BrianKitts Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 (edited) I'm working on the 2009 operational budget for our visualization studio. This is really the first year I've had to do this so I thought I'd toss this out there.... The budget is broken down into three categories. 1. Critical to business 2. Beneficial but not required 3. If funds aren't an issue. So far I have all of the no-brainers in there such as updates for all our software and plugins, as well as extra funds set aside for additional libraries and instruction materials.... I can't help but think there's something I should put on here that I just haven't thought of, so my question is this.... what are the things in your workflow that you can't live without, or what is something you really wish you had? Thanks in advance for any ideas. -bk Edited September 29, 2008 by BrianKitts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lester_Masterson Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 24" Color Correct LCD ( NEC or LaCie ) ~ $800 US Dual QuadCore Xeon (mmmmmm...xeons) ~ $3200 US (if you have it spec'd) Canon Rebel Xsi w/ Lens ~ $700 3 Lamp Studio Light Kit with Diffuser Box } ~ $500 (to create your own texture maps) 1 CAD monkey ~ $30k/yr. ...so I don't have to do the crappy stuff and just focus on 3D production...and, AND to get me coffee /you said money was no object Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeC Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 One thing that comes to mind is hardware, be it workstation upgrades or even server and network upgrades? I mention network upgrades because I write this while I wait for my file to save across a suddenly unstable network... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_3D Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 One thing that comes to mind is hardware, be it workstation upgrades or even server and network upgrades? I mention network upgrades because I write this while I wait for my file to save across a suddenly unstable network...Suddenly??? A nice render farm is always welcome and plenty of ram in the workstations. (And a coffee machine if budget allows!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneis Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 ...as well as extra funds set aside for additional libraries and instruction materials... A "hardware emergency fund" is always a necessity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 (And a coffee machine if budget allows!) this is a nessecity no question about it. jhv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Nuff said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Entesano Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I slipped in a 20" Cintiq with software last year, this year it is some camera tracking software and an office DSLR. Next year is the new Render Farm! Would love to get that new EOS 5D 20+ Megapixel and HD video recording! Maybe some mag subscriptions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_3D Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I slipped in a 20" Cintiq with software last year, this year it is some camera tracking software and an office DSLR. Next year is the new Render Farm! Would love to get that new EOS 5D 20+ Megapixel and HD video recording! Maybe some mag subscriptions?Sweet! Where do you work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyElNino Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 What about biannual conferences abroad in order to keep up the old Continual Professional Development? Always good to see what Johnny Foreigner is sneaking up on you with....(joke) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horhe Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 A monitor that is also a tablet. Im thinking of getting one of those. Either that, a tablet, or a laptop with touch screen capabilities aswell, still not sure (altough the laptop is very tempting, being mobile and all...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 (And a coffee machine if budget allows!) A vacuum pot would be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 A couch, a blanket, a pillow and an alarm clock... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianKitts Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 (edited) Hmmm so that's it for the realistic stuff? The coffee pot is a given, that was put in place so far ahead I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the construction documents for the building Our loaner laptop in the office is a tablet, which is great for scribbling in meetings and we already have 21" cintiq's in every office. I've been requiring anyone interfacing with our Visualizaton Studio to do all of their revisions/markups electronically either using a cintiq w/ photoshop or Acrobat's commenting tools. It's been going pretty well because everyone wants to use the Cintiqs. Our renderfarm is at about 60% of where I want it to be, so I've got two renderBoxx's in the effiecency improvement category, and 5 more in the last category where budgets are ignored. The one thing I did forget is to allocate the funds for my DMVC trip, and I'm pushing for siggraph as well next year. No for the hard part of putting numbers to everything.... Edited September 30, 2008 by BrianKitts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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