What are the best ways to avoid missing deadlines in computer graphics?

Count your age, mental health into your consideration when taking on a quick turnaround cash grab job that you would have sailed in your 20's and mentally agile. I destroyed relationship and had a breakdown on my last job. In my 40's thinking i can still be robust enough as a jack of all trades. In modern era, people expect more because computers are faster, tools more agile. But clients are still clients. Creative process is still... well a process. Ive learned the hard way. Still getting over the trauma of the job. Be kind to yourself and your body.

R&D is very crucial. Ensuring that before the projects started, have a thorough R&D phase where you automate alot of the process into a button, or develop tools that can help artist get their job done quicker. Procedural techniques saves alot of time, the nitty-gritty and hassle of doing things manually.

One of the best ways I like to stay ahead of deadlines is to evaluate when something is due, and then do my best to work two or three days ahead of the perceived deadline. I follow a mental rule that anything in CG/production could go wrong or an unexpected bug or issue would arise, so that if that was to happen, things would still be perfectly on time! And if not, well that's just more time to improve and make iterations. It's also really important to communicate consistently with your team members and your supervisor to ensure things are on track, the number one skill someone can have on any team is great communication in my opinion.

Engage with key stakeholders, including product managers, business analysts, and anyone with a vested interest in the project. Interview them to gather insights into the goals, objectives, and expectations.

As in every type of project planning is the foremost activity that has to be done properly. However in graphic projects you'll be dealing with customers and in most cases they are willing to change minds on the ongoing project. So, in my opinion managing their expectations is one of the skills every professional has to acquire.

Please look over your notes. Review their notes periodically, ensuring you're on track to deliver what was asked. My biggest complaint is that people do not read what they are supposed to deliver.

To complete work before the deadline you must follow some step 1/ Discuss with the client and team about the project 2/ Create a brief note with the key points 3/ Make a folder and save all element files which you need for the project. Also, save a notepad where key points are written. 4/ Keep updating the team or client and take feedback from them.

Préparer des étapes pour voir l'avancée des projets et ne pas faire les choses à l'envers est important. Sans organisation dans le travail, on peut avoir l'impression de ne pas avancer et de ne pas travailler efficacement.

Let’s say in the Visual Effects world , Many time I have seen productions concentrating on a few shots for LookDev purposes but not concentrating on a project as a whole. This is a very technical and artistic world that can become very time consuming if not guided properly. Managing client priorities but also maintaining a good overall Production speed is key !

Backwards planning before accepting job and scheduling. Associate producer who knows how to handle client expectations , which is their #1 priority. Sufficient budget and time. Talent who are clear on expectations , checkpoints, and deliveries. Creative director and supervisors with clear chain of command and accountability, who provide unambiguous actionable creative direction. Meaning, style frames, storyboards, previz, good notes , dailies. Who understand how long or difficult shot elements take to create. Plant and cloud assets sufficient for job, meaning workstations for onsite and remote PCoIP work, bandwidth, storage for digital assets, WIPs, caches, iterations. At least three versions of key shot elements at dailies. .....

When doing work for a client, a relationship of trust should be established in both directions. Customers are aware that problems and delays can happen, but we must be confident enough to inform them in a timely manner and not expect everything to be magically resolved an hour before delivery time. Internally, there must be the same trust between team members, so that they raise their hands the moment they perceive a possible problem or delay, before it becomes a snowball.

In my experience, when I collaborate with my clients I frequently ask them about project details, such as images, theme, color, etc. While doing work I constantly take their review and changes according to their choices. It's not compulsory to make a perfect design, it's always necessary to maintain client choices. For example, if your client is happy with the unnatural color theoretical design, no need to fix too much just give it to them. But if you think other color theories look much better then showcase that and take their feedback.

Definitely communication is the key with your client(s) in being able to meet proper deadlines. The ability to , from the start, have all deadlines dates available. Things always pop up but that can eventually (depending on contracts) be a change order.

I have found it helpful to come up with two or three ideas and present them as sketches early on in the process. That way you can get a better idea of the direction to take with your work. Often clients and stakeholders aren’t sure what they like until they see a sketch. The sooner you can show them your ideas, the smoother the creation process will go and the easier it is to meet deadlines. Sometimes even just sitting down with paper and pen (analog technology!) can help you communicate more efficiently and effectively with your client. I’ve even handed my clients crayons and paper if I have the chance to sit down with them in person!

En effet expliquer, justifier et échanger...la base de notre métier...si on ne comprend pas cela, on a peu de chance de réussir

Starting the work I’ve found to be very useful to try to complete a first version of the work as quickly as possible to the be able to get a good overview of the time spent per task and to get a sense of what didn’t work in your workflow early on.

Learn to estimate well, which means padding. Doing something which is exactly the same as work you've done 5+ times before, your gut estimate might be right. Doing something which has *something* new in it, double your gut estimate. Doing something brand new to you, triple your gut estimate. This is the advice I gave all my young engineers as an engineering manager. Trying to be a hero in your estimates just makes you a villain when you fail to deliver. Instead, if you under promise and then over-deliver, you are seen as a real hero.

L'imprévu fait parti de tous les métiers, l'important c'est de savoir rebondir et d'être réactif lorsque celui-ci survient. Avec l'expérience, parfois les imprévus ont déjà été rencontré et peuvent être géré plus efficacement.

In some cases, if the design looks so terrible then you should negotiate with your client or team member. Tell them about the design, explain to them what's wrong with that design, and what changes should be so the design looks perfect. And always negotiate with clients before starting the project. Must consulting facts are, Budget, Design Theme, and Elements so there should be no confusion after completing the project.

One thing I've found helpful, is to come up with 3 versions to present to the client when you have to have a delay. This provides more variety for them to see what the final work could potentially be. Also when you ask for an extension it alleviates your stress making you work more efficiently and allow you to be more focused. This is true even if you work well under pressure.

It is very important to remember about reward for all hard work you did for the project. Make a post project review for yourself and see where you succeeded and where you need improvements, but remember about recognizing the work you did. After any project I've worked on - for 2-3 weeks after it's done I feel absolutely empty - it's time to recharge. Don't build unrealistic rewards for yourself. And you should be proud about what you did, right?)

Break down the work into smaller chunks. As each goal is achieved celebrate that and acknowledge it in some way. This helps keep your own mental health up and keeps your creativity in tact.

One thing I personally feel is getting the full picture and idea of what you are to deliver, there are some cases where you might think you know what the client want by some mere explanations sometimes that not enough as you might end up not meeting the client request, also walking client through the process from the start as this help in tackling revisions earlier than when revisions my feel impossible or looks more like you are starting over.

Maintain open and transparent communication with clients, stakeholders, or team members. Regularly update them on your progress, challenges faced & any adjustments to the timeline. make sure that everyone is on the same page and reduces the risk of surprises.

A frequent cause of delivering late is not having a common understanding of the requirements. Make sure the scope of the project, whether it’s a shot , image or software is well understood by all parties. Set the proper expectations and plan ahead to deliver on schedule.

Remember, the customer came to YOU! Value your own creativity while you visualize what the customer is asking for. More often than not, the reason the customer came to you is because they don't have the ability to even express exactly what they want BUT they will know it when they see it. This harkens back to communication tips and your initial and in-progress discussions.

Also, take in consideration system issues. The computer hard drive crashed again or the Server may be down. This requires time to reboot computer and hope for no lost files or missing data. So remember to save information frequently and create data back-ups.?