Project Scopes

 

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In February 2013, we posted an article about writing comprehensive project scopes for web development. The article details the anxiety, trust, expectations, and comfort created by a detailed project scope for digital design and development, be it a web site, web application (SaaS), or Mobile App. This 5-page article takes designers and clients alike through the process of creating a scope and the benefits to both parties when embarking on a new project.

Since its creation, we’ve occasionally gotten feedback that the time and cost spent developing a scope was unnecessary, where ambitious entrepreneurs prefer instead to dive headfirst into building out the product. Their concerns are valid: I’m already allocating funds for the development of my app. Why do I need to spend more on this part of the strategy?

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Tags | app strategy, builders, clients, coders, concepting, contractors, design, design strategy, designers, developers, development, development strategy, examples, freelancers, mobile apps, Project, project scope, saas, scope, scoping, strategy, web strategy

LookUp, ERA404’s New Project Tracking Tool, is Made Available

Project Tracking Made Easier for Post Shops, Using LookUp

Project tracking on Flame*/Smoke* devices can become quite involved and cumbersome.
Multiple operators, long-term projects, and disconnects between crews sometimes make tracking, archiving, deleting, even wiring, a time-consuming task.

That’s why ERA404 Creative Group worked with operators to develop the LookUp Tool, an automated approach to tracking projects giving all LAN users with access one-click retrieval of all device statistics/status, projects lists and project management assignments (archive, delete, wire).

How It Works

By using a standard web server’s inherent sockets connectivity, batch-performing the IRIX “vstat” command, and storing system values to a database, LookUp is accessed in a web browser and makes project tracking a breeze. Any workstation with access to LookUp can schedule a regular task to update the LookUp database, so users will have the most current records when they arrive to work in the morning. Alternately, a server-side CRON can be scheduled for hourly updates to the system database.

Summary

From LookUp’s Summary (home) page, listed for each device is:

• Device Name
• Framestore Total Storage (MB)
• Framestore Used Storage (MB)
• Framestore Usage Percent
• Hard Drive Usage Percent
• License Expiration

Devices nearing their capacity are shown in red, to draw attention to potential system warnings or faults. License Expiration is also clickable to view license detail and is also shown in red when renewal is required.

Reports

Choosing a device from the navigation gives users a project-by-project breakdown of device activity, including frame usage, and management assignments. From a dropdown, users can mark a project for archival, deletion, and wire (to adjacent device). Free-text fields are given for each project, so that scheduling personnel and other users may enter comments about the project for other users to review. These assignments are stored along-side the projects and can be updated as often as necessary for up-to-date system-wide notification.

To-Do

Technicians responsible for performing archives, deletes and wire transfers are given a To-Do “worksheet” as a guide for routine system maintenance. As projects are given management assignments, these specifications are automatically added to a printable To-Do list with checkboxes for on-site recording of task completion. Then, as projects are wired or deleted, the LookUp finds this activity and updates the database during the next scheduled update.

Security

Because LookUp is installed on an existing intranet (or internet), access permissions can be administrated using standard network procedures. htaccess can govern LookUp scripts for one-touch access to intranet users, while requiring authentication from external internet requests. This framework gives your IT manager complete control over your devices’ project security.

Make the tedium of project tracking a thing of the past, by buying your license of the ERA404 Creative Group LookUp Tool. For more information, please contact:

Mike Citarella
Product Sales
https://www.era404.com/

System Requirements:

• OS: Existing
• Web Server: Apache or other existing
• Database: MySQL
• Processor Language: PHP 4.0+

* Autodesk Flame, Inferno, and Smoke are either registered trademarks
or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc./Autodesk Canada Co. in the USA and other countries.

Tags | archive, archiving, Autodesk, Boutique, citarella, Compositing, delete, deleting, design, Discreet, Economizing, Flame, Inferno, LookUp, one-click, one-touch, Post, production, Project, Reports, scheduling, Smoke, snapshot, sockets, Streamlining, To-Do, Tracking, vstat, wire, wire-transfer, wiring, Worksheet