managing commitments of final deliveries, the budget, outsourcing, traffic and so many other issues. Yes, the producer needs to supply the big picture schedule. But unless the producer is also the crew boss, the CG supervisor needs to be doing it. Even if the crew bosses are unit supervisors, as I had at Flight 33, the CG supervisor cannot delegate this down to them because they do not manage at the level of the entire project. For example, a 3d supervisor could manage the schedule (and should) for us team, but cannot schedule for workers in other units. So the CG supervisor needs to do this.

Now, as I said, there are exceptions. I actually worked at another company on another film and was surprised that the producer was the crew boss. The CG supervisor in this case was The Technologist and The Fixer and helped with Production Planning, but the producer ran the crew and supervised. At other companies, I understand this function may be handled by a Production Manager.

However it's done, scheduling is tied in with the role of Crew Boss at the project level. At levels below this CG supervisors who carry the titles of 3d supervisor, comp supervisor, animation supervisor, and so forth can only manage schedules within their unit.

To prepare to be a good scheduler, one needs to have a good understanding of how long things will take, human nature, vagaries of production and so forth. As I've said in blog #2, a good scheduler consults his (or her--this is tedious, ok if I stop?) experts as well. Software tools that are used for basic scheduling are calendars and spreadsheets. More expert scheduling is done with project management software. We will examine this in another blog.

#7 The CG Supervisor is the Whip
A "Whip" is the person who gets things done, the organizer and motivator. His job is to move the crew toward the goal. Another aspect of being the "whip" is the actual assignment of tasks and responsibilities. (Now before you say, isn't that what a Crew Boss does, let me just say, "usually." However, it is an important part of CG Supervision, so I choose to break it out for separate discussion.)

Assignment of tasks is not a simple, "I need you to do this...", although it often looks that way.
Good delegation is a skill, and it needs to be learned. (Yes, a future blog topic.) Likewise, motivation is a skill.

Related to this function of the CG Supervisor, is the coordination of activities between artists and developers and other crew members. Often this is managed by a person called a coordinator, but not always. Coordinators are various persons who don't have command and control authority (please call them supervisors if they do) and supplement supervisors by performing the administrative part of a job function. Many coordinators are involved with helping the CG supervisor (or producer) with whipping the project through the production workflow pipeline, the approval pipeline, the materials pipeline.

Software tools a CG Supervisor needs to learn to help with command and control, delegation and follow-up, include various collaboration tools on the market. Many large studios develop their own. There are many of these tools available, few are cheap, and we will discuss these options in the future.

#8 The CG Supervisor is the Servant
I'm sure that I have forgotten something --it will come to me about the time my head hits the pillow. More or less, these six items cover the range or responsibilities of the typical CG Supervisor. Some will do all these things, some will have a subset, depending in part in what scope of CG supervisor they are (a comp supervisor is a CG supervisor with limited scope). Another factor, as we've discussed, is what other personnel are available who may take on some of these functions.

One function the CG Supervisor cannot ever get away from is this last one, the CG Supervisor is the Servant.

Your job, as a CG Supervisor, your most vital and crucial job, is to be the enabler. You function to serve the entire crew, to meet their needs at all times. You may answer to a VFX supervisor, a producer, a director, a company executive. But always remember your bosses are the talented people you supervise. If you do not meet their needs they will stop work. Repeat. If you do not meet their needs they will stop work. You may run the ship, but the ship runs you my friend. This is an absolute truth.

1. You must meet their need for the Technologist, the guru of the arcane mysteries of software and hardware.
2. You must meet their need for the Fixer, the master troubleshooter, Mr. Scotty.
3. You must meet their need for the Designer, the visionary, the goal setter.
   
4. You must meet their need for the Production Planner, the one who will guide them through impossible expectations.
5. You must meet their need for the Crew Boss, the one who holds it all together.
6. You must meet their need for the Scheduler, that they will know how long to tinker.
7. You must meet their need for the Whip, that they will know what to do, and get it done.

You may not personally be any of these seven things, but always and in all ways you must be the one who meets their needs.