It’s not just about adding a vignette over your video to give it a “Panavision Look.”   It’s about adding correct aspect ratio vignettes over your video so they “look real.”   Vashi goes beyond just telling you what the aspect ratios are, he gives you 50+ FREE templates to use in the NLE of your choice from SD to 6k.   You can even use them in FX software like After Effects or Fusion, you just drag them to a video layer above the one you’re working on.

Also included is a link to the Unravel_Resolution_CheatSheet for exporting to the current frame sizes for various outputs.

Vashi is an incredible artist and an all around great guy.  Be sure to bookmark his site for lots of great freebies.

The post Add a “Panavision Look” to your project appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

Check out the full article published on Creative Cow to get all the details.

The post Adobe Lumetri Color Tool – Truly a GameChanger appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

http://blogs.adobe.com/premierepro/2015/04/premiere-pro-next-colorful.html

Kylee Wall mentions an upcoming addition to Adobe Anywhere adding a more localized version of the collaboration tool via Teams in her article on Creative Cow.

https://library.creativecow.net/wall_kylee/adobe-creative-cloud-updates-2015/1

The post Wraps Are Lifted on Adobe Premiere Pro Updates appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

I’ve been pushing Adobe for a few years now to make a much simpler version of “Anywhere” that would only run on an in-house system to allow multiple editors to work off the same project via one shared storage system. Hoping to learn more on the Avid / Adobe collaboration on the ISIS media server and hoping that the collaboration there might lead to even more open sharing and collaboration between the NLEs.

All these rumors are really getting me excited to see what April 13th brings!  Yes, I’ll be reporting from the show floor as I can and of course stay tuned to CreativeCow.net for up to the minute news releases and reports.

WallyCam is getting packed and ready for NAB 2015 and maybe a bunch of reports on Editor Collaboration.

The post NAB 2015 The Year of Editor Collaboration? appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STYLE4TYPE TAKES ADOBE PREMIERE PRO TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL FROM WALTERBISCARDI.COM

March 24, 2014

WalterBiscardi.com announces the immediate availability of Style4Type, templates and typestyles that will change the way you think about Adobe Premiere Pro’s Titler.  Developed by long time creative professional, Tim Kolb (Kolb Productions) Style4Type unleashes the potential of Premiere Pro’s Title Tool,  underutilized by many users until now.

“Tim is a long, LONG time user of Adobe Premiere Pro and when he first showed me Style4Type I asked him how long it took to make the plug-in,” said Walter Biscardi, Jr.  “then he told me it was all built into the Type Tool, he’s just showing us all how to take advantage of all the features.   This is a ‘must-have’ in the toolbox of any Adobe Premiere Pro editor.”

“I’ve used the Adobe Title Designer extensively since it was introduced and I’ve always felt it was a bit under the radar for most users.” said Kolb.  “The goal here was to pull together a set of resources that better leverage this tool that so many of us already have.”

Style4Type Premium features: 

More than 250 typestyles in 8 typestyle libraries.

More than 150 templates.

Use ANY font with any typestyle

Lower Third and Frame Templates.

Floating Backgrounds and more.

You can try out 45 typestyles from Style4Type for free before you buy.  This is a great way to see how Style4Type will enhance any production and help make your production stand out above the rest.  Move on from the same old, tired font styles and step up to something new.

Style4Type Premium is available now for $19.95.

Preview and Purchase Style4Type at http://walterbiscardi.com/products/style4type/

ABOUT WALTERBISCARDI.COM

Founded by Walter Biscardi, Jr. (Biscardi Creative Media) & Carl Olson (Digital Convergence Podcast), WalterBiscardi.com is the home of the craft & business of media production brought to you by working Creative Professionals.  Editors, Sound Designers, Colorists, Photographers, Producers, Public Relations, Writers, Research & Development, Business Development & Growth and so on. These are the people we want to learn from. What you will NOT find are“professional trainers” who do little more than read a manual and then regurgitate back to you and call it training. True training comes through experience and workflow practices you can only get from working creative professionals.   Once you know how to push buttons, you need to know what to do next to have a successful career in this industry.   We plan to be that resource.

ABOUT TIM KOLB

While Tim’s focus remains video and media production as his primary career, he particularly enjoys marketing and development work, writing technical documentation as well as teaching for seminars, etc. He feels his work in each of these areas helps him improve in the other disciplines.  “Having the technical background to fulfill the project’s production requirements is helpful, but understanding how to analyze and deliver messages to various audiences is what sets the finished product apart,” according to Tim. Tim has a deep interest in technical topics, and recently he has been working as a documentary DP (director of Photography) on a project in New England, and a director for several automotive industry projects.

The post Announcing Style4Type for Adobe Premiere Pro appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

Photographer Heather Hamilton, Kelly Kearney and BCM Principal Walter Biscardi, Jr. practice Safety First at Heraeus

We met the great folks at Heraeus through our work with the Gwinnett County Public Schools on the M2+G=Magic of Manufacturing in Gwinnett promotional video project.  They loved our work originally suggested sending us to England to do the production both there and at the local Buford, Georgia facility.   We were all in favor of the ultimate Road Trip, but the decision was made to have a local crew shoot the raw scenes in England and ship the material to BCM for the edit.   While we were a bit bummed to not have the road trip, in reality it was much more practical to have the local crew do the work since we had a very quick turnaround deadline on the project.  Essentially we were able to shoot in both locations simultaneously which was great for the tight deadline.

Because of the size of the Buford facility, the ground we had to cover,  and the sensitive nature of both the equipment and products produced, Walter kept the crew and equipment to a minimum, without sacrificing video quality.    Director of Photography, Heather Hamilton utilized a Canon digital camera with beautiful lenses to create stunning depth in the imagery.   Walter used his GoPro camera techniques to add life and movement to lifeless objects.   What looks mundane and ordinary to the human eye takes on artistic property in moving video when captured with the right lenses, lighting and techniques.

Heather conducting an interview with the Canon camera and a single fluorescent light. We kept the equipment package to a minimum for ease of movement around the facility.

Heather took great advantage of her camera slider which allows the camera to easily move side to side or forward to back very smoothly.   When used on top of a tripod, it allows her to easy reposition the camera without the need to always move the tripod.   It’s a very versatile tool and some of her most stunning work came from the camera placed down on the floor and low angle photography.

Heather utilizing the camera slider to move the camera horizontally across the scene. The slider adds very smooth and dynamic movement to otherwise static locations.

We conducted about 20 interviews that day and walked away with about 5 hours of assorted raw footage from the Buford facility.    Working directly with the Heraeus Buford team, with input from the England team, Walter and BCM Artist Kylee Wall created a really clean and effective overview of the efficiencies practiced in both locations in a very fast turnaround.   BCM has perfected the art of working remotely with clients all over the globe so including the England and Germany offices was business as usual for the team.  For us it’s no different than having the client sitting right in the edit suites with us.

The final project was uploaded digitally to the home offices in Germany for presentation.  This was a really fun project and we’re proud of what we were able to deliver with a very short turnaround deadline.   Quality and creativity were not sacrificed, we still deliver to the same standards.  It’s just part of what we do.

Equipment Nitty Gritty in case you want to know:

Cameras Used: Canon 6D with assorted lenses and GoPro Hero 2

Lighting Used: Impact Fluorescent Fixtures with Soft Boxes.

Post Production: Adobe Creative Suite, Red Giant Color Suite, ProTools Audio Sweetening, Small Tree 100TB SAN.

Remote Client review and collaboration via our secure client review system.[hr]

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.

The post Talking Efficiency in Global Manufacturing for Heraeus appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

“What Should I Use?”

People are constantly writing and pinging me to ask “What should I use?”   Well the answer is truly, “Any of them.”    Your tool of choice is going to be predicated on many factors including your skill level, the type of work you produce, your typical turnaround time for a project, how large / small your projects are and the type of editorial environment you’re working in.  Of course, the choice of tool to use is not always yours, especially if you’re a freelancer or an employee of a company.

First off, let me say that if you’re researching tools by reading articles, blogs, and tests from websites that are dedicated to a particular tool or system and you’re reading that “This tool is the one you MUST use or you’re not a professional” or “If you can’t get on board with this future, you’re hopeless” or “That other tool is so bad, you MUST use this tool or you’re not a professional” then take whatever is on that site with a grain of salt.  Or looking through the website you can’t find anything negative written or shown about that particular tool or system, take everything on there with a grain of salt.  A website that supports Adobe is going to downplay Avid and Apple for example and vice versa.   You’ll get some great resources to use that particular tool on the site but you won’t get an unbiased opinion of the good, the bad and the ugly.

There is not a single tool in our industry that is perfect.  Let me say that again, “NO SINGLE TOOL in our industry is perfect.”  Everything we use has compromises somewhere.  When those compromises and short comings are pointed out via comments or Twitter and folks react personally and attack the messenger, well I just don’t have the patience anymore to deal with that.  “Fanboy syndrome” seems to have gotten stronger in the age of Twitter and name calling has just gotten so much worse it’s not worth the time or effort to try and correct some of these folks.  That’s why we’re thankful for the Block feature on Twitter.   So when reading articles, benchmarks, tests and reviews, just be aware of where the messages are coming from and the agendas being served when you read both the good and bad about products.

Let me also say this.  The use of any tool does NOT “make you a professional.”  Your skill level in performing the task as an Editor is what makes you a professional.   Put a lousy editor on any editing system available today and what do you have?  A lousy editor.  There is no absolute truth that any tool or tools available today will “make you a professional.”

If you say you’re “proficient” with a particular tool, you darn well better mean it.  At a recent Atlanta Cutters meeting, Editor Alan Bell remarked that when he interviews a potential editor who notes “proficiency” in a tool, he asks whether or not they own it.  If you don’t own the tool, particularly as a freelancer, then how can you be proficient at it?   Being “proficient” doesn’t mean just playing around with the tool a couple of times when you had access to it at a job or in school.  You need to own the tool so you can use it in your downtime to keep improving your skills.  I found that to be a very interesting observation and a question I’ve added to my job interview list of things to ask potential employees.

For you freelancers out there, it’s imperative to know both Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer today and for the foreseeable future.  The vast majority of “Editor Needed” job postings are still dominated by these two tools, particularly Avid.  Still a lot of Final Cut Pro 7 editor requests out there too.   If you are looking for freelance and / or full time employment, especially in larger markets or larger gigs, you would do well to know Adobe and Avid right now.

If you are working on your own, for a stand-alone corporate department or some situation where you don’t have to interface with the “outside world” you can pretty much cut on whatever you feel comfortable with.  By “outside world” I mean delivery to networks / distributors, feature films, sound designers, post houses, etc…. where you have to share your projects / media with other companies to complete your projects or even to bring elements into your own project.  If you just work within your own space and you control everything from ingest to final output in your own workspace, pick the tool you feel most comfortable cutting with using the OS you prefer.  It’s really that simple.  The tools have gotten so good in the past few years that all of them pretty much do the same thing, they all do it a bit differently and some add features that many users would never use.

Some run only on Mac, some only on Windows, some on both.   There are people cutting weddings and corporate projects on Apple’s iMovie for example and they look great.   So for working completely on your own, with no outside interfacing, just pick what feels comfortable to you and your skill level and includes all the necessary tools to get your job done.   If you get paid to do this work, then you are, indeed, “a professional” no matter what anyone else tells you.

If you DO have to interface with the “outside world” then you will want to get a feel for what the “outside world” in your area is using.  You want to be compatible with the companies and artists you will be working with to ensure the smoothest completion possible to your project.  Yes it’s possible to convert a lot of things to other formats, but the Post process always goes easiest when you can stay within the same sandbox.   Especially when you have a quick turnaround or you’re up against a deadline.  Keep in mind your “outside world” will vary.  Around me in Atlanta we’ve got a lot of Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid companies so that’s one reason we have those two predominant in our shop.

The NLE’s today as I see them.

Avid

If you want to get into major broadcast, episodic, reality programming and feature films, Avid is still the King of the hill.   When you look at companies like Bunim-Murray or Original Productions that have hundreds of editors with many working in collaboration on reality series, the established workflows that these companies have invested with Avid are VERY difficult to change.  And if the product works for their needs, why should they change everything just because some new tool has come along?   So you, as a freelance editor who wants to get in with these types of companies, feature films or show, are going to have to invest time and money to learn Avid.

The good news is the tool is more affordable and flexible than it has ever been and the communication between the company and end users is much more open than it used to be.   I still have not upgraded our systems at Biscardi Creative Media from Avid Symphony 6 but from what I’ve read and heard from editors I respect in the industry, Media Composer 7 is a good step forward from Media Composer 6 and 6.5.   It seems they’ve made the most gains in their native format workflow which is a great thing to see.

Avid is still, today, the strongest tool for a multi-editor workflow where two or more editors are working on the exact same project and even the same project file.  Nothing out there beats that today and that is a reason why so many of the “big shows” and films still use this tool today.   For instance Alan Bell has 4 or 5 Assistant Editors working with him on his current film project.  Avid allows them to all to work on the same project at the same time.

Avid is a cross platform software running on both Windows and Mac.  

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe raised more headlines for their move to 100% Creative Cloud Subscription model to have access to the software than they did for the tool itself which is actually a shame.   All I will say about the Creative Cloud is that I have had it over a year now, we run it on 5 workstations and I flat out love it both from an access to software and cost effectiveness standpoint for my company.

Premiere Pro itself made a huge leap in efficiency with release of Premiere Pro CC (i.e. PPro 7.0)   The bulk of the re-design centered on making the interface smoother with less clicks required to do tasks, removing “annoyances,” overhauling the “under the hood” media management and overall operation.  The overall application is noticeably faster than CS6, media management now allows the user to easily locate any media if it goes offline or is moved, and many of he extra steps editors had to do to perform tasks have been eliminated.  Premiere Pro handles more formats natively than any tool I’ve ever tested, in the same timeline or as part of a project.  We have literally had 7 different formats and 3 different frame rates (or more) in the same timeline and PPro does not hiccup.

Adobe has released over 100 updates to the application since it’s release in June 2013 thanks to the subscription model.  The tool works well for both small and very large projects.   Communication between the end users and the company is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.  The vast majority of changes in both Premiere Pro CC and the subsequent updates have been a direct result of feedback from the users and those changes come pretty quickly.   That has really been the strength of the Cloud / Subscription based model.  The tool is being updated very very quickly now not just with new features, but tweaks to the interface and operation to keep making it even more efficient for the end user.

Put together as a part of the suite from Adobe Creative Cloud, Premiere Pro is a very solid editing tool in a powerful Post Production suite. It’s our “go-to” NLE for Biscardi Creative Media since mid 2012.

Adobe Premiere Pro is a cross platform software running on both Windows and Mac.  

Autodesk Smoke 2013

Without a doubt, this is a very powerful editorial and finishing tool in a single app.  Particularly for editors working with quick turnarounds yet still want to use all the “tricks and tools in the toolbox.”  It’s also the priciest of those I’ve tested despite a major price drop to $3495.

I’m going to be honest and say I have yet to add this tool to our toolbox simply because of the price.  When I first started testing it I had visions of replacing FCP 7 in all workstations with this because it is so fast.  But at $3500 each workstation for 5 workstations in my shop, it wasn’t practical at the time we made the switch from FCP 7.   I may add one copy of it in 2014 but that will all depend on our hardware purchases this year

Autodesk Smoke 2013 is Mac only.  There is also a much more expensive Linux version available.

Apple Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro 10.1 update was released just before Christmas and I honestly have not had a chance to properly test it as my home 27” iMac went belly up during the Holidays.    So I didn’t have a proper system to test it with.

But early indications from independent editors, bloggers and writers are that Apple has come a long way with the product and have greatly altered the project structure so projects are handled more similarly to traditional NLEs.   That’s huge because that was the original deal breaker for me and my company that drove us away from the product line.   There are also apparently gains in the multiple editor on a single project workflow.

Again, I cannot speak first hand to these changes yet, but it sounds like the product is moving forward.   If you check out Scott Simmons (@editblog) and Art Guglielmo (@artgug) they’re both independent editors and have been writing extensively about testing 10.1.  I hope to get some time later this month to seriously test the new changes.

“Editor Needed” job posts for FCP X editors are few and far between at the moment but with the 10.1 updates appearing to be aimed more squarely at the “traditional NLE” workflow, in particular the multi-editor workflow, it will be interesting to see if the adoption rate of X increases in 2014.   We have the tool in our shop, we have yet to use it for a project because no client has requested it.

Final Cut Pro X is Mac Only.

Sony Vegas

I know absolutely nothing about this tool and how it operates but I do know one thing.  People who use Vegas, LOVE it.   If you’re on Windows, and you’re in a self-sustained eco-system, it could be something worth checking out.

Sony Vegas is Windows Only.

So What Do You Recommend?

If you ask me right now, “What tool would you recommend I own?” it would be the Adobe Creative Cloud hands down.   There’s no suite of tools available today that can compete with everything Adobe offers under that one cloud price.

In terms of editorial, as a company at Biscardi Creative, we’ve found that Premiere Pro blends the best of new technology & ideas while maintaining the traditional NLE workflow.  Individual editors can configure the workflow based on their own editing and organizational styles.

I was essentially able to take our proven editorial workflow we’ve been using for 11 years and transfer it to Adobe Premiere Pro but got a huge efficiency jump thanks to the native format editing.  We have not converted any footage from its native format in over a year, we edit everything natively mixing and matching all manner of materials in a single timeline.   The time savings has been in the hundreds of a % over our old workflow in Final Cut Pro 7.  We can turn around projects in hours instead of days, days instead of weeks, weeks instead of months.  Converting 200+ hours of raw material to ProRes in FCP 7 is a thing of the past so we can jump right into the edit.  We’re even mixing PAL and NTSC in the same timeline without issue.

In addition, our archival storage needs dropped dramatically because of the native editing.  30 minute episodes of the PBS series “This American Land” used to average 1.2TB of media per episode to archive.  The latest season averaged only 400-500GB per episode.   So we’re now able to store more episodes on fewer archive devices.  This applies to all projects across the board.

The tight integration between all the apps in the Cloud, particularly Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere Pro really makes changes and revisions so incredibly easy.

The cross platform nature of Adobe is huge for me as a business owner.  I have almost almost infinite freedom to design and purchase computer systems for the software because I can shop both Mac and Windows.    I’m not limited to any particular computer maker, operating system or internal / external components.   As our workflows evolve over the next few years, this will be big as I will probably start to make “strategic purchases” to put “big iron” where it’s absolutely necessary and put smaller and more nimble systems where we don’t need absolute full power.

I feel completely comfortable trusting my company in Adobe’s hands because they have to make and maintain really good software in order for their business to be successful.  Cost, performance & flexibility put Adobe ahead of the pack at this time in NLE evolution for my money.

Final Thoughts

So those are my thoughts, what we’re doing at BCM and what I would recommend today.  Take what I say under consideration but don’t use this as your ONLY determining factor to decide what’s right for you.  Your situation, your needs and your workflow will determine which of the tools that are out there today will work best for your needs.

For my money and workflow, the storage and RAID system mean so much more than just the NLE or computer.   You need to spend time and money wisely on your media storage because oftentimes that has more to do with your system speed, efficiency and stability than anything else you’ll purchase.

Good luck and here’s hoping for a very successful 2014!

Walter

The post NLE Kick Off 2014 appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

“There’s no work!”     “People have lost all hope and faith in the business”  
“Every video producer is now stressed wondering where their next meal ticket is coming and using all their time marketing with no success.”

I’m getting tired of these generalities being thrown out there about the sorry state of our industry.   When was this business ever easy?   Seriously.   I’m 47 now and when I started in the industry you were lucky if you could get a position where you actually DID something the first year.   And to DO anything generally required about $100,000 – $1 million worth of gear.  Work at home?  Seriously?  How would I afford all that equipment and nobody would hire a home based video editor.

Today I have access to Davinci Resolve for $999 (or free), a $999 “super 16 camera”, Editing software, special effects software, 3D software all at reasonable prices.  All for the taking at incredibly reasonable prices.   Heck the business has never been EASIER to get in to.

Oh right, that’s the problem.   All these “kids coming in and undercutting us and blah blah blah blah…….”   I’m working with high school students creating a full blown 3D animation on 3DS Max. I know a 12 year old who’s got so much experience on After Effects he’s creating tutorials on YouTube.   And he’s good.

So the problem I’m really hearing is “Well I’ve been around a longer and I have experience so people should hire me because I know what I’m doing and these kids don’t have a clue with their cheap equipment.”  My answer to that is…. “and?”

Sorry, I used the “cheaper equipment” in 2001 to build my company when it was just FCP 2.0 and a Mac against the “big bad Avid” systems of the day.  I used that and my long broadcast experience to my competitive advantage to charge prices the “big boys” couldn’t touch.  Now we’re in a situation where EVERYONE can literally have the same tools.

So we all have to change strategy.   Experience and all those awards on the wall aren’t enough any longer to woo potential clients.  Guess what, this is the new normal.  Our industry from here forward will be in a constant state of change.  He who can change with it, can refocus their message, can pivot their marketing on a constant basis will be the one who survives.

In other words, this industry will be what you make it.   Don’t stand around waiting for something to happen because you will get left behind.   Yep, blunt message, but the truth stings.   Interesting couple of articles today, eh?  We’re getting commoditized so you have to work harder.

Strap those seat belts tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

The post This Industry is What YOU Make It. appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

“Editor needed for new docu-series on major cable network, think ‘Real Housewives.’  Speed speed speed, must be FAST!  

“Rockstar Avid editor needed, must be FAST!”

I’ve seen so many postings like this on numerous job boards of late and it really does show just how far the craft of Post Production, and in this case, Editorial has been commoditized.   Storytelling is not a concern, at least not that I can discern from the ads, it’s just all about speed.   How quickly can you turn around an episode so we can get it on the air.

The quality of much of the television programming today, particularly the “reality show/docu-series” genre is reflected by this move to “speed first,”  “story second” operating mentality.  There’s really only three places I believe that speed is paramount over story.

Live News.  Deadlines are measured in minutes, not days.
Live Sports / Television.  Deadlines are Now.
Live Events.  Deadlines were three minutes ago.

Oh and we’ll throw in a fourth one which is “South Park” that literally creates most of their shows in six days.  We’ll just call them creatively insane.  

Editors, good editors, are storytellers first and foremost.  They are generally the last person to touch any project who often have as much to do with the success as anything shot on camera.   To truly tell a story the editors has to have the time to familiarize themselves with all the footage and have some time to experiment with storylines and story threads.

Now I’m not saying you don’t need speed in your work, but I would more accurately call it efficiency.   An efficient storyteller is one who can see story threads as they are scanning the footage.   Their working two steps ahead and seeing the elements come together so when it comes time to do the first cut of their assignment, they are not only able to deliver quickly, but something that resembles a well structured story on the first cut.

Right now, editing is a commodity born of cheap tools and seemingly 500 channels with 24 hours each to fill + millions of websites.  Content providers have to fill that time with something, anything.   Eventually they will realize that “anything” doesn’t bring in as many eyeballs as the “something” that’s delivered with good storytelling.

So my challenge to you, whether you work in Post or any other aspect of Production, is to take stock of your storytelling ability.  No matter what the project is that you are working on, can you recognize and tell a good story for the end viewer?   How efficiently can you turn this story around?  That’s the approach I take with every project both personally and for my company.

Now when you build up that skill, you have something to sell yourself that should help you stand out above the rest when you apply for creative jobs.   Eventually we can help to educate Producers and others who hire professional artists that there is a difference between pure speed and efficient, quality storytelling.

Wanna some real life examples?  “Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” the documentary I cut for which the Producer added me on as a Producer credit because I crafted the base story from 200+ raw hours of footage.

“From Queens to Cairo” a Documentary Short that changed directions after the Director met with the editor who saw a different film in the raw footage.

The post Editorial: Commiditizing of the Craft appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

One of the top questions I get asked is “how to you manage your projects?”  It’s something that has been evolving as Biscardi Creative Media has grown.   Heck in the beginning I didn’t even assign job numbers to the projects because it was just me, myself and I doing maybe 2 projects per month.

A few years ago we went with a custom database that lays onto Filemaker Pro from David Jahns whom I met via CreativeCow.net.  This allows us to set job numbers and track artist hours per project.  It has a few other features too, but these are the primary functions that we use.   For the very first job number we created I purposely made the number 00001 because that means we can create 99,999 projects before we’d have to start over.

Two years ago we added Studio Suite from AlterMedia which is another custom database that sits on top of Filemaker Pro.   This is a much more comprehensive tool that not only creates new jobs and tracks artist hours, but can also generate invoices and schedule rooms / artists.  The scheduling part of it is very clunky and not very easy to adjust / modify so we don’t use it.  It’s fairly epensive per seat so we have the artists continue to use David’s database to track the hours and then our Production manager brings that into Studio Suite.

A few months ago our new Director of Marketing found a product called Function Pointthat brings everything together in a nice, easy to use package that’s reasonably priced so we can have everyone using one tool.  It brings together the entire company workflow from Marketing leads to completion of job.  Best of all, it ties into Quickbooks Pro bringing invoicing and banking together as well.   We’ll be launching this system in June and it definitely looks promising.

So there you have it, the short answer to “what we use for project management.”

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