EXCLUSIVES

FastTrack Schedule 8 > AEC Software
Words by Chris Mace
March 2004

FastTrack Schedule 8 is the latest version of AEC's business productivity software. Its dynamic and fluid spreadsheets are used by companies like NASA and Universal Studios for managing projects and keeping everyone on the same, continuously updated pages.

Nominated for a Macworld Editor's Choice Award for the third time in 2002, it has been revamped for Mac OS X, Windows, and Palm. With desktop/mobile integration and full cross-platform compatibility, it's pretty much the scheduling tool of choice for the Mac platform (their closest competitor, Microsoft Project, has not updated its version for the Mac in several years).

For FastTrack Schedule 8 for Mac OS X, AEC overhauled all menus and dialogs to give it an aqua interface and Office-like pull-down menus. New formatting features include auto-styles per outline level, which enable users to set specific font styles and row backgrounds for different outline levels and project phases. They've also added new color choices, bar styles, row backgrounds, and text boxes. A work breakdown structure allows users to label tasks in such a way that they will be automatically placed appropriately within the workflow. Summary bars are now viewable whether the outline bars are expanded or collapsed. A new polygon editor provides more design options for endpoints. New tutorials, templates, and example files facilitate creating and changing schedules. What's more, files can now be saved as templates. This makes it possible for the rapid establishment of new schedules created from the old.

FastTrack was released for Palm OS in 1999, affording users greater mobility. A tech support staff provides help setting up and maintaining projects (as opposed to simply trouble shooting) at no extra charge. AEC also runs a software-training services division to help users customize projects and grow in expertise.

We spoke with Ryan Kish, AEC's VP of Marketing and Communications, who explained FastTrack's functionality this way: "Think of any type of projectÉ whether remodeling your own house or mapping out all the people, resources, and timelines for the next Star Wars installment Ð all the special effects, etc. It's really very open, in that it can be customized for any type of project. The program basically allows you to outline your tasks, activities, and resources however you want. You input start and finish date durations and then see that whole timeline graphically on what's called a Gantt chart, or a horizontal timeline. Then you can add resources and you can assign them to different activities and add costs."

Similar to other scheduling programs, FastTrack's timeline-based interface is comprised of rows and columns. It allows users to create a to-do list from top to bottom on the left-hand margin, with a starting date in the top left corner. Projects are stratified, prioritized, and choreographed and can be continuously updated and changed so that changes register across all fronts. As users go down the list, they progress along a timeline and move projects forward. Dynamic row and column options, such as the ability to link activities by making them co-dependent or mutually exclusive, are a good way to make sure everything is going according to plan.

Schedules created in FastTrack Schedule 8 can be exported for presentations, optimized for print or for the web, and exported in a variety of formats (QuickTime, TIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, WMF, EMF, PICT graphic files, or customized HTML tables). This way you can drop them into a PowerPoint presentation or simply project the schedule from a laptop during a meeting.

One thing FastTrack still does not allow users to do, however, is to make changes to the same schedule online. Kish says this is a capability AEC looks forward to developing.

To teach students the need for planning in the television and film production business, San Francisco State University professor

Bob Hazelwood works FastTrack into the curriculum by requiring students to imagine a dream project. They must map out their projects step by step and include the scouting of sites, hiring of crews, casting, equipment rental, and the creative process. Hazelwood became a devotee when he won a corporate video contract with a Fortune 500 company who challenged him to turn a project around by their deadline. He showed them an airtight schedule and won the job.

Electromedia, a Toronto-based web development firm specializing in database driven content management systems, starts prospective projects in FastTrack in order to pitch quotes to clients. The company uses FastTrack at the start of negotiations as a template to work through budgetary and scheduling issues and continues on with the program through the completion of the project. "We present the Gantt chart of the job and clients rarely question the quote. If they do, we project the FastTrack schedule on the wall and work with the client to change the specs with a corresponding change to the schedule," says Paul Chato, president of Electromedia. Chato adds that the tool helps his firm maintain their profit margins. www.aecsoft.com