I finally got the time and band width to download all three and a half gigs of the Poser 8 install.

It installed without any problems. Then I ran the whole Libraries folder through Poser File Organizer...something I do with every freshly installed file. It took PFO about 10 minutes to go through finish the job and report. What came up was nothing short of a sloppy mess. Literally hundreds of bad references due to incorrectly named or incorrectly located files...mostly texture files. Here's a typical example:

The File "Sci-fi Wall_Hull1.mt5" has the reference line:

*Runtime:Libraries:Materials:Basic:Sci-Fi-Wall-1.jpg

the correct reference should be:

**Runtime:Libraries:Materials:Procedurals:Basic Materials:**Sci-Fi-Wall-1.jpg

As you can see, the location of the file is incorrect.

While it took PFO only 10 minutes to make the report, it's taking me a lot longer to fix the problems because of the incorrect file names and the fact the SmithMicro didn't have the smarts to put all the textures in the "textures" folder!  Actually, several texture files may be missing...I'm not sure...the references are for file names that aren't even close to anything I can find in searching my runtime folder.

Honestly, I don't know what to say. I've never run into a Poser install with this many errors before and I've have every version of Poser except Poser Pro. Was SmithMicro just in too much of a hurry to proof their work?

Here's one I like...a reference asking the texture file, "James_Faceo.jpg". I guess it could have been "James_Face_Color.jpg" but I'm not sure. It could also have been "James_Face_Color_Hair.jpg" or possibly, "James_Face_Color_Hair_Lores.jpg"

Here's another one for "James_Eye_Reflect.jpg". I dare anyone to find anything even close to that in their Poser 8 Runtime folder!

Wasn't there a post about problems with underscores?

This goes way beyond underscores. Textures are mis-located, mis-named, or simply missing in action!

Another one...

:LadyLittlefox:Koshini2:K-Eye29.jpg

...only there is no file, "K-Eye29.jpg"

there is a "K-Eye15", a K-Eye21" and a "K-Eye36" but no "K-Eye29".

An ordinary product with just one missed reference wouldn't pass Renderosity's
Marketplace testing.  Obviously SM didn't submit the new version to Rendo for
testing!

"BUMP_Bone_Sword.jpg" is just flat out missing.

Here's a good one:

Runtime:libraries:Props:MedievalVillageGuardhouse:GuardHou.jpg

is actually located in

Runtime:Libraries:Props:CP Partners:Meshbox:MedievalVillageGuardhouse:GuardHou.jpg

Note in both the bad and corrected references that the texture is located deep within the props folder, instead of the Textures folder where it belongs. Does that mean all props have their textures located with then in the props folder? Not at all! It seems their textures could be located anywhere the author felt like putting them.

"cement_37.jpg" doesn't exist, but there is a "cement_13.jpg"

There's no, "concrete_floor.jpg" at all.

as well as no, "tile_metal_20.jpg"

In fact, most of the "VP" stuff is screwed up in one way or another.

There's "RY_Shorts1D.jpg", "RY_Shorts2D.jpg", and "RY_Shorts3D.jpg", but there's no plain old "RY_ShortsD.jpg" as called for in the file, "Cargo Shorts.pp2 (ppz).

Runtime:Libraries:Props:Poser 8:Vehicles:Convertible:Top2.obj (obz)

is actually

Runtime:Libraries:Props:Poser 8:Vehicles:Convertible:ConvertibleTop2.obj (obz)

How do you miss one like that? The prop won't even load if the program can't find the geometry because it has the wrong name!

..your going to list everything you find post by post?

Ok, I'm finished fixing things. There are still 29 problems I can't resolve. (files I can't locate because they don't exist, the actual name is completely different than the call out in the referring file, or the reference itself  is wrong and needs to be changed.)

Seriously? Submit a bug report to SM.

I think I see what they're trying to do with those shortened paths, but it will require a comprehensive search routine.  they need to find out if it works for some users, or if it works for no users.

"..your going to list everything you find post by post?"

No...I just didn't want people to think I was complaining over a couple of minor mistakes. I've spent the last 4 hours fixing file references.

"I think I see what they're trying to do with those shortened paths, but it will require a comprehensive search routine.  they need to find out if it works for some users, or if it works for no users."

Start with a "clean", "decompressed" install. Run PFO in "Test Mode". It will give you a full error log of everything that's wrong.

technically I can't use it (OS X), but in my case (disk install), first file mentioned has:
"Runtime:Libraries:Materials:Basic Materials:Sci-Fi-Wall-1.jpg"
actual location is as you posted above in msg 1.  would OS X/poser 8 allow this shortened path? not certain.

yes, Sci-fi Wall_Hull1.mt5 loads o.k. in poser 8X (deep search) when dbl-clking its thumb, despite the various discrepancies between path and name(s). vista and OS X may differ in regard to indexing and search algorithms.

Poser does have a search engine, and will (after a time) find a file that's in the wrong location. Previous versions of Poser might take several minutes to find a missing file. Quite annoying. I try to avoid that by correcting the references before I run Poser, so I haven't yet tested Poser 8's search abilities to see if it's any faster. However, no search engine is going to find a file that has the wrong name.

The real issue to me is not whether Poser 8 can work its way around the content errors. The real issue is that these errors exist in the first place.

A texture left out by error should be reported to SM, methinks. 

A texture in a different place within a runtime of Poser, will be found eventually, even if the reference is different in the calling file.

p**s poor quality control, by the sounds of it.

Quote - An ordinary product with just one missed reference wouldn't pass Renderosity's
Marketplace testing.

Disagree

Quote - An ordinary product with just one missed reference wouldn't pass Renderosity's
Marketplace testing.  Obviously SM didn't submit the new version to Rendo for
testing!

I really hope you're being sarcastic.  I've had Renderosity products that have had all the texture references wrong (they were pointing at the wrong folder), products that were missing obj files, products with absolute references to the creator's personal computer...

Actually, I have on several occasions located bad references that Renderosity's testing staff missed. In each case, I contacted the vendor directly resulting in a product update to fix the problem.

Quote - Here's a good one:

Runtime:libraries:Props:MedievalVillageGuardhouse:GuardHou.jpg

is actually located in

Runtime:Libraries:Props:CP Partners:Meshbox:MedievalVillageGuardhouse:GuardHou.jpg

Note in both the bad and corrected references that the texture is located deep within the props folder, instead of the Textures folder where it belongs. Does that mean all props have their textures located with then in the props folder? Not at all! It seems their textures could be located anywhere the author felt like putting them.

You have the Guardhouse, too? 

I have it and can't remember where it came from.

"You have the Guardhouse, too? "

Part of the stock content that comes with Poser 8.

I've had the Guardhouse since Poser 6.   Wasn't sure it I got it from Sharecg, etc.

I like to give credit when I use freebie props, but stock stuff I don't worry about. 
The trouble is keeping track of everything.

I appreciate vendors want to name the folders under their company name, but it's meaningless when looking for something.  behind door number B#####, oh, surfboard.

When I flip back to P6, - when P7 crashes are making me cry-, I feel blind without the collection tab.

I must agree, I really hate it, when they put all the textures, objects and pmd's into one of
the library folders...
Usually I rename them and move them to external runtimes, meaning, Poser is constantly
searching for files...
All this shouldn't be necessary, if they had a look at page 528 of the Poser 8 reference manual...
The chapter, explaining "Poser default file location" and the importance of putting files in the proper folder... :-)

OMG! Read their own manuals? Sacrilege!!! LOL!

The bad habit of plopping the obj's into the character folder has been going on since.. Poser 5 or 6. It's a nuicanse. By now I'm used to it so I know where to look, but WHY do they think Poser comes with a folder called Geometries?! Gah!

Technically, as long as the reference is correct, Poser doesn't give a flying .... about WHERE things are placed, but still it seems odd that the program itself doesn't put the included content in the proper places...

But it's an old song by now :)

We were actually given a choice, put your obj's in the Geometries or the Character folder.

To help keep all of my ducks in a row I choose to keep putting my obj's in the Geometries folder as I have been doing since I started creating stuff.
Geometries = obj's...makes sense to me!

But it really doesn't matter, just as long as the file looks in the correct folder hierarchy for what it's looking for.
Venders should never have a hierarchy looking for an obj/jpg/etc from their desktop or MyDocuments folder...it should **always **be pointing to the Runtime folder structure.

I too hate it when vendors put textures and object files in library folders. Some vendors have done so for years and now they have content in P8. 

I've spent considerable time debugging how Poser search behaves when clicking a library file (looking at the actual search pattern, not the original source code). I posted an example experiment of the search pattern some months ago, if anyone is actually interested. Here it is. Results were one of the reasons I dropped using external Runtimes altogether and now using only a single main Runtime.

It can be argued that Poser eventually finds a file that is incorrectly referenced (if it exists within the Runtime, that is). In a "test" Poser setup with minimal content everything looks just fine.  However, many people have content libraries (multiple Runtimes or not) exceeding 100Gb with thousands of folders and literally hundreds of thousands of files. A missing reference search will always go through all of that and it can not be even stopped within Poser. Letting the vendors publish their stuff with incorrect references casts a very negative light on the overall quality control of SM.