CASO Blog Entries

Shotgun at FMX 2013

FORUM | WORKSHOPS

Thursday, April 25, Raum Karlsruhe, 14:00 - 16:00

Shotgun Software

Shotgun 5.0 Sneak Peak - Artist and Supervisor Tools

Don Parker (Shotgun)

Shotgun's CEO Don Parker talks about how his team has seen the industry change over the last nine years, bringing tough new challenges to everyone in the studio. He will present some patterns and tequniques used by the most effecient studios in the world, and explain how Shotgun is investing in making those tools available to everyone.

Don will also present a sneak peak of the upcoming Shotgun 5.0 release, which includes new collaboration tools specificlly designed for artists and supervisors.

Long time Shotgun collaborator Tweak Software will take the stage to show some upcoming enhancements to their image and sequence player RV, and how the two companies plan to further integration their products together to build the supervisor dream tool.

Don Parker, Co-Founder and CEO, Shotgun Software, www.shotgunsoftware.com

Don Parker is the CEO and co-founder of Shotgun Software, where he leads the team designing and building the Shotgun production tracking system , which addresses the industry’s need to effectively manage complex projects across multiple locations. Shotgun launched out of private beta in July, 2010 and has already been adopted by hundreds of studios around the world, including Digital Domain, Disney Feature Animation, Blue Sky, Framestore, Blizzard, Double Negative and Zoic Studios, who rely on it each day in production.

Shotgun - Our Story

We are industry folk who love production. A handful of us met while building pipeline tools for an animated feature film for Disney called The Wild. When the show was completed, we decided to start over, focusing specifically on what people call "production tracking". Although this is only one piece of the pipeline pie, we believe this piece deserves to be done right because it supports and enables the studio's biggest investment: People.

But our take on production tracking is different than most. We believe that for a system to really work in such a dynamic environment, it has to be used, and relied upon, by everyone in the studio. And because everyone relies on the system to do their work and communicate with each other every day, the information stays up to date. It is updated by many, not a few. It's a collaboration tool, not just a tracking tool.

Adoption through seduction

For our theory to work, our software would have to be adopted by everyone in the studio. And the only way to pull that off is to make sure that it makes everyone’s job easier so they want to use it. Otherwise, they’ll work around i. Accomplishing this requires a close partnership with the artists, engineers, supervisors, and production staff using the system to do real work every day, tight feedback loops for quick iteration, and an obsession for usability and design.

Building from within the industry

So we set off to find studios that were interested in helping us build the right thing. That was more than seven years ago. Now, we have thousands of people from the visual effects, feature animation, and video game industries using our software every day in production – all telling us how to make it better. We’re listening closely, soaking it up, working as hard as we can, and moving forward.

Drinking our own wine

We use Shotgun ourselves every day to manage our own development process and to ensure we’re building something that solves real problems and is a pleasure to use. Our team is distributed all over the world, including Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, New York, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, and Sydney. Shotgun helps us stay in sync and move quickly.

Ah, it’s called “agile development’

We’ve always worked in quick iterations, with constant feedback, and continual course corrections based on the new info learned each day. It felt right and the results were great. But it was our first client, Rising Sun Pictures, that pointed us to a software development philosophy called “Agile Development” and a process called “Scrum”. That is us! We knew there had to be a name for how we worked, and it is still how we work today. We develop in two week “sprints”, and release to our clients every four springs (8 weeks). We continually evaluate our roadmap and discuss priorities with our clients, making decisions on what to build as we start each release cycle. We may not know exactly where we will end up, but we believe our process and the input from our clients will help us continue to innovate and provide value.

Front of the house

We know solid support is important to our clients, especially for a system like this, so we have dedicated half of our team to focus externally on our clients. We call that team the “Front of the House” following a restaurant metaphor for the service staff (And you guessed it, the development team is the “Back of the House”. Can you tell we’re a bunch of foodies?). Our front of the house team works with our clients every day, bending over backwards to solve problems and engaging in discussions about what we should build next. We have been busy putting tools in place that help us scale this quality of support, which includes our integrated ticketing system, forum, and documentation site.

Focus on value first, then on sales

We spent 3.5 years working in “stealth mode” before our private beta launch, keeping a low profile while collaborating closely with a cross section of studios. Why so long? Because we wanted to focus all our energy on building something that has real value before turning on the sales engines.

It has been a wild ride too, with many ups and downs as we tested out countless design and implementation ideas, stress tested the system in multiple production environments, created the hosted infrastructure, and built up our team, processes, and tools to support growth.

We know have more than 400 clients around the world and have expanded our focus to review and asset management tools. We still feel like the fun is only just beginning. We love this industry, and we loving solving these problems for you. There’s a lot more to go. We hope you will join us.

Shotgun - Project Timeline app

A brief overview of the Project Timeline app, which lets you quickly block out a high-level schedule for a project, then share the key dates with the rest of the studio.. Released as part of the Shotgun 4.2 release. Find more info athttp://www.shotgunsoftware.com

Shotgun - Crew Planning 0.1

A brief overview of the Crew Planning app, which lets you book people to projects and see who's available. Released as part of the Shotgun 4.0 release. Find more info athttp://www.shotgunsoftware.com

Announcing Tank, an Asset Management System from Shotgun Software

Tank is an asset management system for VFX and Animation studios, built on the Shotgun platform and featuring "apps" for pipeline customization. Now in private beta. Learn more at www.shotgunsoftware.com/tank

A Tour of Shotgun

Shotgun is a production management and application platform for VFX and Animation studios. It helps studios track, schedule, and iterate on their work fast and efficiently. Learn more at www.shotgunsoftware.com.

The People Demand Pie

A little while ago and incident happened at the studio. It involved a promise that was never fulfilled and then a protest that was definitely answered.

The situation:

A certain Ricardo Curtis had decided to promise the people of House of Cool that there would be pie last Thursday. Well as you can guess that did not happen. There were allot of grumblings and unfulfilled cravings for the sweet and tart dessert. By Friday there was nothing Ricardo could do but give the people what they deserved. PIE!!!

Keeping Up With FCBK

With the ever changing world of technology we must constantly keep up. So with that said check out our NEW FCBK Fan Page! great stuff is happening there everyday, so make sure you don't miss out! Come on you know you LIKE us! http://www.facebook.com/houseofcoolstudios

Red Rover Reel 2012

Check out the works of Scotty!! Red Rovers' 2012 Reel.

Its a Showdown!

What's the outcome of your showdown in the office?

Next week we'll show you the aftermath!

The age old debate around the water cooler, "Tim Horton's or Starbucks?". Now a days you can find a numerous amount of different "shi-shi" coffee shops with their fresh coffee beans and "hipster" milks. But the 2 biggest companies are still Timmy's and Starbucks.

Next week we'll show you the aftermath!

Oscar the Dog shows us how much he needs his Starbucks! It's hard being the boss.

Meet "Oscar the Dog" House of Cool's new CEO!

We think it's suiting and we're happy to have him on board! He drove a hard bargin and its gonna cost us but Oscar the Dog is now the new CEO of House of Cool Studios, not sure how Wes is taking this?

LeBron's Episode 1 "The Lion"

Hey guys check out Episode 1 of the "LeBron's", the new LeBron Jame's Show that we've been working on. Enjoy!

Lebrons

The Lebrons Project is going really well I can't wait for you guys to watch it!

New Free iPad app by Toon Boom

Look for Flipboom Lite in your iTunes App Store and start having fun doodling on your iPad!

Check this out!

Greg Court, Red Rover Director, and Christina Helmer, producer, did this most recent spot. Special thanks to Jason, Pepe, Steve, Britton and Brad for working on this mock spot. We love trying new techniques and seeing how far we can take them.

To see the HD version, click youtube