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Overview

Tracking production progress is essential for hitting deadlines and maintaining quality. Kitsu provides multiple views and tools to monitor status, identify issues early, and make data-driven decisions.

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Production Dashboard

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Accessing Production Overview

Navigate to your production from the main menu to access:
  • Assets: All production assets organized by type
  • Shots: Shot breakdown by sequence and episode
  • Task Status: Visual grid showing completion across task types
  • Statistics: Production-wide metrics and progress

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Task Status Grid

The main assets and shots pages display a grid where:
  • Rows = Individual assets/shots
  • Columns = Task types (Modeling, Rigging, Animation, etc.)
  • Cells = Status color for each task
Color Coding:
  • Gray: Not started / Todo
  • Blue: Work in progress
  • Purple: Waiting for approval / Pending
  • Orange: Retake needed
  • Green: Approved / Complete
  • Red: Blocked / Issues
Get a quick production overview by scanning the color grid. Lots of gray means work hasn’t started; lots of orange means issues need addressing.

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Filtering and Views

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Production Filters

Narrow your view with filters:
  • By Asset Type: Props, Characters, Environments, etc.
  • By Episode: For episodic productions
  • By Sequence: Group shots logically
  • By Task Status: Show only specific statuses
  • By Assignee: See work for specific artists

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Search Functionality

Quickly find specific items:
  • Search by name (asset/shot code)
  • Filter by metadata (complexity, priority, etc.)
  • Combine filters for precise queries
  • Save custom searches for reuse

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Column Visibility

Customize which task columns you see:
  1. Click the column visibility menu
  2. Toggle task types on/off
  3. Focus on your department’s tasks
  4. Adjust based on production phase

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Progress Statistics

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Entity-Level Stats

At the top of asset/shot pages, see:
  • Total entities: Count of assets or shots
  • Completion percentage: Overall progress
  • Task counts by status
  • Estimated vs. actual time

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Task-Level Breakdown

For each task type column:
  • Click the column header
  • View statistics modal
  • See status distribution
  • Track approval rates

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Production Metrics

Access detailed analytics:
  • Quota page: Daily/weekly completion rates
  • Time spent: Aggregated hours by task type
  • Estimation accuracy: Planned vs. actual
  • Bottleneck identification: Tasks taking longest
Production metrics help you spot trends, like consistently underestimated task types or departments running behind.

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Tracking by Task Type

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Department Progress

Monitor progress for your specific area:
  1. Filter to your task type (e.g., Animation)
  2. Review status distribution
  3. Identify tasks needing attention
  4. Check for overdue items

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Task Status Breakdown

For your task type, track:
  • Not started: How much work is queued
  • In progress: Currently active tasks
  • Pending review: Your review queue
  • Retakes: Issues to follow up on
  • Approved: Completed work

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Common Patterns to Watch

Red Flags:
  • Many tasks stuck in retake status
  • Low approval rate (lots of iterations)
  • Tasks not progressing over time
  • Overdue tasks piling up
Green Lights:
  • Steady progression through statuses
  • High first-pass approval rate
  • Tasks completing on or ahead of schedule
  • Balanced workload across artists

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Schedule Management

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Viewing Schedules

Access the Schedule page to see:
  • Gantt-style timeline view
  • Tasks plotted by start and due dates
  • Dependencies between tasks
  • Milestones and deadlines

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Schedule Types

Kitsu supports different schedule views:
  1. Main Schedule: Production-wide timeline
  2. Asset Type Schedules: Modeling, rigging, etc.
  3. Sequence Schedules: Shot progression
  4. Department Schedules: Team-specific views

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Schedule Items

Each schedule item shows:
  • Task type and entity
  • Planned duration (from estimation)
  • Start and end dates
  • Current status
  • Assignee(s)

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Identifying Schedule Issues

Look for:
  • Red bars: Overdue tasks
  • Compressed timelines: Insufficient time for quality work
  • Gaps: Idle time or missing assignments
  • Conflicts: Overlapping critical tasks
Tasks showing as overdue need immediate attention. Review with the assigned artist and adjust deadlines or resources as needed.

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Milestones

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What Are Milestones?

Milestones mark important production dates:
  • Client review deadlines
  • Delivery dates
  • Production phase transitions
  • Internal review checkpoints

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Creating Milestones

1

Go to Schedule page

Access the production schedule view
2

Click Add Milestone

Opens the milestone creation form
3

Set milestone details

  • Name (e.g., “Client Review #1”)
  • Date
  • Description
4

Save

Milestone appears on schedule timeline

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Tracking to Milestones

Use milestones to:
  • Plan backwards from deadlines
  • Ensure tasks complete before milestone dates
  • Communicate progress to stakeholders
  • Identify at-risk deliverables

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Using All Tasks View

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Supervisor Task Overview

Go to All Tasks from the main navigation:
  • See tasks across all productions
  • Filter by production, task type, status
  • View your team’s entire workload
  • Identify tasks needing your review

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Sorting Options

Sort tasks by:
  • Priority: Address high-priority work first
  • Due date: Focus on upcoming deadlines
  • Start date: Plan task sequencing
  • Status: Group by approval needs
  • Last comment: Find recently updated tasks
  • Estimation: Identify large/small tasks

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Custom Queries

Create saved searches for:
  • “Waiting for my approval”
  • “Overdue in my department”
  • “High priority this week”
  • “Retakes needing follow-up”
Access these quickly from the search dropdown.

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Quota Tracking

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What Is Quota?

Quota represents expected task completion rates:
  • Tasks per day/week/month
  • Compared to actual completions
  • Shows team velocity
  • Helps forecast delivery dates

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Accessing Quota Page

From your production menu:
  1. Select Quota
  2. Choose date range (daily, weekly, monthly)
  3. View completion charts
  4. Compare to targets

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Quota Metrics

The quota page shows:
  • Target: Expected completions
  • Actual: Tasks completed
  • Variance: Ahead or behind schedule
  • Trends: Performance over time
  • By task type: Department breakdowns

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Using Quota Data

Quota helps you:
  • Forecast delivery dates based on current velocity
  • Identify if team needs more resources
  • Spot productivity trends (improving or declining)
  • Set realistic expectations with production
If quota shows consistent under-delivery, investigate root causes: Are estimations too optimistic? Is the team size adequate? Are there blockers?

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Time Tracking Analysis

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Team Timesheets

Access the Timesheets page to review:
  • Time logged by all team members
  • Daily, weekly, monthly views
  • Breakdown by production and task type
  • Compare estimated vs. actual hours

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Identifying Estimation Issues

Look for patterns:
  • Consistently over: Tasks taking much longer than estimated
  • Consistently under: Estimations are too conservative
  • High variance: Inconsistent scoping

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Capacity Planning

Use timesheet data to:
  • Calculate available team hours
  • Estimate completion dates
  • Identify overallocation
  • Plan future assignments
Example: 
Team size: 5 artists
Available hours/week: 40 hours × 5 = 200 hours
Remaining task estimations: 800 hours
Estimated completion: 4 weeks

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Identifying Bottlenecks

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Common Bottleneck Signs

  1. Tasks stuck in same status for extended periods
  2. Reviewer backlog: Many tasks waiting for approval
  3. Dependency chains: One delayed task blocking many others
  4. Resource constraints: Same person assigned to too many tasks
  5. Technical issues: Repeated retakes for same reason

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Resolving Bottlenecks

  • Dedicate time for reviews daily
  • Delegate review authority when possible
  • Use batch review workflows
  • Communicate expected review turnaround
  • Identify critical path tasks
  • Prioritize blocking work
  • Consider parallel workflows
  • Communicate dependencies clearly
  • Redistribute tasks
  • Bring in additional help
  • Reduce scope if possible
  • Adjust deadlines
  • Identify recurring issues
  • Provide training or documentation
  • Improve tools or pipelines
  • Clarify standards and expectations

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Reporting

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Production Reports

Generate reports for:
  • Status reports: Current state of all tasks
  • Progress reports: Completion over time
  • Time reports: Hours logged vs. estimated
  • Team reports: Individual artist productivity

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Export Options

Export data as:
  • CSV: For spreadsheet analysis
  • PDF: For presentation to stakeholders
  • Screenshots: Visual status snapshots
Access exports from:
  • Assets/Shots pages (export icon)
  • Timesheets page
  • Quota page
  • Custom reports

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Stakeholder Communication

Use reports to:
  • Update production management
  • Communicate with clients
  • Track against contracts
  • Document production progress

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Daily Supervisor Workflow

Recommended daily routine:
1

Morning: Check overnight progress

  • Review task status changes
  • Check completed work
  • Read team comments
2

Plan the day

  • Prioritize review queue
  • Identify urgent tasks
  • Check for blockers
3

Review submissions

  • Approve or provide feedback
  • Communicate clearly and promptly
  • Update task statuses
4

Monitor progress

  • Check schedule adherence
  • Review quota numbers
  • Identify any issues
5

Support team

  • Answer questions
  • Unblock artists
  • Assign new work
6

End of day: Plan tomorrow

  • Review upcoming deadlines
  • Prepare assignments
  • Note any concerns

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Best Practices

1

Check status daily

Regular monitoring prevents surprises
2

Use multiple views

Grid, schedule, quota - each provides different insights
3

Track trends, not just snapshots

Look at progress over time, not just current state
4

Communicate proactively

Share status with production and escalate issues early
5

Adjust estimates

Use actual data to improve future estimates
6

Focus on bottlenecks

Address blockers before they cascade
7

Celebrate progress

Recognize milestones and good work

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Advanced Features

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Custom Columns

Add metadata columns to track:
  • Complexity rating
  • Client priority
  • Character/location tags
  • Custom production needs
Filter and sort by these fields.

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Task Dependencies

Some installations support task dependencies:
  • Define which tasks must complete before others
  • Visualize dependency chains
  • Auto-update statuses based on dependencies

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Automated Reports

Set up automated reporting:
  • Daily status emails
  • Weekly progress summaries
  • Overdue task alerts
  • Milestone reminders

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Next Steps

Reviewing Work

Review and approve artist submissions effectively

Team Management

Assign tasks and manage your team’s workload

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