Inside the Feedback Tool
“Get to Know Connecter” is a series of articles designed to acquaint you with the diverse features and functionalities of Connecter. Whether you’re a freelancer or a member of a large organization, this series will equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate our Digital Asset Management solution confidently and boost your productivity.
In any collaborative work, the ability to leave feedback is of great importance. It impacts the efficiency of the review process, the quality of the communication between team members, and the speed of the production pipeline.
In Connecter, Feedback is a powerful tool designed to optimize the process and allow you to give your input in the most convenient way, whether you’re working with an image, 3d model, video, or other file format.
Our Feedback tool creates a unique workflow that saves you the trouble of using additional QA software or having long and exhaustive conversations about all adjustments needed on an asset.
We’ll do a brief overview of the feature, and if you need more information, check out our detailed guide on the topic.
What can the Feedback tool do?
Let’s review what you can use the tool for:
Add comments
First, to use the Feedback tool, you’ll need to right-click on an asset and choose “Feedback” from the menu or go to File Details below Asset View. The panel that opens allows you to add a comment, and upon doing so, everybody in the Workplace will receive a notification. Keep in mind that you can make edits to comments or replies only in the first 15 minutes.
You’ll find four categories of comments — Open, Done, Resolved, and Canceled. The difference between Done and Resolved is open to the users’ interpretation and dependent on their chosen workflow.
For example, when one team member points out specific issues that need to be addressed, another can mark the comment as “Resolved” upon finishing the tasks, and then the first one can move it to “Done” when they review and approve the changes.
Don’t forget you can also group and sort comments by their status, commenter, and latest comments or activity.
Another tip that will prove useful is that you can add Connecter paths to your comment so your team would know which assets you’re referring to.
Add Contexts
Left on the Comments panel, you’ll find the Context vertical strip. When commenting on an asset, you can insert additional Context from there. Your options will vary depending on the file type.
It can be an entirely different image to exemplify the point you’re trying to make with your comment. Also, when giving your input on a 3d asset in the interactive viewer, you can use the static Contexts to comment on particular views of the model. The same principle is applied to videos as you address specific timestamps.
Add markups
With the Markups widget, you can visually mark areas on your asset preview linked to comments to make your feedback more concrete. You can go wild with all the options: rectangle, oval, line, arrow, freehand, polyline, spot, whatever markup floats your boat; it’s there for you to use.
You can also make certain modifications to the markup depending on its shape. And if you add a lot of markups and the preview becomes too cluttered, you can always toggle the “Show markups” button to see only the ones relevant to a particular comment.
Who would have benefited from a Feedback tool?
Without the Feedback tool, the reviewing process in Connecter would be much longer and more complex. For example, you’ll have to take screenshots of the problematic asset’s rendering, open them in editing software, mark the areas that need iterations, and go to the app you use to communicate with your team to write a lengthy message explaining your thoughts. Or something even slower than that.
Instead, you can add your comments directly on the assets in question, and whoever has to get something done can just open the asset from Connecter and make the changes. There’s no need to use another software, as even apps designed explicitly for feedback lack the access Connecter has to the discussed content.
That’s why we decided to quickly go over a few famous examples in history of how the Feedback tool could have saved much trouble.
- The Death Star: See, this weapon of mass destruction was planned very well, but something in the execution went wrong. If only the architect and the contractor had had the means to give each other feedback, the thermal exhaust port the Rebels used to blow up the Death Star wouldn’t have been so easily accessible.
- The One Ring: Imagine where Sauron would be now if he had received the crucial feedback about his grand ring idea. Something like “don’t put all of your power in it — even something as tiny as a hobbit can drop it in the lava, and you’ll be screwed.”
- The Horcruxes: In all fairness, Voldemort did receive a lot of negative feedback on his idea to split his soul and put it into objects, but he didn’t listen. Maybe he needed visual aids like Contexts or markups to see the downsides.
It might seem like the Dark Side is in desperate need of a proper Feedback tool, but what you should get from this is that no matter how powerful you are, you still can benefit from your team’s input.
Wrap up
Not every feature is essential in a Digital Asset Management solution, but it could still make your workflow much easier and more efficient. Such is the Feedback tool that allows for a convenient way to point out required iterations in a collaborative environment.
It’s a complete game changer when it comes to giving concrete examples of the changes your team needs to make on 3d assets, videos, and even images. With the available comments, Contexts, and markups, everyone would be up to speed in no time.
Feedback is part of Connecter Suite, so don’t hesitate to contact us if you need more information about the service.
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Disclaimer: Some of the images in the article are generated by Midjourney.
