A Framework is a Booking structure set in a grid using Object Classes inside a Static Binder.
They are used in situations where a rigid shift pattern is in place and serves the purpose of alerting the Advanced User what kind of Object is required, when it is required, what time and day it is required and when the grid is not complete, i.e. if Objects are missing from the Booking.
Typically Frameworks are used in Broadcast and Television companies for live shows, for example News, that have a fixed time and resources per day. But it can be also used for scheduling TV series, if each episode requires the same type of resources and time to be completed.
Case Study: TV Show
Assumptions:
You need to schedule 30 episodes to produce full TV Show Series.
Each episode requires specific Objects to complete different stages of the project, which can be: OFFLINE, ONLINE and AUDIO.
Offline is: 12 days editing with Assistant Editor (working 12 consecutive days) Editor and Producer (starting 2 days later and working 10 days).
For Online you need Colourist (5 days) and Producer (2 days).
For Audio you need Sound Studio and Sound Engineer (3 days).
Solution:
Instead of scheduling the project with single or multi-day bookings, create Binder Frameworks first, which help you plan and schedule your projects and can be easily reapplied for all your episodes.
How to create Binder Framework Booking Template?
To create your template do the following:
1. Create your firs project. Each episode can be separate project.
2. Load your project to the Project Tree.
2. When creating booking template, make sure you have "Never select / book Weekends or Holidays" disabled. This is to make sure that when template is applied and filled in with Objects, you don't have additional gaps between days (Farmerswife won't recognise weekend as weekend, but as 2 day break between day 5 and 8).
3. Mark selected time period and create your first binder.
Right mouse click on the project Icon > Binder > New > Create > "Set Static Time Frame From Time Range" > Yes.
4. Now add your specific frameworks to the binder, which means: add everyone who is needed to complete this part of the project, in this case OFFLINE. As mentioned above we need: Editor, Assistant Editor and Producer.
5. As a result you will get your timeframes for the selected Objects:
5. Now adjust individual frameworks: for example change the working hours or remove selected days, if needed.
6. To adjust the working hours, which were booked by default as ALL DAY bookings, mark the selected days and selected framerwork(s) (Editor, Assistant Editor, Producer or with cmd on Mac and ctrl on Windows you can multi-select), right-mouse click on the user icon and Override your Time In/Out. As a results the "frames" will be adjusted, as you can see below:
7. You can also adjust the days, which people are working on.
Example: if Editor and Producer starts 2 days later than Assistant Editor you need to mark selected framework (Editor & Producer), mark the days you want to remove, right-mouse click on user icon > Binder Frameworks > Days (Override) > Remove From Time Range. Two days for selected Objects will be now removed.
8. If you need to add another day to your framework, mark the day, right mouse click on the Binder Framework Icon, and select Static Time Frame Days > Add From Time-Range:
9. When your Offline is ready you can follow the same steps and add also Online and Audio Binder Frameworks. At the end, your episode has 3 Binder Frameworks, which can be now saved as templates and easily re-applied to the all episodes.
How to save and apply Binder Frameworks templates?
Once you have your Binder Frameworks ready and adjusted, save them as templates. Simply grab each binder (Offline, Online, Audio) and drop it to the Booking Templates Tab in the Toolbox:
To apply the template to the project:
1. Make sure your setting "Never select/book weekends or holidays" is now ON (unless you do work on Saturdays and Sundays).
2. Load the project to the project tree.
3. Click on the project name to highlight it.
4. Grab the template and drop it at the top to the selected day. Make sure the arrows are pointing to the right. Repeat it for all needed binders (Offline / Online & Audio, for all episodes you need to schedule).
5. Once you have scheduled all your episodes you can now assign people and thus create your bookings.
See how to fill in frameworks here.