Project management to save my life

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#1

Hi Guys

I search for a standalone software that helps me to manage and sort a project I need to do because my situation is extremely bad and needs to get better, not just for me.

I search for a visual approach like a flow chart where I have every data in immediate reach, Where I can see notes and images and the dependencies between them, where I can rearrange the flow of data.

I definitely need some support to not feel lost in the mass of data and decisions. I like to see everything at once in a structured way, like a smart OOPS-Schematic (the old farts will remember)

Any suggestions. Did you come across anything like that?

Cheers
Haunt

This title should read “Project management software” but one just can’t edit titles, for whatever reason (:

#2

Hi, if you meant Blender projects take a look at Blender Aid, Sintel was made with it.
It is not like OOPS-Schematic but you have a good overview about files, images and linked libs.

http://www.atmind.nl/?p=47

Cheers, mib.

#3

Hm, this is an interesting link. I knew about subversion, but not that one.

Blender will play the biggest role in this once I start, so, this might come in handy, but right now it’s more about having the best overview on how to condense everything into a five minute video, planning steps to take etc. I like to have the data in my face. That’s why I loved the Blender Interface best when nothing was collapsible. If my printer was working, I might just use the biggest wall in my apartment and dozens of postits and strings, but that’s not really an option.

Project Management doesn’t seem to be such a hot topic in here.

Getting things done is a nice concept, but I haven’t found a version that handle’s dependencies.

I wouldn’t be surprised if one could torture the node editor to function as a flow chart. Only problem is that I need a faster solution than to hack this myself.

Cheers
Haunt

#4

Would mind-mapping software be any help? I use FreeMindfrequently to keep projects organized. Sounds like what you are looking for is called Critical Path Method or PERT diagrams.

#5

Hm, Freemind led me to Xmind. I’ll crosstest both. This thread starts to become a treasure chest. Thanks, guys.

Btw, I tried Taskjuggler a few times. While it’s fascinating to program a project, it’s also a bit cumbersome and I never got to arrange stuff properly. Probably just a lack of educatiion, though.

Darn, I miss my 19" screen. An Eeepc is kinda crammed nowadays (: Especially for mindmaps. Anyway, it’s possible to move forward and that’s good enough.

#6

Using Critical Path Method to manage a project is a skill, just like using a 3D modeling program to build an animate-able mesh is a skill. Task Juggler’s claim that “It usually takes no more than 2 to 3 hours to get productive with TaskJuggler” I think assumes that you already know what you are doing regarding CPM, and the two to three hours is the time to figure out how to use the software. Engineering Universities offer semester long courses in Critical Path Method and PERT. It’s cumbersome, but managing a big project with a lot of dependencies and variable costs is cumbersome. Comes with the territory.

#7

Quite true.

With task juggler as with Blender, the problem is mostly not the software, but the documentation. Sure you can have your first TJ project within half an hour, but then all the trouble begins because every next thing you want to implement takes roughly 15 to 40 minutes to find out how. Taskjuggler seems to be powerful, but I wasn’t strong enough to find a solution for everything. And the way the commands are presented is the same as our Python API. By Coders for coders, which creates an unnecessary threshold. And the coders don’t notice because they ‘see’ that this is obviously good documentation and hey, any other coder would easily understand this.

Programming a solution myself would be more fun. If Blender had the flexibility in the interface, I’d have done it already.

I actually like Getting things Done a lot. I just haven’t found a software yet that uses this method AND easily manages dependencies. If you don’t need dependencies, Thinking Rock is very nice.

I filled Xmind yesterday and it looks like it’s doing a good job, although I have to check if it can handle crosslinks. Sometimes a child could use several parents.

Another problem I run into is when I have areas I identify as being personal as well as financial. So sometimes having a topic in two places at once would be nice.