TAG | Developers Handbook | Production Department Setup |

Here's a list of approximate amounts of increase in productivity each of these positions contribute to the productivity of the multimedia developer.

Another Multimedia Developer	100%
Multimedia Specialist	100%
Audio/Video Technician	80%
Computer Graphics Specialist	80%
Audio/Video Intern	35%
Computer Graphics Intern	35%
Student Worker	30%

For example, having a Multimedia Specialist will double the number of projects completed but with only 65% of the salary of a multimedia developer. Having a Multimedia Specialist, an A/V Technician, and Graphic Artist Intern as assistants will raise production to 315% of what a lone multimedia developer could do and at salary costs totalling 245% of one developer. The best production for the money is the addition of a multimedia specialist to the team.

Productivity is also increased by involving instructors as much as possible in the production process. Some instructors can become quite independent in thier own productions with some training.

An appropriate question would be, "How much work and of what type might be expected from one multimedia developer per year?"

A Multimedia Developer will typically put in 50 hours or more a week on production and another 10 hours a week on self-study just to keep current with new software, equipment, and techniques. This position should be salaried and given as much flexibility as possible. At 50 hours a week times 50 weeks, that's 2500 hours a year.

Below is a list of typical services that one Multimedia Developer with no assistants could do in a year.(2500 hrs) The service breaks up into:

• Production of small projects
• Provide technical advise and assistance
• Provide quick turn-around multimedia assistance for walk-in traffic
• Consult with and plan multimedia projects with instructors and administrators
• Production of large projects

Production of small projects

Small projects might be classified as those that take 16 hours (two days) or less of a Multimedia Developer's time. An intern's time, however, is only about 35% as valuable and could spend up to 45 hours on a project with it still qualifying as a small project.

Since small projects don't take too much time, they are often scheduled in to be worked on while working on large projects. Turn around time is good.

A good Multimedia Developer might produce about 30 small projects a year using about 30 working days (240 hours). Typical small projects might include the following:

• Writing a "relatively" simple but effective computer program to aid classroom instruction or for student self-study. It should be highly visual and capable of being transferred to videotape.
• Doing a "relatively" simple video production using existing images and raw video footage.
• Videotape a presentation and editing it.
• Produce a series of highly visual transparencies or handouts.
• Writing a program that incorporates lecture notes and has buttons that access various sections of a laser disk to support the lecture.
• Digitizing dozens of images and incorporating them into a computer presentation.

Provide technical advise and assistance

Spend about 100 hours answering technical questions for perhaps 100 or more people.

Spend about 100 hours of troubleshooting hardware and software problems in other people's departments.

Provide quick turn-around multimedia assistance for walk-in traffic

Spend 600 hours helping instructors, administrators, and staff with things like video dubbing, computer disk transfers, transparency making, printing, image and text scanning.

Consult with and plan multimedia projects with instructors and administrators

Spend 200 hours in pre-production planning of small & large projects.

Production of large projects

Large projects might be defined as those that take more than 16 hours of the Multimedia Developer's time and should be more carefully scrutinized before production begins. In other words, an approval process should be applied.

So far we've used 1240 hours for the first four categories. That leaves about 1260 hours or half a year to work on large projects. This is typical. A Multimedia Developer will spend about half a day working on large, long-term projects, and the other half of the day doing the daily small projects and services.

Good videos and good instructional software usually take a good amount of time. A solid week is usually a minimum for producing a decent video or computer program. Remember one week of work needed on a large project will take two weeks because the Multimedia Developer is always subject to helping those who need small favors and invariably spends about half of each day on those small services.

On an average, larger projects take about 100 hours. That means there's time left for about 12 large multimedia projects per year. The word, "large", is relative so be aware that really LARGE projects can take a lot longer.