PROJECT LIFE CYCLES GENERAL
THINK: You should have enough experience now to give 5 basic steps involved in project development
MULTIMEDIA PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT
In multimedia, there is often some variety in the way people name the main phases. You may have seen lists such as
Here is an example of lifecycles for an instructional media development (.doc)
Quite often, it depends on the variety of the media project as to the terms being used. See table below.
MULTIMEDIA LIFE CYCLE IMPART METHODOLOGY
local copy of methodology documents from IMPART - for GU student use only.
If you examine the methodologies used by a number of multimedia production houses you will find slight differences in the terminologies used in each of them. It is important to a multimedia production house to verbalise the procedures that will be used in the production process.
The methodology of a production unit will usually specify
One methodology developed is Multimedia Pathways: A Development Methodology
for Interactive Multimedia and Online Products for Education and Training which Impart Corporation (http://www.impart.com.au) has developed.
This particular methodology is of interest because
You can find out more about the Impart corporation on their website at www.impart.com.au.
Impart has its roots when the CMC's were established (cooperative multimedia centres). Impart Corporation is a commercial joint venture of a selection of Australia's leading organisations in learning and technology. These are Oracle
Corporation Australia, Newmedia Corporation, Central Queensland University, University of Wollongong and Griffith University.
Its primary interest is the development of learning materials, this focus is reflected in its methodology.
Multimedia Pathways-an example of a methodology
Focuses on six phases of development: initiation, specifications, design, production, review & evaluation, delivery & implementation.
Each phase is divided into 3 categories of activity: Development, management and support, with each of these categories divided into further activity categories.
Objectives:
Students will:
The members of a multimedia production team will have some variation depending on the type of project e.g. educational, entertainment, business.
Educational and training multimedia materials projects will typically consist of:
TUTORIAL ACTIVITY:
Think about a significant multimedia project you have done in the past, or will soon be involved in.
Write a two paragraph description of the project.
Create a detailed work break down chart for the project.
Write up a list of team members that will be required for the project
For each of the major tasks, make notes as to what team members will need to be involved.
Objectives:
Students will:
SCOPING A PROJECT DEVELOPING A CONCEPT BRIEF
[[Class exercise: List some of the elements you might wish to incorporate into a concept brief.
Remember the aim of the concept brief is to gain a preliminary understanding of what the client wants and what is required by the project]]
There is a great variety in the way initial meetings are conducted. It is very much an individual matter. However there are main elements which must be addressed.
SETTING OBJECTIVES AND GOALS
One of the very first things you need to do when you first meet with a client is to establish the goals and objectives of the project.
Put simply, you need to determine what the client wants to achieve by doing the project.
You need to understand fully the objectives before you can proceed any further with quality and costing issues.
Remember, you and your client most likely come from different backgrounds and communication may become challenging.
You can begin by getting the definition of a goal.
A goal is a broad statement of the anticipated project outcome.
A goal must be supported by specific objectives.
Objectives are specific statements of measurable outcomes.
Good objectives are SMART
Specific says exactly what must be accomplished
Measurable- you can determine if the objective has been met
Action orientated
Realistic
Timelimited
Example:
Goal: Produce a multimedia website for the first year subject Business Communications, which will be used to support lecture and tutorial sessions
Objectives:
{an example of a poor objective might be the website will facilitate student interaction doesn't say how}
GETTING A CLEAR DEFINITION
Obtaining a clear definition of what the client wants from the outset is important in that it saves a lot of time later in the project. Without a clear definition, the project will be plagued with changes and frustrations of not being able to agree with the client as to what is required.
Whatever type of interactive project you are responsible for, the initial set of questions you ask will define the scope of the project.
[[class exercise what kinds of things will you want to cover in the initial meeting with your client?]]
As a project manager, after you have met with your client, discussed the project with other colleagues, you will be required to submit some kind of project proposal to your client.
The aim:
To give the client a clear understanding of the project including timelines, budget concerns. There should be enough information to enable the client to make the decision about proceeding or abandoning the project.
A proposal must give a realistic view.
A proposal should contain:
Online projects |
Offline projects |
Homepage setting out expectations, structure and image for rest
of the site e.g. small is 5-10 web pages, Medium 10-20, Large 20-30; very large 30+ Complexity is determined in terms of media production and programming. E.g. if need to pull information out of an existing database then medium complexity Also need to factor in any rights clearances required. Don't forget to include time for testing and rework as well as development time Check if any client objectives have not been met.
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Flowchart of main areas of content and how they are linked Indicate the number of minutes of material each section contains Will built-in help and prefs be required? Platform decisions can affect the range of media. The client may specify a particular media but the platform makes this inappropriate. Point this out to the client. Cost out as accurately as possible media required Consider rights clearances |
All proposals should also contain
[[class exercise: what other main elements should the proposal contain??]]
The decisions about treatment you make are very much a matter of balancing COST, TIME, MATERIALS and USER NEEDS.
Objectives:
Students will:
PLANNING TIME
The best approach to planning how long a task will take is to base it on previous experience if a person is unfamiliar with the task then they cannot estimate time required to complete the task.
Time is multimedia projects is determined by carefully creating a work breakdown structure and determining how long individual elements may take.
Charting projects
Two common methods are the Gantt charts and PERT diagrams
Gantt charts are horizontal bar charts that graphically display the time relationship of the step of the project
To create a Gantt chart:
List the steps required to complete the project
Estimate the time for each step
List the steps down the left hand side of the chart
Draw lines across the chart for each step starting at the planned start date , ending at the end date
Gantt charts allow for parallel steps which are carried out at the same time.
Tools such as Microsoft project allow you to do this.
PERT diagrams-Network analysis- Critical path
Uses a diagram to show logical links between tasks, illustrating ones which are simultaneous and which ones are dependant on others reaching a certain stage. Because of the dynamic and complex nature of multimedia these diagrams are quite often not used.
COSTINGS
The example on below, is taken from England & Finney 1999, p 105.
It shows a breakdown of the resources and staff required for a project. Note that the figures in the cost column are not realistic. You would need to find out the hourly or daily rates for your own situation. An excel copy of the spreadsheet below is available.
When estimating media costs you will need to have some indication of how long obtaining the media costs.
As a general guide:
When working on your own projects it is a good idea to note the kind of time required for various activities this knowledge is invaluable in the workplace
Click here for an example
of a costing spreadsheet
(NOTE: you will require microsoft excel to view it)
Once you and the client have agreed on the proposal, it forms part of the contractual agreement between the client and developer since it states the work to be preformed, the schedule and the costs.
It is also important that the final agreement clearly states procedures for making of changes.
As most of you are aware by now, making changes can be costly and if unaddressed can be detrimental to the project.
One of the main challenges you will face, especially in regard to making of changes, is educating the client about the complexities of the multimedia development environment. Most clients will not understand, without some education that merely changing a menu item has widespread and costly consequences at certain stages of the project.
In the final agreement it is also a good idea to specify exactly what the client responsibilities will be and what the responsibilities will be of the project manager in regards to the project. This will help avoid any disputes later down the line.
TUTORIAL EXERCISE
You have been asked to draft a proposal because there is a deadline and your colleague is sick. Whe attended the briefing meeting with the client and all you have to work from is the completed scoping questionnaire. You have one working day to complete and fax it directly to the client while coping with your ongoing projects. This sort of time-scale is not unusual.
You have a choice of two completed scoping questionnaires one online and one offline. Using the information given, derive a proposal for one of them.
Click here to view the
questionnaires
(NOTE: opens in a new window)
TUTORIAL EXERCISE complete the table of client and project manager responsibilities for a multimedia product
Project manager responsibilities |
Client |
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COPYRIGHT AND LEGAL ISSUES IN MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION
e.g. get a written indemnity from the client that they own the copyright
While most clients will recognise that it is of little value to own copyright to any code etc, it is wise to obtain an agreement with the client re the ownership and future use of code developed for their particular project
Some clients might not grant permission for demonstration since they do not want their competitors to see the product.
Moral rights: as a developer your company can ask for a right of paternity to be included in the contract, this allows your company and its members who worked on the project to have a credit, otherwise no one is obliged to recognise your involvement once the product is released.
Moral rights may also come into play when sourcing assets such as music. E.g. the composer of a piece of music has the moral right for the music not to be edited. If you are designing an interactive presentation which enables the user to change around pieces of the music then you may be breaking moral rights; problems may also occur when creating collages with images etc.
Force majeure this refers to the situation where unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters prevent the company from fulfilling the contract avoids company being sued for non-completion
You will most likely need to obtain rights and clearances for:
Still pictures
Any reuse of existing photo, picture or slide or even extracted details from any of these for which neither you nor your client have permission will incur cost
How much is charged depends on
Who owns it (museum, library etc)
What it will be used for (the purpose can be tricky since multimedia projects often change to a different purpose later down the track e.g. from CD ROM to website)
Where it will be seen
How long it will be in use for etc
Music
Very complex, depends on artist, length, if it loops or not, publisher, library music, original work etc
Voice Overs
Cleared through the voice over agent rate varies according to who it is, time spent recording, type of use, the number of countries
Video Footage like stills clearance, varies according to whether the piece is being edited together with other pieces. Video footage can contain the need to clear secondary rights
Overview of some rights models:
Below are listed some of the rights you may have for materials
All rights as the name suggests gives developer all rights to exploit material; usually applies to a small contribution and may incur small or no fees
Non-theatric excludes broadcast, home video and theatric rights. Allows use for training, business, education, conferences and exhibitions.
Home Video video store type of clearance
Interactive right- relatively new, permission to use the media in any interactive form such as CD ROM.
RIGHTS CHECKLIST
(England & Finney,1999, p341)
PROJECT MANAGER AND Team considerations
Objectives:
Students will:
One of the major roles the project manager will have is to put together the multimedia production team.
In order to achieve this the project manager needs to have an excellent understanding of what expertise will be required to develop each of the components of the multimedia project. This means a good understanding of each of the roles that will be required.
The primary source of skills will be in house team members. However, it may be that the skills are not available in house and need to be selected from outside sources
The project manager needs to ensure that:
Multimedia production is above all a team endeavour. The success of the project will depend to a large extent on team members having harmonious, productive, supportive relationships. This means fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect among team members. Communication among all team members is considered paramount. The project manager is as much part of the team as anyone else.
Lessons in Team leadership-John Whatmore's elements of successful creative team leaders
TUTORIAL EXERCISE:
1. If you have had experience with project managers Use John Whatmore's elements of the successful creative team leader as a checklist to determine how that person measured up. Did the criteria work for this person? Were there any notable omissions? Would you add any extra criteria? If you haven't had experience with a project manager reflect on you teams you have been involved with (no names please).
List the functional/technical, decision-making/problem solving and interpersonal skills this person had or lacked.
What do you consider to be your own strengths and weakness as a project manager.
2. Reflect on your previous team experiences. What were some of the best? List the features and characteristics of team members that contributed to the successful aspects of the team.
What were some of the worst experiences. List some of the features of these unsuccessful interactions.
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