Dimension, DNEG 360 and Projectal: A Partnership Driving Efficiency and Creativity
(Article reproduced courtesy of beforesandafters.com, September 20, 2024)
In the dynamic world of virtual production, Dimension is continually striving to set new standards in efficiency and creativity.
When launching DNEG 360 earlier this year with world-leading visual entertainment services company DNEG, a key decision was choosing the tools to power the new partnership. The team aimed to streamline its projects, departments, and locations, focusing on what truly matters: delivering world-class creative content for their clients.
By choosing Projectal as their workflow platform, they were able to transform their operations and establish a unified source of truth for all their resourcing data and financial reporting.
Ramping Up with Projectal
With the launch of DNEG 360, the team faced the complex task of integrating the teams and processes from both DNEG and Dimension to build a world-class, cohesive virtual production studio.
Projectal played a pivotal role in this transition. With its robust set of features, Projectal allowed Dimension to quickly merge relevant business data from multiple sources, ensuring that everyone was aligned with the correct information and working towards common goals. The platform's intuitive interface, real-time visibility and powerful capabilities made it easy for the team to hit the ground running.
With a team of 200 working across many time zones and two major physical studios, the right tools empower the team to align requirements for production, artists, applied tech, on set teams and beyond. Using Projectal, Dimension has oversight of talent allocation and can clearly manage projects and work to exceed client expectations.
Projectal Becomes the Source of Truth
One of the key challenges in any creative business is maintaining a single source of truth for all data, allowing staff to understand the current state of play and make effective decisions day-to-day. Projectal excels in this area by centralizing information relevant to the management team. At Dimension, this centralization ensures that key stakeholders have access to the most up-to-date information, reducing the risk of miscommunication and errors. By dynamically pushing and pulling data to and from the various tools used by the team, Projectal streamlines workflows and enhances collaboration across departments.
Another important aspect of running creative studios is understanding current and future staffing needs. Traditionally, studios have relied on resourcing spreadsheets, which are inefficient and prone to errors. Today, Projectal’s AI-powered staff planning features enable Dimension to efficiently plan and schedule their production team onto client projects. This includes integrating staff bookings, tasks, activities, and holidays for complete visibility, as well as catering to the many bespoke needs of an end to end film studio, from development and pre-production, through the challenges of managing physical production to ultimately scheduling final pixel delivery. Live reports and analytics provide management with a comprehensive understanding of staffing requirements.
“We are incredibly pleased with how Projectal has matched our vision for creating a modern, streamlined workflow at Dimension,” said Zaira Brilhante, Head of Production at Dimension. “This allows our team to focus more on the creative aspects of our projects. As we grow the Dimension business, we are continually expanding our use of Projectal’s many features. The team behind Projectal have been brilliant in their support and have a refreshing open door policy to new ideas.”
“Often the key point of failure in business operations will center around communication. Projectal as a live source of truth - feeding all the way through our pipeline from business development to resource management, department planning, human resources and financial reporting - is a huge win in efficiency,” said Jo Manawa, Head of Operations.
Integrating Data from Two Companies
The integration of relevant data from both Dimension and DNEG was no small feat. Projectal acts as the central hub that brings together different systems and processes, creating a cohesive and efficient workflow. The platform’s flexibility allows Dimension to customize data fields and permissions, ensuring that sensitive information is protected while still being accessible to those who need it. This seamless integration allows the team to quickly access all the information and reports they need, enabling them to stay focused on their creative work instead of getting bogged down by administrative tasks.
Paul Schumann, CEO at JanusKS, developers of Projectal, said, “Our collaboration with Dimension highlights how Projectal benefits creative studios. Projectal’s flexibility has met all of Dimension’s requirements, creating a world-class workflow for their virtual production business. It matches our vision for Projectal to modernize and streamline the workflows of VFX studios, animation companies, game developers and other creative businesses worldwide.”
Driving Success & Innovation
The adoption of Projectal for Dimension has been a milestone in the team’s work towards creating a world class virtual production studio with efficient resource management. By providing a unified source of truth, integrating data from two companies, and leveraging AI to handle mundane tasks, Projectal has enabled Dimension to ramp up quickly and efficiently. As Dimension and DNEG 360 continue to push the boundaries of virtual production, Projectal remains an indispensable tool in their arsenal.
About Dimension and DNEG 360
Dimension offers real-time production for visionary storytellers. Working on blockbuster films, live events and immersive moonshots, the team is a creative partner for end-to-end virtual productions and advanced virtual humans. Dimension has the largest and most experienced real-time team outside of games in the world, with studios in the UK and USA, and the ability to operate globally. Dimension operates DNEG 360, a division of world-leading visual entertainment services company DNEG. Together, they provide filmmakers and content creators with a range of services including Visualisation, Virtual Production, Content Creation, and Development. The team offers clients a production partnership and a seamless transition through development, pre-production and virtual production into visual effects and post for feature film and episodic projects, advertising, music videos, live events and more.
Recent shows include Masters of the Air (January 2024), Avatar: The Last Airbender (January 2024), No Way Up (January 2024) Those About to Die (July 2024), Time Bandits (July 2024), Yo Gabba GabbaLand! and the forthcoming Here (November 2024).
About Projectal
Projectal is the leading project management and workflow platform for creative studios. Leveraging AI and machine learning, Projectal streamlines departments, locations, staff, and projects, eliminating the need for spreadsheets, off-the-shelf tools, and manual steps.
Projectal enhances how studios bid, budget, plan, schedule, track, and report on projects, ensuring the entire team works from the same real-time data. This alignment helps deliver projects on time and within budget.
Projectal is used by top creative businesses worldwide, including advertising agencies, animation companies, event and entertainment firms, game developers, sound studios, VFX studios, and virtual production teams. Projectal integrates seamlessly with tools like Shotgrid, ftrack, Kitsu, HR tools, and finance tools. Comprehensive developer API’s and documentation are available to connect and extend Projectal, fitting perfectly into any studio’s workflow.