Managing Multimedia Projects

1. Managing Multimedia Projects Carleton School of Information Technology IMD-4901 Senior Project

2. 2 Topics Introduction to Project Management Project Scheduling Risk Analysis Animation Process Game Development Process

3. 3 Project Dictionary Definition A task or scheme that requires a large amount of time, effort, and planning to complete, Encarta A planned undertaking, Merriam-Webster A specific plan or design, Merriam-Webster Focus on Activity, Plan, and Objective

4. 4 Distinguishing Characteristics Non-routine tasks Limited time Different specialties � Examples?

5. 5 Management Tasks Planning � deciding what is to be done; Organizing � making arrangements; Staffing � selecting the right people for the job, etc.; Directing � giving instructions; Monitoring � checking on progress; Controlling � taking action to remedy hold-ups; Innovating � coming up with new solutions; Representing � liaising with users, etc.

6. 6 Management Problems Poor estimates and plans; Lack of quality standards and measures; Lack of guidance about making organizational decisions; Lack of techniques to make progress visible; Poor role definition � who does what? Incorrect success criteria.

7. 7 Planning Effectively schedule, allocate, use, and replace resources to achieve goals Master schedule is the basic tool and main output of planning Project control is based on comparing the progress with schedule Planning and scheduling are dynamic

8. 8 Reluctance to Planning Takes too much time and cost Preventive action Long-term payoff is greater than short-term cost Too tedious (mental activity) �Thinker� and �doer� Ego (shoot from the hip) Not realistic

9. 9 Effective Schedule Understandable Sufficiently detailed Highlighting critical tasks Flexible Based on reliable estimates Conform to available resources Compatible with other related projects

10. 10 Developing the Schedule Defining objectives Attainable, definitive, quantifiable, with specific duration Breaking down the work Sequencing the activities Estimating costs and durations Reconciling with time constraints Reconciling with resource constraints Reviewing

11. 11 Work Breakdown Structure WBS is a hierarchical representation of a process or product or both (hybrid). WBS can be shown in a tree graph or as an indented list A decimal numbering to label the elements e.g. 4.1.2 is the 2nd element of the 1st element of the 4th

12. 12 Tree Graph WBS for ATC

13. 13 Indented List WBS for ATC 0.0 Air Traffic Control (ATC) System 1.0 Project Management 2.0 Software Engineering 2.1 Requirement Engineering 2.2 Design 2.3 Coding 2.4 Test 3.0 Operations 4.0 Product Assurance 4.1 Quality Assurance 4.2 Verification and Validation

14. 14 Notes on WBS �Rolling wave� approach First top levels Gradual completion Keep partitioning into 7?2 elements Make sure about numbering scheme Top-level zero or one, � Work package specification for lowest level entries (info, completion, �)

15. 15 Sequencing Scheduled Activities Interrelationship among activities Milestones and Gantt charts are most common Gantt chart also shows the relationship between work load and time Full-wall method gives a global view Precedence networks are used for larger projects Critical Path Method (CPM) Program Evaluation and Review Technique

16. 16 Milestone Chart Deliverable + scheduled time Simplest scheduling method Small projects or summary of larger ones Ease and minimal cost No interrelationships exhibited Only completion dates Not enough feedback

17. 17 Gantt Chart Gantt or Bar chart used more frequently Suitable for less than 25 activities Graphical display of start/end times Shows overlapping activities easily CPM or PERT may translate to Gantt Estimation of resource and budget vs. time

18. 18 Gantt Example - 1

19. 19 Gantt Example - 2

20. 20 Project Plan - 1 Title page with Signature box Change history Table of contents List of figures List of tables

21. 21 Project Plan - 2 Description (general idea) Objectives (artistic and technical) Deliverables (documents and non-docs) Resources and team structure Scheduling info (tasks, WBS, milestones, etc) Risk analysis Change control policy Quality control policy

22. 22 Effective Project Control Detailed planning Deliverables and measurable milestones Communication Tracking (money, time, resources, tasks) Reviews Signing-on Reasons for poor control?

23. 23 Milestone Analysis Actual vs. estimated effort and schedule Re-schedule Scheduling training Review tasks Quality monitoring Review test procedure More tests Risk-related monitoring

24. 24 Risks �Anything worth doing has risks. The challenge is not to avoid them but to manage them.� Risk Management: an attempt to minimize the chances of failure caused by unplanned events. Risks are events or conditions that may occur, and whose occurrence, if it does take place, has a harmful or negative effect. Defects are not risk. They are almost certain. Risks are probabilistic events.

25. 25 Example Computer show Power failure UPS Generator Power company guaranty Risk management entails additional cost. If risky event does not happen, the cost is not wasted ! People tend to ignore risks.

26. 26 Basic Concepts Risk exposure (impact/factor) RE = P(UO) ? L(UO) RE: risk exposure UO: unsatisfactory outcome P(UO): probability of UO L(UO): loss due to UO UO varies for customers, users, developers, and managers.

27. 27 RE-based Decision Tree Consider different possibilities and calculate RE for each. Example: software critical error (CE) P(UO) = 0.4 L(UO) = $20 M Two options: Hire an independent verification and validation (IV&V ) team ($500K) Use development team For each: Find CE (probability: 0.36 and 0.3) Do not find CE (probability: 0.04 and 0.1) No CE (probability: 0.6)

28. 28 Risk Management Risk Assessment Identification Analysis Prioritization Risk Control Planning Resolution Monitoring Correction (usually considered part of monitoring)

29. 29 Risk Identification Use checklists, comparison, decomposition, � Top software risk items Personnel shortfalls Unrealistic schedules and budgets Developing the wrong functions and properties Developing the wrong user interface Continuing stream of requirements changes Shortfalls in externally furnished components Shortfalls in externally performed tasks Real-time performance shortfalls

30. 30 Risk-Management Techniques Personnel shortfalls Top talents, job matching, team building, training Unrealistic schedule and budget Detailed estimation, incremental dev., reuse Developing wrong functionality Prototyping, analysis, user participation Requirements changes High change threshold, information hiding, incremental development External jobs Benchmarking, inspection, compatibility analysis

31. 31 Risk Mitigation A risk becomes a problem when �risk factors� cross a threshold, as defined in plan. Two types of planning! Action planning Prevention, Immediate response e.g. training Contingency planning Correction, When needed e.g. use of extra resources

32. 32 Typical Multimedia Projects Animation production Feature film Animated short TV commercial Game development 3D vs 2D Choice of platform (console, pc, web, �) Web design

33. 33 Animated Images

34. 34 Persistence of Vision Peter Mark Roget (1825) image, after-image, next image 5 sec �sampling� interval 20 frames per second Visual �mistakes� Wrong direction for wheel Continuous motion

35. 35 Animation? From Latin verb, animare, �to give life� Frame-by-frame, illusion of movement Norman McLaren: �Animation is not the art of drawings that move, but rather the art of movements that are drawn.� Flipbooks and moving pictures As early as 70 BC

36. 36 Pioneers Charles-Emile Reynaud (1844-1918) Pauvre Pierrot (1892) by Theatre Optique George Melies (1861-1933) Le Livre Magique (1900), visual effects J. Stuart Blackton (1875-1941) Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) Winsor McCay (1867-1934) Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

37. 37 Disney Walt Disney Productions (1923) Experimental abstract animation in Europe Hyper-realism Move and live like �real� figures Same physical laws Exceptions (staying float!) Relationships and behavioural tendencies Conservative content ?

38. 38 3D Computer Animation 1950s and 1960s Early computer technology 1970s 2D and 3D computer graphics in movies 1980s Luxo Jr, first 3D animation (1986) 1990s Babylon 5 and Toy Story, 1st TV series and movie 2000s Elephants Dream,1st open movie (2006)

39. 39 Sample Project Types 90-min Feature Movie 15-min episode in weekly TV series 10-min visual effect in live-action movie 5-min short 2-min online animation 30-sec segment for TV show 15-sec TV commercial

40. 40 Team (TV Commercial) Creative Producer Creative director Art and animation directors Copywriter Production Production manager, animation supervisor, tech directors, tech assistant, artists

41. 41 Team (Feature Film) Creative Director Producer Art and visual effect directors Scriptwriter and storyboard artist Administrative Executive producer Production manager and assistant, directors of finance and post-production, accountant

42. 42 Team (Feature Film) Production Visual effects group Producer, supervisor, editor, etc Animation group Modeling and lighting group Tech support group Digital compositing and post-production group

43. 43 Team Size (A Bug�s Life) Animation � 61, Lighting � 40 IT � 33, Modeling � 31 Crowd and effects � 27, Art � 26 Post-production � 26, Editorial � 22 Executive/supervising � 23 Production � 21, Layout - 19 Rendering software dev � 19 Shading � 19, story � 19 Camera � 12, rendering - 12

44. 44 Traditional Process Development Pre-production Production Post-production

45. 45 Development Visual development Characters, props, locations, style Writing Script Series bible Pilot script Production script Drafts and final

46. 46 Production Plan Delivery date and schedule Format, length, and technique Complexity analysis Crew plan and roles Budget and payments Contingency

47. 47 Pre-Production Design and art direction Visual style guide Voice track Casting Songs and sounds Storyboarding Timing Story (Leica) reel and animatics

48. 48 Storyboard Functions Conceptualization Visual thinking Key moments Flow and transition Detail, composition, and aesthetics At least one detailed image for each scene Logistics

49. 49 Storyboard Example

50. 50 Storyboard Example

51. 51 Animatics Animatics refers to a video representing storyboard images. The key point is �duration�. Camera �moves� from one key frame to another. In digital version, the software displays images using a defined timing Adobe After Effects

52. 52 Leica Reels From early character animation Pencil tests filmed by a cheaper camera (German Leica) Two additional elements are added Sound track Test footage Wireframe 3D, for example

53. 53 Digital Production - 1 Design Modeling Rigging or kinematics Skinning Surfaces Environment

54. 54 Digital Production - 2 Staging/workbook Refined reel with cinematography, staging, and timing details Animation Camera movement Lighting Effects Rendering

55. 55 Camera Types of camera Orthographic Perspective (projecting every point toward camera until intersecting the image plane Pyramid (cone) of vision Point of view (POV, camera) Point on interest (POI, object) Line of view

56. 56 Pyramid of Vision

57. 57 Clipping Planes Perpendicular to line of sight Far clipping plane Yon plane Most distant Near clipping Plane Hither plane Closest

58. 58 Camera Shots

59. 59 Camera Lenses

60. 60 Camera Moves

61. 61 Lighting Types: White light Coloured light Tinted light (low saturation, high brightness) Sources: Point (omni-directional, omni); in all directions Spot; cone and fall-off factor Infinite; so far the rays seem parallel Area/Linear; e.g. fluorescent tube Ambient; even distribution through scene

62. 62 Basic Components of Colour Position and orientation Colour and intensity Decay and fall-off Beam angle Glow and cone of light Global vs. local Shadows

63. 63 Basic Light Positions

64. 64 Post-Production Image retouching Tonal range and filtering Image compositing and blending Image sequencing Colour grading Music and sound mixing

65. 65 Output Pixel, colour, and time resolution Image format and compression Aspect ratio Video format File Signal

66. 66 What�s a Game? Creative expression Art Beauty? Entertainment Non-interactive Games (or playing environments) Goal (excludes toys) Competition (excludes puzzles) Attack? Fun?

67. 67 Some Milestone Games Space invaders: 1st videogame hit Pac-man: fine tuning existing ideas Star raiders: 1st 3D space combat Wing Commander: cut scenes 7th Guest, FF, MGS: video cut scenes Half-life: integrated cut scenes SimCity/Sims Doom/Quake: immersive 3D engine Civilization

68. 68 Students� Picks! Good Blades of Steel, Civilization, Deus Ex, Diablo2, Fable, Far Cry, Grim Fandango, Halo, K.O.T.O.R, Master of Orion, MGS, MYST, Penguins, Prey, Super Mario (64 and Kart), Tetris, Tomb Raider, Unreal Tournament 2004 Bad DaVinci Code, SimTower, CSI, Heart, L.O.T.R, Quake, Space Invaders, MGS, �

69. 69 Game Development Team

70. 70 Game Producers External From publisher Internal From development company aka project manager or director Assistant Assets, daily tasks (builds, backup, etc), screenshots, PR, checking milestones, paperwork, etc

71. 71 Design Team Game designer Play a lot of games! Use demos and reviews, look around, chat, etc Level designer Very new field of work (job def.?) Writer Not a linear medium! Not dialog-based

72. 72 Programming Team Tech lead Programmers AI and Logic Physics Tools, DB, network and multi-player Graphics effects, sound effects, weapons Scripting languages

73. 73 Art Team Art director Artists Concept Character modeling Background modeling Animation Texture Sound, etc

74. 74 Externals Music Voice Sound effects Video Motion capture Language localization Legal, manual, etc

75. 75 Development Lifecycle Concept development Pre-production (proof of concept) Development (production) Test (alpha and beta) Release (after code freeze) Maintenance Upgrade

76. 76 Concept Development Summary (aka high concept) Pitch (aka proposal or concept doc) High concept Genre Gameplay Features Setting Story Target audience Platform Estimated budget and schedule Competition Team Risk Analysis

77. 77 Pre-Production Project plan Design documents Game design Technical design Art bible (style guide) Art production plan Prototype

78. 78 Production Similar to design and implementation phases in software development. Design doc is Requirement doc! Lifecycle models Waterfall Modified waterfall Iterative Rapid iterative prototyping XP, Agile, etc

79. 79 Testing Gameplay functionality Unit/character functionality Story progression User interface Sound and music Compatibility Gold master/final checklist

80. 80 Test-related Versions Alpha Features and assets Expected bugs Closed Beta No severe defects (crash-bug) Open Beta Public access for test Release

81. 81 Publishing Public relations (PR) Marketing Sales Stores Distributors Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Promotion

82. 82 Tracking Production Transparent process Accessible and complete documentation Meetings People, subject, date/time/location, preparation, agenda, discussion, actions, signing, filing Reports Recording actual vs. estimated

83. 83 References Producing Animation C. Winder and Z. Dowlatabadi Focal Press, 2001 Art of 3D Computer Animation, 3e Isaac V. Kerlow John Wiley & Sons, 2004 Game Design, 2e Bob Bates Thomson, 2004 Game Producer�s Handbook Dan Irish Thomson, 2005