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Task Dependency Offset

Andrew Fallon

February 15, 2017 17:33

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It would be great to have access to the offset field for task dependencies so that when importing tasks via a spreadsheet you can import the offset as well as the up & downstream dependencies.

Most dependencies in our studio are same-day where one artist finishes a task and the next artist starts there on the same day. By default dependencies always roll to the next day, so we'd like to enter our schedule via a spreadsheet import with a -1 dependency on tasks that are required to start on the same day as another one ending.

The same is true for some tasks where the client has a few days to review and approve. It would be great to enter "2" as our offset if we are giving the client 2 days to review a task.

We create our project plans in spreadsheets and import them into SG for our producers to assign and date. Currently we have to import our schedule, apply any offsets one a time by option clicking then turn it over to the producer to schedule. This creates redundant work over just entering an offset at the time of the spreadsheet creation.

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8 comments

• 0
  
  Sabrina Gagnon August 22, 2018 21:01

  I fully agree with this request. Is there anything in the works for this?

• 0
  
  Brandon Foster August 22, 2018 22:12

  Hi Sabrina,

  Not currently. When I inquired about if this were as simple as exposing a hidden field, it turned out to be more complicated than that. The offsets of a Task can be derived from any number of upstream dependencies, plus any manual offset input by the users. So while the team does have this on their radar, it's not on the immediate roadmap for development.

• 0
  
  Sabrina Gagnon August 22, 2018 22:34

  Hi Brandon,

  Understood! Makes me really sad as this is making our life really complicated here as we are trying to rely on the dependencies more and more.

   

  Thanks for the quick repsonse

  Cheers

  Saby

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  Sabrina Gagnon August 22, 2018 22:40

  Quick question though, would it be more simple to have a tick box if there is an offset and untick it to remove all offset? That's what has been the biggest problem actually is that it's hard to know what the offset it sometimes.

   

  Thanks again!

• 0
  
  Raphaelle Jean-Weisz August 22, 2018 22:49

  Hi Brandon,

  Agreeing with Sabrina here, knowing is half the battle. At the moment, the only way to know a task was offset is by looking at the gantt and spot the little blue arrows. If we can have the information available as a tickbox like when they are Pinned, we'd be able to select all of those and remove it if need be, or adjust it. 

  Another thing I wanted to ask: Would it be possible to batch offset tasks. Let's say you know all of your tasks need a 2 day buffer in that one pipeline step, it would save a great amount of time to apply this all at once. You did mention "offsets of a Task can be derived from any number of upstream dependencies" so that might not be possible, but I thought I should ask directly

   

  Thank you so much for taking the time

   

   

  Raphie

• 0
  
  Brandon Foster August 24, 2018 19:55

  Hey All,

  Thanks for the continued interest, and feedback. It sounds like the core issue most of you are having is the ability to bulk add/change offsets, and the current gantt-UI means by which those offsets are introduced don't make that easy. I'll brainstorm with the team to see if there are any easy wins to be had to make this experience better, and where/when that sort of work may get prioritized.

• 1
  
  Mark Thielen February 28, 2019 23:25

  This would be great to expose this offset as a field that can be edited.

• 1
  
  Armando Ricalde July 24, 2019 20:24

  Hi all,

  Having the option to offset Tasks that have dependencies is a great feature especially when combined with Tasks Templates, it helps you schedule tons of Tasks blazing fast, and then not having to worry about all the dependant Tasks at once when offsetting upstream ones because of artist's availability. "Work Smarter, Not Harder".

  Having said this, I agree with all the previous requests, though there is something even more fundamental to fix with the current implementation, it is buggy, when offsetting a Task it doesn't always stay where it is left when releasing the mouse click and the Alt key, this is very annoying and sometimes takes several attempts in order to get it right.

  Another thing that sometimes doesn't work, is offsetting a Task in a filtered Tasks Page (by Pipeline Step for instance), as you get a pinned Task instead of an offset one (and sometimes you want them to move freely), but if the filter on the page is turned off, it works. Weird. 

  My contribution,
  —Doc