Getting Started as an Artist
This guide will help you get started and understand the Kitsu's key features as an artist.
1. Initial Profile Setup & Customization
On your first connection, we encourage you to fill in your contact information into your profile. Setting this up helps your team recognize you and lets you tailor notifications and settings to fit your workflow.
Access Your Profile
Click on your name/avatar on the top right of the screen (1), then on Profile (2).
NB: This menu also gives you quick access to helpful resources at any time: a link to this Documentation (4), our Tutorials, our Slack/Discord community (5), our YouTube channel, and our public Roadmap (6). You can also toggle the Dark Theme/Theme color (3) and show or hide the Support Chat widget from here.
Customize Your Details
On this new page, you can check your name (1) (2) and email (3), fill in your phone number (4), change your timezone (5) and the language of the website (6), and post a pic of yourself as your avatar (7). It helps to recognize who is doing what!
You can also define what kind of notification you want: email or Slack.
Change Your Password
If you keep scrolling, you can also change your password.
For security purposes, it's highly recommended to replace the default password with a strong and unique one of your own.
2. Managing Your Assignments
The "My Tasks" Page
Your My Tasks page is your main hub for assignments and opens automatically upon login.
Here you can see a list of tasks you are assigned along with some key information. Think of it as a to-do list.
By default, the list is sorted by priority, so the tasks at the top are the ones recommended to address first.
Key Information Available:
- Production: The project your task is associated with.
- Entity: The specific asset or shot assigned to you.
- Estimates & Duration: Time-related information for your tasks.
- Due Date: The deadline for completing your task.
- Status and Priority: Key details to understand task urgency.
To view more details about a task, click on its Status to open the comment panel. Here, you can comment on the task and publish a new revision if needed.
Sorting and Filtering:
- Under the Show dropdown, you can choose to display All Tasks or focus on those Due This Week.
- Under the Sorted By dropdown, you can sort tasks by Name, Priority, Status, Estimation, or Last Comment.
- Use these filters, along with additional criteria like Production, Task Type, and Status, to narrow down your list of tasks, or use the search box to find a specific task.
Accessing My Tasks
You can access My Tasks via:
- The shortcut at the top of the screen.
- The User section of the main menu under MY TASKS.
- Clicking the Kitsu logo.
Board View
You can also use the Board view to quickly update the status of multiple tasks by dragging and dropping into each status column.
The Board Tab displays tasks organized in columns based on their status. Each task card includes:
- A Thumbnail
- Task type name
- Entity name
- Clicking a card opens a panel on the right to view or add comments.
- To update a task's status, drag it to the desired column.
Calendar View
The Calendar View displays tasks according to their Start and Due Dates. Tasks spanning multiple days are visually extended across the calendar.
- Clicking a task opens the right-side panel for updates and comments.
- Like other views, you can sort and filter tasks here.
The "Task Type" Page
A supervisor will typically have tasks assigned to them in addition to supervising your department. You need to split your time between completing your work and managing your team.
Once the assignments and estimates are done, you can focus on the day-to-day operations. To easily see an overview of tasks from your department, you can click on your task type name from any page.
Once on the detail page, your first action is to click on the Display tasks as a contact sheet 
button.
Now, you can easily hone in on tasks that require your attention using the built-in filters. For example, say you want to see only the tasks that are not done yet. In this case, you can filter tasks with the -done status, along with adding a Due Date Status filter, to show tasks that are Due This Week.
You can easily enable / disable filters to quickly hone in on the right information.
TIP
If you need more information about a task, click on it's name to open the comment panel on the right.
3. Updating Task Progress
Task statuses are indicators reflecting the current state or progress of a task.
Boards allow you to easily see the current status of a task at a glance and add comments to update team members when a status changes.
Once you've made progress on your task, you'll want to update your team on its status.
Updating a Task Status
- Click the task's Status icon on the My Tasks page or the relevant asset page.
A panel will appear on the right where you can write a comment, change the status, and attach a file.
The Comment Panel is split into two tabs:
- POST COMMENT
- PUBLISH REVISION
Add comments to provide updates or ask questions. Comments support the use of Markdown, which is a markup language used for formatting plain text in a simple, readable way. It allows users to add basic formatting elements such as headings, lists, bold and italic text, links and much more. For specific syntax, you can refer to the markdown guide website: Markdown Guide.
Change the status (e.g., from "Ready" to "WIP") from the POST COMMENT tab.
- Click Post to save changes.
You can edit your most recent comment by clicking the History button and selecting Edit.
Tagging Team Members
You can also tag a team member in the comments to notify them directly. To do this, type @, which will open a submenu with a list of team members. Select the person you wish to notify, and upon submitting your comment, they will receive a notification.
You can also tag an entire department by typing '@' followed by the department's name.
Adding Checklists
You can also add checklist items to keep track of miscellaneous items that don't warrant their own task. To add a checklist to your comments, click the Add checklist button. The first item of the checklist will appear.
Hit Enter or click the button again to add more checklist items, and give each one a name.
Adding Attachments
To attach a file as a picture, click on the Add attachment button.
Select a file from your hard drive or paste a screenshot.
Validate the attachment by clicking on Add file as attachment.
Changing Statuses In Bulk
You can also change the status for multiple tasks at once.
Select multiple shots or assets by pressing Ctrl / Cmd or Shift and select the tasks you wish to include.
Then, go to the action menu's Change status section.
Choose the new status for your selected tasks (1). You can also add a comment for all the selected tasks (2). Save the new status with the Confirm button.
Delete Comments
To delete a comment, click on the chevron icon in the top right corner and select Delete.
4. Publish a Concept
To publish a Concept, navigate to the Concepts page from the project navigation menu.
To upload a concept, click the Add a new reference to concepts button. You can upload one or several concepts simultaneously.
After the upload is complete, previews will be generated and visible from your concepts page.
Click on the thumbnail to see an enlarged preview of your concept, or click on the status to open the Comment Panel on the right.
With the comment panel open, you have two options:
- You can link a concept with an existing asset / delete and existing link.
- You can comment and change the status of the concept.
It is good practice to only have one version per Concept. If the concept is not approved and requires additional changes, then it's better to version-up that concept.
5. Request a Review
When you complete a task, you can submit it for review:
- Change the task status to Waiting for Approval (WFA).
- Attach a preview file by dragging it into the upload area or clicking Attach Preview.
- Click Post to finalize your submission.
People assigned to the task will receive a notification. You can also mention additional team members in a comment using the @ operator.
Previous revisions are saved and remain accessible for reference.
6. Complete Your Timesheet
Viewing Timesheets
On this page, you can view each team member's timesheet by day. This allows you to check whether they fill it out daily, took a day off, or worked extra hours.
If you have a question about a timesheet entry, click on it to see the details of the production, task type, and specific task.
Once everything looks good at the day level, you can change the Detail Level from Day to Week, Month, or Year.
You can view all the productions you manage simultaneously or look at each production individually.
Complete Your Timesheet
If your production requires it, you can log your time spent using the Timesheets tab or the Timesheets shortcut button at the top of the screen.
How to Log Time:
- Use the slider next to each task to record hours spent.
- For quick input, use the 1, 4, or 8 hours buttons.
What If You Missed a Day?
Click the date picker to backfill entries. You can also mark days as Day Off if you weren't working on that day.
