Powering Up CGI with Scrum Teams
Iaina Estrela
Check out this really cool blog by Iaina Estrela.
Its a very interesting example of how using Agile methodologies in Computer-generated imagery (CGI) can improve performance and reduce inefficiencies.
Since I started working in the CGI industry (Computer-Generated Imagery) as a texture artist the people sitting around me always had the same specialty as me. All texture artists together, side by side. We would talk and help each other with reviews and tools, but in my first project, the person I talked the most to was a modeler who had to frequently amend his work before I could start mine.
In the second project I worked on, the person with who I had the most contact was a groomer (in case you are not from the CGI world, groomers are specialists in creating hair and fur). We were sitting back to back in the studio and we had to talk all day. We were working on the same characters attached at the hip to deliver the requests from the art direction. I still had the other texture artists around me, but other than sharing new knowledge and random coffee time chats, we would not have many interactions.
Things changed when the entire department was moved to a different workspace. Now we were sitting next to the lighting team (lighting and texturing affect each other a lot), and a constant share of knowledge started to happen. They would show us how to optimize the work and we would give feedback to each other to achieve the visuals for the projects. Very quickly I knew who to go to for specific questions and that we could support each other’s work and communicate on a daily basis.
It was not until I started studying Agile that I noticed what was happening. I was looking for people who could complement my skills instead of someone who has the same skill set, same perspective, and knowledge gaps as me.
From that day on my communication focus changed from looking for support inside my team to reaching out for modelers, riggers, or lighters for an outside perspective of the problems before calling a coordinator or CG supervisor.
When you are not familiar with an issue the natural action is to go to the most senior artist. I’ve frequently seen the CG supervisor be the busiest artist on the floor working more like a firefighter to solve everyone’s problem instead of spending time supervising and supporting the teams. Situations like this could be avoided if the issue could be addressed to the correct person before the next step gets triggered. That is when an Agile mindset comes in handy.
Instead of blocking the production in a Fordism style linear waterfall workflow, organizing people by their skill sets in groups of multidisciplinary knowledge allows your team to complete a task from start to end in a collaborative way. It also gives them the resources to overcome obstacles and brainstorm solutions for daily challenges before calling a department lead or a supervisor.
This approach can also ease the production responsibility and optimize time. In the waterfall model, the production manager or coordinator is responsible for the communication between the departments. They have to take note of every issue that happens, ensure communication, and feedback. Production micromanaging can be avoided if the artists could have direct contact with each other and self-managing skills.
In a Scrum framework, the responsibility of the task accomplishment and quality belongs to the group. Republishing tasks, quality checks, cleanups, small amends, and many other tasks can be completed in hours instead of days with effective communication inside the team supported by Scrum Events inside the Sprint.
Sprint Planning
At Sprint Planning the entire development team would be aware of what assets and tasks have to be completed during the Sprint and have the opportunity to self-organize and plan how to complete them. This is also the opportunity for the team to talk to the Product Owner (that used to be the project coordinator) about delivery times, priorities, and question if a task is really ready to start. This way the team supports the Product Owner to manage the priorities and schedule of the project.
Daily Scrums
At the Daily Scrums, 15 minutes every day, the Team Members can share their progress, express any concerns with the rest of the team, ask if anyone has a suggestion of how to overcome a problem they might be dealing with. This is not a time for long discussions about how to solve a problem, but a place to keep everyone aware of the development. If anyone needs further conversions they can meet outside the Daily Scrum with the people interested in the subject. Those meetings are overlooked by a Scrum Master. He is there to facilitate the meeting, help the team to self-organize, and resolve any blockers the team might encounter.
Sprint Review
At the end of a Sprint, we have the Sprint Review. It is an event with the entire Scrum Team plus Stakeholders ( for example CG supervisor, art director, director, departments supervision) to review the increments (assets, shots, etc) completed during a Sprint. Everyone involved will be able to see what was accomplished, what did, and did not reach the result desired, and will be able to gather feedback on the delivered work.
To avoid a conflict of opinions during reviews is why the Scrum framework has the concept of Definition of Done, which is an acceptance criterion for something to be considered complete. The Definition of Done is created by the Scrum Team and improved when necessary to keep the objective clear to everyone. For example, an asset to meet the Definition of Done needs to be model, texture, shaded, and rigged, with a turntable render under approved lighting and tested by an animator.
Sprint Retrospective
The last event of the Sprint is the Scrum Retrospective. It is an opportunity for the team to look at their own processes and results to discuss what can be improved. Guided by the Scrum Master the team analyses the dynamics noting the strong points that should be maintained, the weak ones that need to be improved, and draw a plan of how to implement at least one of the topics debated on the next Sprint. In this opportunity, teams can come to a conclusion of the best way to deal with long-lasting debates like who should be doing the UV´s or who republish the asset, and find the way that best works for them.
3D work is not a straightforward task like adding a screw to a box. To be a good artist you need to understand the entire process you are part of. Modelers need to know a bit about rigging to supply them with the correct amount of geometry on a model. Texturing has to understand a bit about lighting to create proper texture maps. The knowledge overlaps much more when we are talking about the game industry where many times the modeler is also the texture artist and the rigger.
To be a good specialist you need to know how your work affects downstream. In the current pipeline model, these effects aren’t seen. It is not possible to create better work for each other if we are talking with people that have the same problems and knowledge gaps as us.
When dividing your teams you have to balance human outsource based on the final product. If you have a project that is a long and time-consuming modeling process you might consider more texture artists on each team. If you have a new junior artist you want to assign him/her to a team that has someone more experienced that can support this person. Maybe you have one artist that is a modeler but also has strong rigging skills, then maybe only one rigger is what you need instead of 2. It is important to evaluate with your team the skills available and add people that can always complement and balance the knowledge and capacity to deliver implements. Too many or too few of the same skill set can compromise the effectiveness of communication, collaboration, and cross-functionality.
One thing to be avoided is a constant change of team members. A Scrum Team needs time to perform its fullest but in reality, artists are contracted by project/product and people often move to new studios which will make the team member eventually be substituted. That is not an issue, but it needs the comprehension that a change in the team dynamic affects their process and can slow down their productivity until the new member is fully integrated. It is important to interfere as little as possible and have a supportive Scrum Master to guide the team through changes and get them back performing as soon as possible.
The Scrum framework leans towards the disappearance of leadership and leans towards having teams and team members with equal importance in the process. As a visual media, the product results need a consistency that can not be achieved with multiple groups working independently with whatever parameters they want. For keeping the visual consistent it is important to have effective Sprint Reviews with constructive feedback from Stakeholders to keep all the teams aligned.
The framework does not exclude the possibility of having department leads, and that is another way to keep the delivery of all teams uniform. They can be the company reference for decisions on a larger scale, provide counseling and documentation for the processes for each specific skill involved in the production. The department lead should have a periodic meeting with all members of his department spread around the Scrum teams to gather feedback, listen about what is working and what are the problems, communicate changes in the production and new guidelines adopted. In my experience, a regular department meeting was also a good opportunity to let the team show some of their work and share new things learned while making the experiences travel across teams.
Getting everyone in a multidisciplinary team encourages people to show how the other disciplines affect them. That can cause some conflicts and disagreements but that is also part of finding the better solutions, learning from it, and promoting respect for each other’s work.
With a change of perspective on team structures, a CGI production can get better results from their artists without overloading them, ease the tasks of production coordinators and at the same time incentivize everyone’s personal growth.
I look forward to when VFX or animation studios will give a true try to a work environment based on the Scrum values of courage, commitment, openness, focus, and respect.
Article by Iaina Estrela
Revision by Joanna Koprowicz
