Production Management Software at DVinfo.net

Ian Stark · March 28th, 2009, 03:39 PM

I downloaded the trial of Showbiz Producer today but within two minutes I realised it was not going to work for me. For one it forces US currency and date formats which seems to be rather shortsighted (not to mention poor application design). Likewise with the various forms it produces - all US-oriented and non-customisable (at least I couldn't find a way to change them). So, Showbiz Producer is out!

I am looking for something that will help me set up simple project tasks for corporate video production. Ideally this would allow for collaboration on line as my team all operate from home. At the moment we are somewhat gung ho about how we manage projects and as we are planning to ramp up during 2009 I really want to get our house in order.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Video production-specific or general project management apps are both of interest. What's most important is ease of setup and use.

What, if anything, are you using?

Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations.

Ian . . .

Corey Williams · March 28th, 2009, 10:34 PM

try www.quickbase.com

Paul Mailath · March 29th, 2009, 02:20 AM

I'm using Gorilla (trying to use) - it's powerful but takes a bit of learning but your best bet might be Celtx

Ian Stark · March 29th, 2009, 02:37 AM

Thanks Corey. Quickbase looks excellent - but at $249 per month as the entry level price it's sadly a little out of my reach.

Paul, funnily enough I have just downloaded Celtx but haven't tried it out yet. I believed it to be a way of collaborating on scripts - didn't know it would also help with management of projects. Must investigate further! Gorilla also looks great but I suspect it's overkill for my fairly humble needs.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Brian Drysdale · March 29th, 2009, 08:42 AM

Movie Magic is pretty much a industry standard budgeting & scheduling program, but it's likely to be overkill if you feel the same about Gorilla and I believe it costs more.

Jason Robinson · March 29th, 2009, 07:06 PM

Some background first, and then a couple of questions for you.....

I was a software developer and for my last SW dev job, we made use of an online tool that charged a per user fee that seemed pretty reasonable ($20-30) per month. I found the tool to be very open ended, easy to understand, with tons of tutorial videos available.

The tool (I'll have to try and find hte name of hte software because I forgot it) was targeting software development projects, but because it is mainly a task trackign application, and because you define EVERYTHING in the system, you can probably set it up to function just fine for your needs.

Half of what I do now (the other half being video productions) is research & supply small companies / home offices with IT solutions and software; be it hosted applications (aka you pay $x to company ABC for use of their software on their servers), installed apps on existing hosting systems (installing software package Y on your / my server and supporting upgrades, etc), or installed applications on individual systems (like MS office on individual computers). Which leads me to ...

The questions. These will help me get an idea for how your biz is currently set up, and what sort of solutions might work for you. If you don't feel comfortable supplying this online online, then PM me and I'll be more than happy to help offline.

1) How many people are involved in your efforts, both full time & part time? (aka how many different office need to be connected?)
2) Do you already have infrastructure to connect the various offices together (aka VPNs, etc)? Or Are you operating as independent small home offices via residential internet connections with no direct connections to each other?
3) Do you have an IT strategy yet? For example, do you know you want to remain as a chain of work from home offices, or do you eventually plan to consolidate into a single office space?

If you intend to remain at home office for at least a year or so, then it might not be a bad idea to go with a hosted software package (despite some having monthly fees) to allow greater flexibility. If you intend to consolidate offices into a single office / store front, then installed apps might be a good idea because everyone will be in one place, and the per-system install costs (if any) could be lower.

March 28th, 2009, 03:39 PM	#1
Ian Stark Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 2,237	Production Management Software I downloaded the trial of Showbiz Producer today but within two minutes I realised it was not going to work for me. For one it forces US currency and date formats which seems to be rather shortsighted (not to mention poor application design). Likewise with the various forms it produces - all US-oriented and non-customisable (at least I couldn't find a way to change them). So, Showbiz Producer is out! I am looking for something that will help me set up simple project tasks for corporate video production. Ideally this would allow for collaboration on line as my team all operate from home. At the moment we are somewhat gung ho about how we manage projects and as we are planning to ramp up during 2009 I really want to get our house in order. Does anyone have any recommendations? Video production-specific or general project management apps are both of interest. What's most important is ease of setup and use. What, if anything, are you using? Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations. Ian . . . __________________ www.vit-media.com www.classicmachinefilms.co.uk

March 29th, 2009, 02:20 AM	#3
Paul Mailath Trustee Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Central Coast - NSW, Australia Posts: 1,606	I'm using Gorilla (trying to use) - it's powerful but takes a bit of learning but your best bet might be Celtx __________________ Cheers - Paul M. www.perbenyik.com

March 29th, 2009, 02:37 AM	#4
Ian Stark Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 2,237	Thanks Corey. Quickbase looks excellent - but at $249 per month as the entry level price it's sadly a little out of my reach. Paul, funnily enough I have just downloaded Celtx but haven't tried it out yet. I believed it to be a way of collaborating on scripts - didn't know it would also help with management of projects. Must investigate further! Gorilla also looks great but I suspect it's overkill for my fairly humble needs. Thanks for the suggestions. __________________ www.vit-media.com www.classicmachinefilms.co.uk

March 28th, 2009, 10:34 PM	#2
Corey Williams Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: McKinney,TX/New Orleans, LA Posts: 104	try www.quickbase.com

March 29th, 2009, 08:42 AM	#5
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,152	Movie Magic is pretty much a industry standard budgeting & scheduling program, but it's likely to be overkill if you feel the same about Gorilla and I believe it costs more.

March 29th, 2009, 07:06 PM	#6
Jason Robinson Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Boise, Idaho Posts: 1,997	Some background first, and then a couple of questions for you..... I was a software developer and for my last SW dev job, we made use of an online tool that charged a per user fee that seemed pretty reasonable ($20-30) per month. I found the tool to be very open ended, easy to understand, with tons of tutorial videos available. The tool (I'll have to try and find hte name of hte software because I forgot it) was targeting software development projects, but because it is mainly a task trackign application, and because you define EVERYTHING in the system, you can probably set it up to function just fine for your needs. Half of what I do now (the other half being video productions) is research & supply small companies / home offices with IT solutions and software; be it hosted applications (aka you pay $x to company ABC for use of their software on their servers), installed apps on existing hosting systems (installing software package Y on your / my server and supporting upgrades, etc), or installed applications on individual systems (like MS office on individual computers). Which leads me to ... The questions. These will help me get an idea for how your biz is currently set up, and what sort of solutions might work for you. If you don't feel comfortable supplying this online online, then PM me and I'll be more than happy to help offline. 1) How many people are involved in your efforts, both full time & part time? (aka how many different office need to be connected?) 2) Do you already have infrastructure to connect the various offices together (aka VPNs, etc)? Or Are you operating as independent small home offices via residential internet connections with no direct connections to each other? 3) Do you have an IT strategy yet? For example, do you know you want to remain as a chain of work from home offices, or do you eventually plan to consolidate into a single office space? If you intend to remain at home office for at least a year or so, then it might not be a bad idea to go with a hosted software package (despite some having monthly fees) to allow greater flexibility. If you intend to consolidate offices into a single office / store front, then installed apps might be a good idea because everyone will be in one place, and the per-system install costs (if any) could be lower.