Hi all, I'm new to Poser (I have Poser6) and I'm having a problem I hope someone can help me with. I have WAY too many free downloads (as well as a bunch of purchased packages). When I open Poser and try to find something to add to a scene, I'm lost looking through all the many folders in the libraryies. Is there a way to simplify all this stuff? I'd like to be able to "browse" all my props, or poses, without having to try to memorize what's in each of the MANY folders shown. Thanks for any help, I'd really appreciate it!

join the club..;) There's several ways; I think Poser 6 can have multiple runtimes, you could organize that way. That means all the Daz stuff in one directory, Sixus1's stuff in another, Content Paradise in a third, etc. Or by character, All Vickie's stuff in one humongous runtime, and everything else in another
Also, there are some utilities available to do that. Look in Freebies under utilites. Unfortunately both brain cells aren't working this morning, or I'd actually have a name of a utility, but the site name Senosoft sticks in my head for some reason. This isn't much help, but it's a start. Being the O/C nut that I am..;)(but not the official one) I have an Access database just of what's in my runtime (and I don't have that much), that's over 5,000 entries..;)

Thanx Pakled. I'll llok for a utility like that. I tried to figure out through my windows explorer how to otganize everything, but I got lost between "runtime," "geometries," and "Libraries" as a way to do it. I think part of my problem is that I don't yet understand how the hierarchy is really set up. I thought about adding folders that would appear in my poser program, such as "Clothing," "Characters & Morphs," "Objects" etc. It confuses me on how I can find clothing, for example, in the "Poses" file, the "Props" file and the "Figures" file of the Library. This may take awhile for me to sort out in my head...

Personally, I'm a big fan of Advance Library (search under Poser Free Stuff here). Check it out. Poser Icon - also under Free Stuff here - is helpful too, I find.

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Set up seperate runtimes it's the easiest way to organise things see link for some advice

Cool, thanks everyone, I'll try these suggestions. I'm impressed with the quick replies and help. Think I'll stick around this forum and learn a lot of things. I'm new to 3D, although I've been a professional artist for many years (oil painting, sculpting, wood-working, etc.). I have a feeling I'm going to really enjoy the 3D medium! :-)

I think pakled was trying to tell you about P3dO Explorer, which is indeed from SENO Software. I use that in conjunction with PRPC which means you can load things in directly from P3dO, and never have to use the library palette again. The Advanced Library for Poser uses a similar principle, but arranges things differently; all are free, so it's just a case of trying them both and seeing which suits you, sir. :)

Message edited on: 02/09/2006 10:00

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Hi baggins777,

You might want to consider using multiple Runtimes.

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

I am new to Poser too and am learning to work my way out of this problem. It is the one thing about Poser that really sucks - I understand your frustration. A couple things have helped me. I haven't gone to multiple runtimes - that, for some reason, seems daunting. I have done these things: 1) Did you know you can change the name of a a product that is listed in your library? If you navigate to the CuriousLabs folder in WIndows, you can enter the library folder then the subfolders under character, expression, pose, props, etc. Then you can rename the folder in a way it is more meaningful to you - and even move them around. Attached is a picture of my Figure library - now only 10 or so main folders with everything neatly sorted in other categories inside of those main folders. This helps - but it is not perfect either. fore example: Some models like clothing ends up in the figure, pose and prop categories based on how they were created. I think you can move these around - but I have not been brave enough to try yet. So - there is still some hunting involved - but it is much esaier once you get rename all the meaningless file names (list artist or company names and files that start with symbols like !!!). 2) THe other thing that helped me was a free program called PoserPorter that automatically unzipps foldes and places them in the runtime for yuou in a fraction of a second. Just drag the zipped folder onto the small PP window and it is done. I unse to unzipp things and place them all by hand . . . (for non-DAZ files - they unzip automatically). It was a drag and took way too much time. Here is the link: http://3dtrue.com/poser/14.html Picture of the progam is in the next post below So - I have learned these are the drawbacks of this new hobby - but I am learning to deal with them. I will probably move to multiple runtimes inthe future - but for now, I have enough to learn. If anyone from Curuois Labs reads this (and I hope you do, it would be great if you can work to solve this seemingly common problem with your next release. It will make this way more uesable and fun. Thanks. Seattletim

Poser Porter picture

This is very nice indeed but I suggest you install your files in a temporary folder then move them by hand to your runtime, keeping the same folder tree. There are a few reasons for this: 1) Even DAZ stuff is best installed this way because in most of their packages, you don't even have png thumbnails, only rsr. Ok, Poser will create a png image for each rsr image but who needs zillions of rsr thumbnails in their Poser runtime? 2) In most zipfiles that you download, you'll find files you really don't need with Poser 6: rsr, phi(most of them), mtl (except if you want to play with the objects in a modelling program), sometimes you'll have RTE (which you have to decode), pcf (same thing), etc. AND then come the scrap files nobody needs, not even Poser 4 users: thumbs.db, icon, .DS Store, .jbf, .bak, etc. So if you install or unzip your files in a temporary folder, you can get rid of all these unwanted files before installing the good files in your runtime. I also use P3dO Explorer with prpc script and I wouldn't go back to using Poser libraries. I've installed all my files in the character library. Let's say I install a scene set that contains camera, props, poses, lights, camera. I install the main files (pp2 or cr2) in a folder with the product name in my character library of the corresponding runtime. In that character folder, I install the rest of the files for that products: Props, Pose, Lights, Camera, etc. So when I want to use that scene in Poser, I have all the related files in the same location. I just love it! It saves me about 80% of the time I used to take to create a scene in Poser before I started using prpc/P3dO. And they are both FREE. You can purchase P3dO Pro and it is very inexpensive but the free version works fine with prpc. You can also use it to convert rsr to png.

Wow, lots of great suggestions everyone, thanx! I downloaded P3dO, as well as GPA Script. I'm going to play around with these, and all the other suggestions, until I have something that works well for me. One thing I am keeping in mind is that I have a TON of stuff already installed to Poser, so I have to decide whther I want to delete/re-install Poser all over and start fresh with all the new info and scripts I have. Thanx bunches to everyone again for all your terrific help!

Every so often, it's good to have a clearout of your folders anyway. You'll find all sorts of stuff that will leave you thinking "whatever made me think I was going to use *that*?" You also find stuff that you'd forgotten about, and which may inspire something good - you never know. When I set up my PRPC library folders, I sorted everything by hand over several evenings, and discovered all kind of things that I'd forgotten about.

Attached Link: http://www.hogsoft.com/catalog/

baggins77, Take a look at PBooost II, it'll do everything you want to do. No need to move stuff, you can leave it in any Runtime, even Poser 4 if you'd had that, and access it through PBooost II - don't even need to use Poser Library if you don't want. Includes a search function, so you don't even need to organise ;-) But if you do, you can set it up to display only like items at one time - e.g. V3 figures, V3 faces, etc.

thank heavens some people around here have a better memory than me..thanks for bailin' me, folks..;)

Well I'm trying to work this all out, although I'm still figuring how p3do works (so far it just looks like windows explorer). I tried to find Pose Porter on a google search with no luck. Seattletim, do you know where I can download it from? I'm trying to add new runtimes for now, and sort through all my stuff.

Attached Link: http://3dtrue.com/poser/14.html

PoserPorter is at 3DTrue - the link was in seattletim's message. It's all one word, which is why it didn't show in Google. P3dO *does* work a lot like Windows Explorer, with the advantage of being able to see the thumbnails. These are 'associated' with the library files, so if you rename or move one, the thumbnail goes with it. You'll need the plug-ins to use PRPC, specifically the Poser Python one, which enables you to right-click a thumbnail in P3dO and choose 'open in Poser'. Advanced Library will let you double-click the thumbnail to open that item. There's also an add-on for Windows called Posr Icon by Dimension3D, in the freestuff. That enables Windows Explorer to use the Poser library thumbnail as the file icon; if you've installed the transmitter part of PRPC you can right-click on that and send to Poser.

One piece of advice - do not install anything to the default folders (except for the obj files, which do have to go in the named locations). Merchants seem to want you to install their stuff in a folder with their name on it, or worse still, their name preceded by several !s. Allow this, and you'll never find anything. Devise a sensible folder structure, like Characters/Clothing/V3/Tops and Props/Buildings/Fantasy and stick to it.

quote: PoserPorter is at 3DTrue - the link was in seattletim's message. It's all one word, which is why it didn't show in Google. unquote Yes it was, I somehow overlooked that. My mind's not always on full steam. Thanks EnglishBob. Phantast, good advice, thanks. It always annoys me they do that. I'm slowly getting everything sorted. Once finished I can spend more time rendering instead of searching for stuff.

Quote - Devise a sensible folder structure, like Characters/Clothing/V3/Tops and Props/Buildings/Fantasy and stick to it.

Amen!!! I have many external runtime folders because I like to have my runtimes based on "themes" IE: V3 Clothing Runtime Inside the Library/Character and Library/Poses folders I also have sub folders: - Morphing Clothing - Non Morphing Clothing - Jewelery - Shoes I also have sub folders in those where I sort by outfit, which is especially important in the Poses folder where your textures are. For example, the Morphing Fantasy Dress has a bazillion textures for it and I have many. If I were to just dump them into the Poses/Morphing Clothing folder, it would be a mess. So I have a sub folder in there called "MFD", and that's where ALL of my MFD textures go. Same with the Morphing Cocktail Dress, or any outfit that has multiple texture packages for it. I also have a V3 Character Addon Runtime. Inside the library/character and library/poses, I sort my character addons in folders named for the merchant. I am partial to some artists' so rather than just dumping them into the runtime I put them in sub folders bearing the name of the merchant. Also, in the Library/Poses folder of the Character Addon Runtime, there are loads of folders deposited by DAZ, so if I dumped all of my addon textures in there, even if they are contained in folders named for the merchant, I'd still not be able to find anything. So I created a !!!!Character Addons folder that sits up at the very top and everytime I install a character addon, it goes into that folder and away from all of the ! folders tha Daz installed. I find it's best to have naming continuity of your folders. When I install anything I install to a folder on my desktop and then sort it out in a way that I like. That means going into every Library folder that was created and renaming the folders that were deposited. Whatever name I pick to use inside the character folder, I use that exact same name throughout the rest of the library folders for that item. This way I can look folder to folder and see at a glance if there are any related items. It may take you several attempts to find an organizational method that works for you. I started off with one runtime. Then I moved to one runtime with many sub folders named from each character I had. Then those sub folders became more and more and finally I decided to do the multiple runtime thing. I'm very happy with the filing system I use for poser now and can't imagine doing anything else. I know what's in my runtimes and I know where to find every single file... save for textures because I don't move those around so if I have to look for those I usually have to go folder to folder or search my computer.

That's basically what I'm trying to set up now; multiple (3) runtimes, with subfolders named for items, sorted as well by merchants, etc. One question though...how do I get Poser 6 to open or view an external runtime?

Open Poser and the library. Click the folder at the top of the library until you see a red dot on the folder called "Poser 6". Then click the little arrow and "add runtime". Browse to your runtimes and add them... don't pick the folder named "runtime" though. Pick the folder that contains that runtime folder. Whenever you want to access that runtim, click the folder at the top until you get back to that level of folders, then double click the runtime you want to access. You know which is the active runtime because it has a red dot next to it when you are at the list of your runtimes.

Ah, I see. Cool, I'll give that a try then, thanks!

Oh, and add them in the order you want them to appear. If you want to change the order you have to remove them and readd them; a bit of a nuissance, but not a major one.