3d process documentation

[jadhav333]

Any company which has a corporate BG would understand the relevance of a Process documentation as a part of its policy.

 

'Process' documentation helps us put our knowledge on paper and reduce the dependency on the knowledgable person. The continuity of business is the key criteria. Even if the company is taken over by new mgmt or skilled associates, they can refer to the process documents and continue its business of providing services to its client.

 

I am interested in identifying and documenting process that describe the typical 3d workflow in detail. The process could later be modified to describe specific workflows such as architectural viz process or character design & animation process, visual effects process pipeline etc..

 

Your feedback will be very helpful.. References / Links also expected.

 

Please share your existing processes / new ideas / suggestions/ recomendations

 

Thanks..

[STRAT]

i personally think it's overkill. we employ skilled users, give them the client's brief, and we get the job done. it's not a viable use of time or resources to write down our methodology. we all know what the other chap is doing

[JamesTaylor]

i tend to agree with strat.

 

Although i guess you can come up with a process document that outlines the process from start to finish it can not take into account a persons artistic skills - the bottom line is that 80% if not more is an individuals skills - every artist will employ their own methods and processes to achieve similar results, thats why these forums exist to help us share our skills and leasrn from others

[jadhav333]

u guys should work in a process based software company, whcih also ventures into 3d..

[notamondayfan]

i too agree with strat, different people use different techniques, but in the end we come up with the same outcome. for example i apply base textures as i model, where as other people will model everything first, then texture. in a studio environment, it would be hard to have a rule book to follow, and would also squeeze out a lot of the creative and experimental sides to projects.

[D.B.]

I don't think that what I do will ever be boiled down to a simple job description for any company, process based or not..... Look up the definition of "art".

[Justin Hunt]

I disagree with you guys.

 

Working in a colabrtive environment it is essential that all users use the same filing, naming and issuing systems. I makes it possible for anyone in the team to pick up any job, at any stage and know what is going on in that file. It also makes it easier to work on projects that have been archived years ago.

 

I have worked with people who had a tendancy to name their file "Fred" or "This is Crap", or save some maps locally and others on the server. We'd spend ages trying to decypher their projects.

 

It also makes it easier for new staff to be able to jump in and start working.

 

It makes to easier to quality control, keep track of projects and cover your ass should anything go wrong legally. Have you ever gone through an audit?

 

Having said that the systems should be flexible enough to accomadate any job and variations thereof. It should be able to evolve as the company grows and new working methodes change. Its not nessesary to be pedantic and rigid. Its also not nessesary to reinvernt the wheel on every project. You only need to document workflows and methods in the brawd sence, not every key stroke. And you certainly dont need to fire anyone not following proceedures to the letter.

 

JHV

[jadhav333]

way to go justin..

 

I do actually agree with others to an extent. but like Justin said, in an organisation where emphasis is laid on collaborative work and business continuity, identifying and documenting processes is a part of the job.

 

If we can share more info on these lines.. it would be so helpful.. keep it up...

[notamondayfan]

is its not exactly about processes, more about structure and organisation?

 

here we use several template folder structures, template files, and a naming convention to keep everything structured. these change depending on that kind of project, eg animation, vr and still images.

[jadhav333]

is its not exactly about processes, more about structure and organisation?

 

here we use several template folder structures, template files, and a naming convention to keep everything structured. these change depending on that kind of project, eg animation, vr and still images.

 

Can you please share some typical template data or naming conventions, so everybody can benefit from that info?

 

(Maybe in a doc / pdf format.)

[tayrona]

samir, I agree with those who prefer methods.... although "art must flow"... if you work in a team, it should be crazy to go ahead without organization.

 

this is art but dont forget is done with computers.......

 

We have an "user manual" here, but I dont think it will be usefull for anybody, I mean, you must try your own methods, acording to your working levels, and a lot of essential skills that are very different from one studio to another.

Have you read "The visualization insider" from 3DATS? I think there are nice tip n tricks for you.

 

Good luck!

[Wolf]

i have just been contracted by a 3d firm that has a lot of staff coming and going. Training new staff is time consuming and not always is there someone there to teach the ins and outs of delivering a job. especially if it is a complex project requiring animation and lifestyle dvd deliverables.

key staff come and go and take their knowledge with them, so the company suffers from varying quality and the time it takes to deliver the project based on the experience of the current staff.

 

They see great potential in having an intranet that goes through all the processes required to start and finish any project, as any member of the staff that needs to work on something they are untrained in can jump on the intranet, read what they dont know and work on that part of the project without screwing it up or taking too long to do it by experimenting.

they have commissioned me to write more than 30 intranet tutorials, although costly at first, they see the return in time saved later down the track.

 

when i first came to the company and sat with a few people to see how they worked and what problems they encountered, i noticed that everyone had strength and weaknesses in different areas, and if anyone was away or left the company it would leave a huge hole in that part of the pipeline. as the rest of the staff struggled to work on what they had limited knowledge about.

 

another thing i noticed is that everyone tackled their projects differently, some had issues rendering some had long lighting calculations some had scenes that were unworkable due to too many polys in the viewport and others spend a long time working on textures that in the end took too long to render.

 

The intranet will put everone on the same page and make sure that projects get delivered with the quality the company has had in the past and delivered ontime as there are no knowledge gaps in the staff.

 

i have spend a month with these guys and i can safely say that the time they take to deliver a project has been halved.

[tayrona]

Thanks for sharing.