Managing with Shotgun
3ds Max® software’s expansive cross-section of capability makes it part of the production for numerous applications, making it difficult to call out a single way in which content can be created and managed when it is involved. So for this article, I’ll discuss one of the more powerful management solutions for design professionals in all industries, especially those that include work with 3ds Max.
The Challenge
Management in industries using 3ds Max face similar challenges related to many aspects of production: estimation, scope, contracts, approvals, QA/QC, execution, departments, invoices, relations, review, iterations, feedback, scheduling, bandwidth, training, assignments, implementations, budgets, specs, references, releases, dependencies, progress, planning, licensing, shareholders, stakeholders, freelancers, satellite offices, and more.
Companies (good ones anyway) generally work on or implement steps in their pipelines to help control many of these aspects of their various projects using tools such as Ajera, Excel, Smartsheet, meeting notes, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft Project, and others. Managers use Ajera to track time and budgets, Excel or Microsoft Project for schedules and planning, meeting notes to track decisions, Smartsheet to assign and track tasks/control bandwidth, Dropbox and Google drive to transfer assets, share content, etc. There are dozens more, including custom applications developed in-house to address these challenges in various ways. However, there are very few solutions to control and obtain an overview of all activities across a project. One of these options is Shotgun from Autodesk.
Autodesk’s Shotgun
Autodesk’s Shotgun is an all-encompassing project management solution for those in creative industries who work with teams or freelancers. It allows managers to break down, assign, and control every component in their production pipelines to optimize, expand, troubleshoot, and maximize capabilities. It gives managers the power to track every component of production and produce custom reports, visual or otherwise, to help plan and troubleshoot to maximize profit and capability. I’ll discuss a few of its features.
Media Section
The Media Section allows for the upload of video (with audio/audio scrubbing capability) and assets. Users have the ability to markup and leave notes.
Figure 1: Media section
Playlists
Custom Playlists allow for the organization of content for any number of reasons. For example, a Playlist might exist for daily reviews of content such as that displayed in Figure 2. Or another Playlist might be created to share specific content with clients.
Figure 2: Example of a Playlist
Dashboards
Dashboards can be created and customized to track any number of activities and presented in several ways, including graphical form.
Figure 3: Dashboard
Shotgun has an incredible number of capabilities and tools that are used by small studios and international teams alike. Small studios can use it to assign tasks to individual team players and track results, versioning control, coordination with freelancers, and review while traveling. Directors can take a more comprehensive approach to manage the dozens of team members and activities happening each day. Even busy freelancers might consider the monthly subscription fee to take advantage of the versioning, organization, asset development, tracking, and tools for sharing, potentially even saving money by eliminating other subscription services for similar activities.
Brian Chapman is an Autodesk Authorized Developer, creator of Pro-Cad.Net and a Senior Designer for an engineering firm located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brian can be reached at procadman@pro-cad.net.
