Using Paymo (version 3 Beta) to manage my projects

         I have just discovered Paymo. Free (for one user) project management software. This application has been extremely helpful in organizing my time and even helps me invoice and track payments. Previously, I had been using Curdbee at aprox. $100 / year, which worked quite well, but did not have the in depth project tracking that Paymo does.

         It took me a while to set up, but once I got it set up, it allows me to run Paymo Widget and Paymo Plus, which are two little apps that run in the background. Paymo Widget is like a stop watch that allows me to define project,s and tasks for the projects, and log specific time to these tasks. Paymo Plus keeps a running detailed list of everything you do on your computer, that you can link to tasks. That way if you forgot to start the Paymo Widget for a task, you can go to Paymo Plus and assign performed tasks to projects, after the fact.

         You also get invoicing capabilities, as well as estimating, time sheets, reports, and much more. You can take a tour of all the capabilities of Paymo here. I do not work for, nor receive any compensation from Paymo. If you need more than one user, there is a fee. As you can see the free version only allows you to invoice one per month, but the paid version ($9.95/month) allows 30 invoices per month and 2 users.

         As a Freelancer, I rarely invoice more than 30 invoices per month, and I only need one user (myself). I hope this helps other freelancers organize their time and make the day to day record keeping much easier. As a creative, I like being able to simplify the record keeping and being able to spend more time on the creative process.

Automating the Freelance process with free tools

    I hate the task of running a business, so I am always on the search for free tools, like this blog software, and Gmail, and so many others that I use for my day to day business tasks. 

    For my estimates and billing I have been using Wave . Wave has been a great on-line (cloud based) tool that links to my bank accounts and tracks expenses. It comes in real handy at tax time. They even have a section to scan receipts, so it makes it super simple to keep track of business expenses. Just recently Wave added estimates and invoices, so I started using them to generate my estimates and invoices.

   Recently, I had a client that required detailed tracking, of my time, on a large multitask project. I did some research and found an cloud based application called Paymo . It does task tracking as well as estimates and invoices. It comes with a clock that floats on your desktop (MAC and PC), that allows you to enter new tasks and start a timer for that task. There are way more capabilities, but that is it in a nutshell. It tracks the tasks and applies them to projects, which are linked to my clients.

   Paymo is free for one user (perfect for a freelancer). It also supports on-line billing and estimates as well as time tracking report that your clients can see with an on-line link. I am going to adapt Paymo into my current business process. I don't want to stop using Wave because they have the receipt scanning feature, but I will start using Paymo for all my estimates and invoices, as it is much simpler, and more accurate.

   Running your business is one of those necessary evils, that get in the way of the fun stuff ... creating animation. I am always on the search for easier, and cheaper, ways to get the boring day to day paperwork done, so I can spend more time creating art for my clients. I hope this article helps other freelancers streamline their business paperwork and free up time for work or play. 

   Drop me an email if you found this info useful. I do not work for either Wave or Paymo. My opinions are my own, and not solicited.
   
   

A new scam aimed at creatives

I thought I had seen it all when it comes to scams. Since I live in South Florida, I get a front seat in the the scam market. I don't know why this area of the United States has more scams per square mile than any other area of the country, but it sure seems that way.

This one, that I fell for TWICE, is targeted at the freelance digital artist that is seeing tough times, like everyone else in the country. It starts out with a harmless add on Craig's List, in the help wanted section, advertising for a Photoshop artist, or After Effects guru, or even 3D animation artist.

I answered one ad for a Photoshop touch-up artist and here is how it went...

The "employer" contacted me via e-mail and requested quite a lot of information about myself and asked that I take part in a "test" of my Photoshop skills. The test was very specific and it involved creating an architectural image using several photos, that were provided. The finished image was to be uploaded to their site and would be judged to determine if I would be "approved" as a freelance artist for their company. I spent a solid two days , as the test was quite demanding, creating the final artwork.

As with all spec work, I added a watermark, which at the very least reminds the possible client where the finished artwork came from. This is something that I will ALWAYS do for all my spec work from now on. I suggest to any reader that they do the same, as the following events will show why.

A week later I get another e-mail stating that I had been selected from a huge number of entrants and I should be very proud. There was a small problem with my image, though, and a second trial will help qualify my entry. With this new test they were willing to "pay" me to take the second test. They would credit my PayPal account $100 for my troubles. This entry had to be submitted with no water mark, and all the source files should accompany the entry.

"Fair enough", I thought, until I saw the new "test". This test was much more involved than the last test, including putting together a scene from several location photos, and using my own stock images. The instructions came in a video that was just captured screen video with a rough voice recording that was tough to understand. I went ahead and took the challenge, spending a lot of time till it was perfect.

I sent in my entry. Sure enough, in a week I received an email that said I had been "accepted", along with a few other choice candidates, and would receive my $100 into my PayPal account. They also went on to say that the next step would be an on-line interview and I would be contacted to set up this interview in the near future.

Well, I did get the $100 in my PayPal account, minus the transaction fee. If I add up all the hours that I spent on the two "tests" it works out to be about $3.50 / hour. I never heard from these people again. I e-mailed them, asking about the interview, and I was told that I had been "approved" and I would be contacted soon.

I figured that maybe they were a start-up and things were not progressing as planned. I forgot about it and went on looking for work. I then came across another ad looking for After Effects artists for an outfit in New York that had a satellite office in South Florida (red flag). I sent off my resume and link to my website. The next day I was contacted by email to look on-line at their "test" to see if I qualified for the job. I was given a login and password to access the test. This time the company was not as smart as the previous company. The access to the website was given to all the "applicants" with the same login and password, so I could see all the other "applicants" uploads. I looked at some of the other submissions and thought I could do better.

I spent quite a bit of time trying different method of making fluid movement out of the still storyboard images that were provided. In all fairness, I did an "ok" job. It was still better than any of the other submissions that I looked at. The problem was that the stills were hand drawn images. I had the idea to use morphs to go from image to image to try and smooth out the animation. The morphs showed up the differences in the different cells of any particular character. In order for the animation to be smooth, the characters would have to be re-drawn, with 2D animation in mind.

After I submitted my entry, I never heard anything so I e-mailed them to please let me know what they though of my work. No reply. I sent another e-mail a week later saying that I would prefer a negative response to no response. Still no reply.

I have never had to take an on-line test to get work before, so I though it suspicious that this should happen, with the same results, twice in less than two months time. I decided to browse the internet and see if anyone else had experienced this sort of nonsense.

I found this link that describes an ad for freelance work, that is a little more blatant about the nature of the submissions. I like the author of the website link's reply.

It is a shame, during these tough times, that there are so many that will take advantage of people looking for work. To have a scam that is based on others misfortunes just seems to me to be just one step over the line. It takes scum to a new level.

Sorry that my latest Blog is a rant, but I feel I am doing good if I can help another freelance artist from falling for these sleazy tactics to get free artwork out of hard working artists.

Flame Off

The nuts and bolts of the 3D animation creative process

Whenever I quote a project, for one of my clients, I realize that not everyone knows the step by step procedure that goes into a 3D or 2D animation. I try to include a description of each process, in each quote, to help the client understand what is involved in their project. This is fine if all goes as originally planned, but what happens when my client's client changes the content in the middle of the project?

I use the script as a blueprint for the project. The script, or treatment, calls out the specifics of the work to be completed. If the script changes, so does the 2D and 3D work to be completed. In an effort to help my clients know what is involved, I will attempt to describe the process of 2D/3D animation from beginning to end.

Whenever possible, and if the budget allows, I create a storyboard for the animation section of the script or treatment, along with the quote. This would involve rough sketches of key moments within the entire animation sequence. Any specific requirements, such as green/blue screen footage, product samples, voice over tracks, etc. would be spelled out in the quote.

Once the quote and storyboard are approved, and all the require materials are made available to me, I begin the 3D modeling process. I take reference photos of the object that I need to model, and in some cases actually use the photographs to create the model. The complexity of the 3D modeling process is defined by the complexity of the surface of the object to be modeled.

With the 3D model completed, color surface materials and textures are applied to the model to give it more realism. Any background objects are created in the same manner. If the animation needs to match footage, I can then import that footage into the the 3D animation program to determine the placement of the 3D objects in relation to the footage. If the movement of the 3D object needs to match an audio track, that audio track would now be imported into the 3D animation program.

Now the motion of the 3D objects is created based on the background image or an audio track. That motion can be previewed in a low resolution format. At this point these low resolution previews can be sent to the client for feedback. Any changes to color, motion, shape, etc. can be made and another low resolution preview can be generated and sent to the client for final approval.

Once the previews have been approved, a full resolution render is created. A render is the process of creating all the individual frames of animation (for video it is 30 frames per second) at the full resolution of the final product. Now that we have HDTV, resolution can be much higher than in the past, with standard television broadcast resolution. If the rendered images need to be composited with footage or special effects, this is done in Adobe After Effects. One of the techniques that I use to enhance the compositing process, is to render separate passes for shadows, reflections, highlights, ambient occlusion, etc. This gives me much more control in the final composited animation. I can adjust the shadows, highlights, etc. to fine tune the overall look of the animation. At this point I can add particle effects using a separate particle animation program. Particles can be generated in the 3D program, as well, but that is more complicated and is only necessary is the particle need to physically interact with the 3D objects.

Once the final animation is ready, I upload it to my FTP, where I have given my client a login and password, so they may download the footage into their editing software.

So that is the basic nuts and bolts of creating 2D and 3D animation. I hope I have given a better understanding of the process to my clients. If anyone has any specific questions, just shoot me an e-mail. I am always happy to answer any questions.

The state of 3D animation freelance work

Hello fellow 3D freelance animators,

As of this writing, the economy has hit most Americans very hard. This tends to bring out the worst players in business. A false perception of being "cut-throat" as the way to survive these hard times, can damage a companies reputation, in the long run. Some of these "cut-throat" tactics are ways to avoid paying for work done. The responsibility is on us freelancers to protect ourselves from being a victim of these unsavory business tactics.

On of the most common tactics is for a company to "lose" the invoice. This requires you to re-submit your invoice and wait an even longer period, than 30 days, to be paid. This costs you money. It is imperative to make sure that you get the invoice to the right party and confirm that they have received it, just a few days after issuing the invoice. Do not wait until the invoice is due to find out that the accounts payable clerk does not have your invoice.

Be sure to charge a deposit (one third of the total project estimate), a progress payment (another third of the total estimate), and have the final payment due upon delivery. Not all companies will agree to these payment terms, but it is essential that to make all efforts to establish this payment structure, especially if you have never dealt with your client, before.

Create your estimates so that they are tied to the script, or treatment. Be specific that the estimate relies on the script, or treatment, to not change. If the script, or treatment does change, after the estimate has been submitted, then extra charges will apply. Put this in plain text right on your estimate. I always allow a maximum of three "adjustments" to my projects. I define "adjustments" as client requested changes, to the animation, that do not change the content, but are things such as color changes, font styles, timing, etc. If they are content changes they must be items that I did not correctly represent according to the script, or treatment. After the three changes, extra charges do apply. This is important to declare on your estimates. It is in place for that client that keeps changing their mind on color, styles, etc. I'm sure I don't have to elaborate on this scenario.

Finally, getting new business is a long term investment. I join on-line discussion groups, and attend meeting of groups that my clients typically attend. This varies for the type of clients that you will gather, but try to target like minded clients to keep your target client to a manageable level. You don't want to spread yourself so thin that you are not doing an effective job of promoting yourself. I tend to go toward direct marketing as I have most of my clients in this field and I have a good feel for that industry. I also try to target inventors, but I am finding that market hard to penetrate. Not many inventors have the capitol necessary to flesh out a presentation of the "virtual" product using 3D animation. These tend to be long term projects as the "product" is undergoing a constant change as it is being developed. Many inventors, once they actually "see" their product in 3D, will make changes to it based on what they see in the 3D animation. 3D animation actually ends up being a design tool in the invention process.

I hope this helps my fellow 3D animators. Please do not hesitate to contact me with suggestions and/or comments.