It's possible I'm missing something here.

If I'm several levels deep in the hierarchy of one runtime (like figures/clothing/Vicki3/dresses for example) and I want to switch to a different runtime, the only way I can find to do it is double-click my way to the top of the hierarchy.  When I load Poser first, the library pane displays Figures, Poses etc and there doesn't seem to be any way to switch immediately to a new runtime.

This seems rather peculiar design. Is there a shortcut that I've missed?

Nope. You haven't missed anything. In order to switch to a new runtime you need to go to the top of the runtime hierarchy until the Poser folder shows a red dot, and then  double click a runtime folder listed there.

That is the reason some people don't like multiple external runtimes and opt to just have a bunch of sub folders inside their main poser runtime in order to organize.

I however have 40 runtimes and have 5 or 6 always in poser and the others I add and remove as I need them. I don't mind switching runtimes; it doesn't take long, and it is by far the best way for someone like me who is anal about organization to sort my files.  LOL

nice one Acadia!!!!!!!!! i never thought of putting a runtime folder there before!!!! i only recently worked out that i could stick all me V3 stuff in a new folder and all me aiko stuff in another folder,in my runtime!! so i was tyding things up a bit!!! i had put my old poser5 runtime in there and called it "old stuff" but it never worked!! i always have to locate files!!! so i'll try your way with that folder!!!!!!!! thanks!!!!!!!!!!(insert happy smiley here!!)

Quote - nice one Acadia!!!!!!!!! i never thought of putting a runtime folder there before!!!!

Huh?  What do you mean by "there"?

An external runtime is wherever you want to place it on your hard drive, even an external hard drive.

When you open poser, you go to the top of the library hierarchy, click on the little arrow, pick "add new runtime", and browse to the location of one of your external runtimes.  You keep doing that for each external runtime that you have.

Quote - i had put my old poser5 runtime in there and called it "old stuff" but it never worked!! i always have to locate files!!! so i'll try your way with that folder!!!!!!!! thanks!!!!!!!!!!(insert happy smiley here!!)

Move your Poser 5 runtime to a different directory (IE: My Documents, or C Drive, or wherever), then  open Poser, go to the top of your Hierarchy in there, do the "add a new runtime" and locate the poser 5 runtime.

When you want to access it, just go to the top of your hierachy in the poser library and double click on the poser 5 runtime to open it.  You'll know it's the active runtime if you go back to the hierarchy and see a red dot on that folder.

Phantast, one option for faster switching is to go to another folder that you don't use very often, which is often only one click away from the top of the hierarchy.

I generally use Expressions, but Hands, Cameras, Lights, or Hair (if you've got hair mostly organized in its own runtime) can also be used.

Although I do agree that the Poser library palette is rather annoying to use sometimes, maybe EF will put an easier-to-navigate one in P7 since the current isn't all that conducive to multiple runtimes having been designed before the option was around.

Exactly what I do Modus.  Seeing as all my camera settings are located in a Runtime along with just lights I use either my lights or camera folders to pop back to the main list - especially useful when doing promo images because I don;t have to keep closing the pose library I am working out of and can just drop back in each time to the same place.

Quote - Phantast, one option for faster switching is to go to another folder that you don't use very often, which is often only one click away from the top of the hierarchy.

I generally use Expressions, but Hands, Cameras, Lights, or Hair (if you've got hair mostly organized in its own runtime) can also be used.

Although I do agree that the Poser library palette is rather annoying to use sometimes, maybe EF will put an easier-to-navigate one in P7 since the current isn't all that conducive to multiple runtimes having been designed before the option was around.

Yes, I also use that trick.  I usually click on Lights because I don't have a very
big lights collection.  Then it's one click up to the root directories.

Admission, as always, is FREE!

Get your snack and soda and enjoy the show.

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

It's a bizarre bit of interface design, in that case. But then Poser's interface has never been very thoughtfully designed.

Poser was initially not meant to be used like it is now. It was more like Goo etc.: fun for kids.
I agree with you on the interface, but when you read here how people don't like anything to change (the forum, the site) then you know how the poser developers are stuck.
I want multiple undo, I want fully separate cameras and lights (not having to switch to adjust a camera and then switch back to that finger or eye, I want a search that stops when I click "no, dont continue", I want bum files to be ignored in the search, I want better joints, I want a separate folder for morphs and characters outside the pose folder,...but the developers have to take into account that most people will want backwards compatability...and prefer things not to change. They want that new sportscar, but it has to have the look and feel of their old bike.

This said: in most cases, subfolders are much handier than separate runtimes.
Just like using the material room to get your materials is perhaps a bit slower, but a ot handier when it comes to organisiation that pose files. Many (older ones) still include bum files, adress a wrong bump or (recent ones) simply have bump not attached to anything.

And: if you want to rename a runtime, it will not be recognised. You have to put it inside a folder called "old stuff", but the names runtime and its subfolders must be kept.

As an aside: Gongyla came home yesterday with a second hand book: New territories, the computer art of Jurgen Ziewe. They were made some ten years ago with KPT Bryce, FractalDesign Poser, Mandelzot 2, Strata studio pro, and this on a mac 8100  with 140MB ram and a 120MHz processor....

At the time, I didn't even have a puter and wasn't interested in one.
Today we drown in the sheer numbers of apps one "needs" and the puter one "needs" to be able to use them. But when I see what mr Ziewe achieved, naive as it may look today, I can only say: hats off! and stop whining.

"if you want to rename a runtime, it will not be recognised. You have to put it inside a folder called "old stuff", but the names runtime and its subfolders must be kept."

I've found you CAN rename it and it'll be recognized -- but only if you keep the word "runtime" in the new name. My oldest one is called "Runtime1".  I also have a "Test Runtime" and a "Personal Use Only Runtime".  Told Poser where to find 'em & they worked just dandy.

It seems that certain keystrokes affect library navigation but I have never RFM on that... can one move around the libraries with keystrokes? Is there a way to make folders  iconless while still getting icons for actual content? In P6 is there a secrete key for getting the old P2 interface? I HATE that libraries are aranged by file type! Even that doesn't work since some of my MATposes are in Pose and some are in Materials and of course some clever ones I found in lights or camera I moved over to Poses. Can I move things from Materials to Poses? I have not checked. When I saw the fly-out library in the P6 promos I had imagined they meant that files could be collected in sub-directories regardless of file type... silly me! Can system alias/shortcuts be used to simplify the whole library mess somehow?

yes, shortcuts work fine with Poser (both for files and folders - you'll also navigate back to the folder containing the shortcut when moving up a level in Poser). But external library browsers are still way less painfull ;-)