As in any endeavor there are always learning points. Here is what we have learned from our experiences in the creation of the "Doc Beardsley Presents..." interactive show:
- When working with outside help
- Be aware of the levels of commitment of everyone involved.
- Keep good lines communication with all involved parties
There were a variety of individuals and groups involved in the creation of this show and all of there help was greatly appreciated, but not everyone had the same level of commitment. The work of the Art Institute students was purely volunteer work and while every bit helped, we realized that it was unfair and unreasonable to expect and count on them to put in as much time as they did. In the future, joint ventures such as this should be structured in the form of a regulated class and not a volunteer workshop.
We found that weekly progress updates and involving the outsourced help in the design of the entire show was extremely helpful in not only keeping their projects on schedule but also in maintaining a consistent theme for the project. - When Art and Technology meet
- Keep both the art and technology sides of the project abreast of each other's work.
- When working with $
- Keep a constant vigil over spending
- When working under time constraints
- Make a schedule and stick to it.
Schedules are not only good but necessary, and what is even more important than making them is sticking to them. Being realistic in setting goals tended to be a reoccurring challenge, but because we broke the project down into subgoals we did manage to complete a large majority of our initial goals to a good degree of satisfaction. - Design for 10 weeks when you have 14.
At the end of every project comes a crunch time and often testing can be over looked. Just as design, development, and production are built into the schedule, so must testing if the goal is to produce a functional and polished product.
In this project there art and technology started out together and then went off on their own track to eventually reunite in the end. This reintegration was challenging and we suspect that it may have been smoother if both the technology and art sides had kept in better contact throughout the project.
We managed to remain under budget but we know that we could have benfitted from keeping an even closer watch on how and what we were spending our budget on. One thing we did do well, and should be sure to repeat was determining before hand on what and how much we intended to spend the budget.
The Interactive Animatronics Initiative (IAI) is a joint initiative between the Field Robotics Center (FRC) and the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Technology Center (c) 2001