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Writer's pictureCade.M

Production Management; Project Scopes, Agile and Waterfall Methodologies

Updated: Jun 2, 2020

Having been introduced a new technical production management methods; Agile and Waterfall. These are methodologies used in in the Project Scopes in productions of animation, VFX, and game industries. I'll admit when I was writing down these notes there we're a lot to take into account however, these methods will be useful for future and upcoming projects.


In this blog I will be going over:

  • Waterfall and Agile methodologies

  • Advantages of Waterfall or Agile models

  • Limitations of Agile or Waterfall models

  • Agile and Scrum!

  • What is Scrum?

Waterfall methodology

Theoretically known as L.S.L.C.M (Linear Sequential Life Cycle Model). Waterfall models followed in the sequential order. Following on that project development teams only proceed to the next phase of development or testing if the previous is completed successfully and to a satisfactory standard.


Agile methodology

A Practice that helps continuous iterations of developments and testing in the software/game/animation development projects. The models, development, and testing activities are concurrent, unlike the waterfall model. Meaning you can adapt your production of development by going back one step to adapt parts of the project from the said phase. This process allows more communication between customers, developers, managers, and testers.


Advantages of Waterfall model

  • It is one of the most linear and easiest production models to manage. Due to its nature of each phase containing specific deliverable and a review process

  • Works well for small size projects where requirements are easily understandable.

  • Faster delivery of the project

  • Process and resources are well documented

  • Easily changeable method for shifting teams

  • Waterfall model for project management methodology is beneficial to merge dependencies

Limitations of the Waterfall model

  • It is not an ideal model for a large size project

  • If the requirement is not straightforward or genuine at the beginning, it becomes a less effective method

  • Very difficult to take steps back to past phases in order to make changes

  • The testing process once development is over. Hence it has much higher chances of bugs to occur late in development where they are expensive to fix

Advantages of Agile model

  • It is a focused client process. So it makes sure that the client is continuously involved during every phase

  • Agiles are extremely motivated and self-organized so it's much likely to provide a better result from the development projects

  • Agile software development method assumes that the quality of the development is maintained

  • The process is completely based on incremental progress. Therefore, the client and team know exactly what is complete and what is not. This reduces the risk in the development process.

Limitations of the Agile model

  • It is not a useful method for small development projects.

  • It requires an expert to take important decisions in the meeting.

  • The cost of implementing an agile method is a little more compared to other development methodologies.

  • The project can easily go off track if the project manager is not clear what outcome he/she wants.

Agile and Scrum!

Agile methodology is a practice that helps continuous iteration of development and testing in the SDLC process. Agile breaks the product into smaller builds.


In this methodology, development and testing activities are concurrent, unlike other software development methodologies. It also encourages teamwork and face-to-face communication. Business, stakeholders, and developers and clients must work together to develop a product.


Scrum is an agile process that allows us to focus on delivering the business value in the shortest time. It rapidly and repeatedly inspects actual working software. It emphasizes accountability, teamwork, and iterative progress toward a well-defined goal.


The Scrum Framework usually deals with the fact that the requirements are likely to change or most of the time not known at the start of the project.


What is Scrum?

It's like like "scum" but with the "r" added as the third letter to make up the word "scrum" (joke)


"Scrum is a framework for project management that emphasizes teamwork, accountability, and iterative progress toward a well-defined goal. The framework begins with a simple premise: Start with what can be seen or known. ... The framework, which is often part of Agile software development, is named for a rugby formation." (SearchSoftwareQuality, 2019)



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