Applications for Collaboration

When it comes to working in a team based project I think there is a big problem in that while working not everyone is together at the same time. For example, on a day when we are not in uni we may be working on the animatic but are not sure of something, if we were to stop in till the next time we meet in uni the project would fall far behind and then not get finished in time.

Here I will look at a few options that may help in team based projects.

E-Mail is a great tool to use as it allows you to send messages which will be delivered instantly and then the other person can read it next time they check there e-mails. You also get the option to upload files as attachments that the other person can then download and view on there computer, some email services however have small size restriction on what you can attach, a simple alternative to this though is to upload the file to a separate file hosting site such as rapidshare.com, yousendit.com or one of the many others and let the recipient know the web address for the file. If the uploaded file is still to large it is possible to split the file into parts using a program such as WinRAR.

If another member of the group is online the same time as you e-mail is a bit of an inconvenient way to communicate, it would be much better to use an instant messenger. Looking at instant messengers you see that there are many options, all do the same basic thing though and that is to send and receive messages instantly in the one window as if having a conversation. Another plus is the possibility to have more than one person in a conversation so the whole team can know what is being said, unlike e-mail where two people may reply to the first email with the same thing because they don't know the other is doing it, an instant messenger just makes it more easy and less time consuming. Like e-mail as well you can sent files between contacts but without an size limit. With free open source software it is also possible to connect to the different MSN, AIM, Yahoo ect. Networks with one simple program such as Miranda IM, using the one simple client to connect to the different networks means there's no need to install a load of different applications just to talk to one person on each, it also cuts down and frees up resources that other programs can use.

Another program I want to mention is Skype, like the previous examples it is free to download and use and is a great program to use in a situation like this. The main purpose of Skype is to allow free phone calls between two or more computers, where ever they are in the world. Although many instant messengers can now let you voice chat through them Skype was build for this. The advantage of talking instead of typing, apart from the more personal approach is that you can continue doing your work while talking about the project instead of been distracted having to switch to the messenger window all the time. One of the main reasons I chose to mention Skype was because of a plug-in for it called “Yugma” and what this plug-in does is that it lets you share your desktop or applications with other users over Skype. So if for example you want to show someone what your working on or explain to them what they should be doing, you can launch this plugin and they see an exact copy of what is happening on your screen or what is happening in an application. It is also possible to let them take control of your mouse and keyboard over the network so they may explain to you what your doing right or wrong, this does require a paid subscription though.

One last thing i think I should talk about is a service called Basecamp. Basically Basecamp lets you manage a project all in one centralized place which would be really helpful on the final animatic. With Basecamp we can plan out the whole project and each of us will be able to access it and edit it. It has to-do lists to keep us on track and when that thing is done we just submit it to the site so everyone can see it then tick it off. We can all communicate through the site. Like this blog we could post a comment then others can comment back on it keeping all the communication in one place and no one is left out. Theres an option to have a complete overview of the poject so we can see what has been done and more importantly what still needs to be done. Plus many more that could help keep us on time and doing the correct thing. The only downside is that Basecamp costs money as you are using there service and there hosting, there are free alternatives however and all you need is some hosting to host the application then you can use it for free.

These are just some examples of applications and services that we can use though the project and all are free or have free alternatives, plus as an added bonus there's something that will on Windows, Mac and Linux operating services so no one is left out or having to install a different operating system.