Neoscape

NEOSCAPE  Workflow Discovery, Analysis and Recommendations

CONTENTS Introduction Discovery Key Takeaways Existing Workflow Key Workflow Takeaways Recommendations Proposed Workflow Maximize Productivity with Shotgun Consolidate Creative Finishing in Flame INTRODUCTION Neoscape is a creative agency headquartered in Boston focusing on strategy, branding and visualization with a strong history in architectural projects. Using design data to previsualize their clients creations, Neoscape uses all the latest film-making, animation, and AR/VR technologies. Neoscape is seeking to continue their success by delivering even higher quality deliverables to more clients. This growth requires finding ways to not only grow their team's capabilities, but keep their existing team running smoothly and as efficiently as possible.

DISCOVERY We visited Neoscape in person and online, meeting with various teams to learn about their daily operations. We were struck by some of the recurring themes related to growth challenges revolving around your creative teams. These challenges ranged from the difficulty in finding new artists with the skill level required, to keeping your existing 'superstars' engaged and challenged without being overworked. When you are in a market without a large pool of talented resources scaling can be difficult. Getting the best of your available in-house team and finding ways to tap into more talent will be critical as you continue to grow. Another repeated concern was client experience. Neoscape has a reputation of getting it done. Finding ways to speed up and improve the client feedback cycle will help maximize your output at the quality levels Neoscape is known for. KEY TAKEAWAYS PRODUCTIVITY WIN MORE PROJECTS BUILD AND MAINTAIN BEST IN CLASS TEAM Fixed deadlines can lead “Is the client happy with the to overtime work?” Artists see tasks/notes Complexity with off-the- “Are we happy with the work?” without context shelf solutions “How did we perform on the Time wasted on obsolete Lack of repeatable project?” tasks templated workflows Leveraging remote teams Improve inter-team communication Needs: Maximize talent resources Improve client experience Maximize artist engagement

Continue improving deliverables

EXISTING WORKFLOW KEY WORKFLOW TAKEAWAYS Review Tracking and Scheduling Multiple team coordination required before delivering review Tasks managed manually in Google Feedback cycle depends on email and client spreadsheets (legibility & accuracy issues) tool choice Artists scheduling exists across multiple Notes don't live in single point of reference tools Artists don't see notes in context Communication often depends on verbal Review presentation requires several tools interaction Premiere, Nuke, Resolve, After Effects for 3d Assets are tracked manually assembly Interteam dependencies difficult to keep in sync

It’s a familiar problem at most studios: Producers spend too much time organizing (and xing) spreadsheets by hand. Emails get lost or delayed. Artists find themselves working on outdated requests.

RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Structure production tracking, communication and review workflows around Shotgun 1. Begin with refining templates to address pilot project discoveries 2. Multi-stage rollout of custom pages and template to include additional departments 2. Incorporate Flame as single solution for all compositing, grading & finishing 1. Schedule initial demonstration of Flame creative tools and workflow management features 2. Schedule on-boarding assistance to Neoscape and assist in adapting current workflow to Flame 2019 PROPOSED WORKFLOW

MAXIMIZE PRODUCTIVITY WITH SHOTGUN it can take an average of 23 minutes to get 100% back “in ow” after an interruption.* Task-switching is one of the biggest productivity killers encountered by studios — because at 23 minutes, all it takes is three emails, meetings, or le searches to drain an hour from the balance sheet. *The Cost of Interrupted Work, UC Irvine Department of Informatics – 2008 Research Study Let Shotgun keep track of the tasks, notes and files and present them directly inside 3dsMax or

Photoshop with the in-app integrations including the Shotgun Panel, and Publisher and Loader. 88% of all spreadsheets have errors.* Producers and Directors at Neoscape spend too much time organizing (and fixing) spreadsheets by hand. Emails get lost or delayed, wasting multiple artists’ time on back-and forth exchanges. G etting by with consumer tools forces the use of tools that are simply not made for the job — and leads to mistakes, delays, and (expensive) idle resources. * Financial modeling firm F1F9, in a 2008 analysis of multiple studies Shotgun, the production tracking toolset made for creative productivity, optimizes resources by keeping all stakeholders, everywhere, in sync with the information they need – and reporting on it all. Shotgun will give Neoscape managers and executives deeper understanding of the data through analytics provided by our Production Insights.

CONSOLIDATE CREATIVE FINISHING IN FLAME Autodesk Flame software for conform, 2d and 3d compositing, and finishing can come in at crunch time, client review phases, or any time, while the rest of your VFX shots keep going. With no long rendering times, making finishing touches on the fly, and even with the client watching, your artists can deliver a beautiful project fast, without compromise. Flame 2019 has introduced an entirely new integrated color grading and VFX toolset, building on the legendary Lustre toolset used to create Oscar winning films year after year. Flames ability to manage shot versions on the timeline alongside the Shotgun integration streamlines the delivery of your creations while greatly reducing repetitive manual tasks. “We're much faster and more efficient using Flame as the main hub, while working on individual shots in other, shot-based software ” – Sam Hencher, Chimney Group