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What's the best way to handle kickbacks in Shotgun?

Elirarey

March 19, 2014 00:50

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Let's say you have an asset that needs a revision upstream in the pipeline.  For example, an asset is in layout and there is a problem with the rig.  Layout wants to kick it back to rigging, but at that point rigging needs to figure out if it needs to go further up the pipeline for a modeling fix, etc.  Some studios handle this with a "kickback ticket" -- what would be the equivalent in Shotgun?

Would you track it with statuses on the relevant tasks, and some kind of note that gets reassigned as the kickback moves up the pipeline?

How are other people handling this at other studios?

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  Astrid Scholte March 19, 2014 21:54

  Hi Eli,

  Thank you for your email and question. Please see my thoughts and suggestions as below:

  • I would establish a protocol that either a specific Type of Note is used for these kind of communications or that you use a Subject Title that is consistent across the board, such as 'Broken publish' or 'Modifications needed'. When I worked in production in the Lighting department we communicated this information via the Delivery Entity, but communicating this as a Note on the Published File is a good idea as it further ties the Note and the file together. We used subjects such as 'LAYOUT to RIGGING: Broken Publish 01_010' to make it clear who the Note was coming from and what it regarded.

  • In regards to automation, you could set up event triggers so that if a downstream department is flagged as MODIFICATIONS NEEDED, that this then changes the Status on upstream departments automatically. This will help reduce things slipping through the cracks and the manual process of setting statuses.

  • In past productions I worked on, each department coordinator was responsible for setting their own Statuses, we wouldn't change another department's Status and I think this is a good idea. Then you have someone taking responsibility over a certain pipeline step and you don't need to question who updated what and when.

  • As for making sure Notes are not missed, I think introducing a new Type of Note or Subject that helps flag these issues as important, will help make sure they aren't missed. You could also then have a Note page filtered to these type of Notes and you can track where it is in production.

  In regards to how other studios use Shotgun for their "kick-it" systems, we had a Shotgun User Group meeting the other week where Bron Studios presented their system, which might suit your workflow. They have a 'Fix Asset' field on Assets and a 'Fix Shot' field on Shots that when filled out with what type of fix it requires from a drop-down list, it triggers a Task Template to be applied (to the Shot or Asset) with the correct Fix Task. This Task can then be assigned to an artist by the production person in the corresponding department. When the fix has been completed/approved then you can mark the status for this Task as complete/approved. Please find the recording for the User Group meeting here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ujvcyffvqh7gr3/SGUG_Feb_19_2014_Bron_AnimationStudio.mov

  Hope this helps!

  Kind regards,
  Astrid