Hi all, I am just beginning to use Poser again after about 4 yrs - i miss it, however.... the long process of organizing and then being able to find my files - are so daunting - i'm actually dreading the idea to the point where i havent even installed a single file of the 1000s i collected.  I used to have a utility by hogsoft called pboost - i don't even know if thats still available.  I'd love to hear frm those here - what their idea of the best organizational tool is - this is not to put anyone down,  - or anything else - its an open forum and i'd just like to hear what everyone thinks before i lay down MORE money to deal with this library organization issue???? so pls - can i kindly get some input?  if you do write with your ideas - suggestions, also tell me where to ck these utilities out - where to read/research about them and buy.  thank you so much for all of your help

Suzi/sprryte (here at renderosity)

Pboost may still exist but has been hugely unsupported for the last couple of years.  Before make app decisions, consider which approach best suites you and your needs.  Many Poser users, including myself, have settled into using multiple runtimes to house and organize content.  You can separate clothing, hair, props, etc into their own categories under their own character model.  Facilitates finding content in the long run.  Another word of advice, don't load everything you own!  You will find that most content will have very minimal use and then will occupy HD space until deleted.  I have set up a special projects runtime for that purpose alone.  Use it, render it and uninstall. 

I have not used organizational software but I do use 3D Content Installer for working zipped content into their appropriate runtime folders.  The program maintains text logs of all installs for easy uninstallation later on.

There are also categories in the newer versions of poser to help organise your content even more!

thank you both - currently, i have no plans to purchase poser 8 - i've been reading about it, and part of my decision is my deep disappointment in smith micro for not offering a purchase of the poser 8 user guide in printed form.

TO Hborre: RE: "I have not used organizational software but I do use 3D Content Installer for working zipped content into their appropriate runtime folders.  The program maintains text logs of all installs for easy uninstallation later on."

1. where can i find 3d content installer?  also, I used to use PInstall (which i still have) how does 3d content installer compare?

Still interested in hearing from others about the different runtime organization tools they've used?  how many are out there? anyone know?  what have been your experiences with them?

I agree with hborre. Multiple runtimes for the stuff that is used often, and temporary project specific runtimes for the rest.

I have also started converting DAZ's installers into archives as they come which makes installation much less painful after that initial bit of effort. With a batch file to speed up the conversion process it's really not much extra work considering the added convenience later.

 PzDB is the one I have found most useful. It is a pure database, allows you to group things by keywords that you create, and doesn't mess with runtime paths.

Quote - thank you both - currently, i have no plans to purchase poser 8 - i've been reading about it, and part of my decision is my deep disappointment in smith micro for not offering a purchase of the poser 8 user guide in printed form.

IMO, the PDF manual, starting with Poser Pro and also P8, are the best laid out I have seen for any application. No scrolling within a page.
I wish some other apps would take notice.
Been meaning to thank Smith-Micro for that.

The best one for me is my brain.  It's free (to me), generally accurate and doesn't often crash.

I'm a believer in one big Runtime with lots of meaningful subfolders.  Works like a charm for me. 

Quote - The best one for me is my brain.  It's free (to me), generally accurate and doesn't often crash.

I'm a believer in one big Runtime with lots of meaningful subfolders.  Works like a charm for me. 

Bingo! Me too!
I have several dozen runtimes, and each runtime has multiple sub folders that have naming continuity from one library to another so that I can find things that relate to a particular outfit/package just by looking inside a folder.

 Must be nice to be young and be able to remember ANYTHING! ROFL. I've got major CRS and if it's not where I can see it right out front, I don't think of it. I actually bought several items twice before the various sites started reminding me "You already have that item" No kidding.

Seriously, does not renaming the folders create broken links? I'd been told that it would, and at one time had my runtime so screwed up I had to do a clean reinstall.

Well, it depends on the what libraries you are renaming folders in.

You can safely move files within each of these library folders:

Camera
Character
Face
Hair
Hand
Light
Materials
Pose
Props

Never rename folders inside the Geometries or Textures folders, or any of the additional morph type folders that appear directly inside the "Libraries" folder. 

I'll give you an example:

Let's say I have a package that I want to install that includes a top, pants, skirt, hat, boots, purse and hand poses for the purse.

Now lets say that when I unzipped the zip file that there were files put into the following folders:

Character
Hand
Pose
Props

Now let's say that the files inside the "Character" folder unzipped to something like the following path:   character / JSmith / Daz People / V4 / Hot Dress

Now let's say that the same package unzipped files into the "Pose" folder to something like this:  pose / disco diva /' bling

And that the files in the "Prop" folder came out in the following path:  props / head gear / hat

Now if you were to just  unzip that zip file to the runtime without looking at it first, you would never in a million years be able to relate inside poser what items went with that package you just installed, unless of course it was the only item you had installed in the entire runtime. But that usually isn't the case.

What I do is continuity naming.  I unzip the file into a folder on my desk top, then I look through it and move around files in the folders that I listed above. And I give the new folder that I put them into, the same name throughout each library.  For example let's say the package we installed was called "Disco Diva" and was made by Dr. Geep. I would open the character folder and get rid of that 5 layer tier of folders.  I would instead make one folder and put the files directly into it and I would call that folder  "Dr. Geep - Disco Diva"   and I would do the same for each of the folder of files inside the "Pose" and "Props" and "Hand" folders.  

That way when I went to use "Disco Diva", all I have to do is open up each library folder and if I see "Dr. Geep - Disco Diva" in the library, I know that those files are part of that package that I installed.

 This is the clearest explanation of what can and can't be done I've seen. And it makes sense.

So NOW you tell me... after I spent all that time organizing 80 gb in PzDB!!!!!! :)

Seriously, many thanks!

Can anyone point me to a really good detailed tutorial on how to build multiple runtimes (geared for newbies lol* or maybe there should be a "Poser for Dummies" book )

Get Organised with Runtime
http://www.daz3d.com/i/tutorial/tutorial?id=1597&_m=d

Poser Multiple Runtimes revisited

http://www.posermocap.com/2008/09/16/tutorial-setting-up-multiple-external-runtimes/

Quote - Can anyone point me to a really good detailed tutorial on how to build multiple runtimes (geared for newbies lol* or maybe there should be a "Poser for Dummies" book )

It's really pretty easy.  The problem is that most people over think it.  

Just remember that an external runtime is exactly the same as the runtime in your Poser folder, only it's just sitting in a different location.  

It functions exactly the same way. 

And files are installed / added to them in exactly the same way. 

And they have the same folders in them as the main runtime does. Well almost the same folders.  Scripts for example have to be installed into the main Poser runtime and won't work from an external runtime.

Here is a sample of an external runtime.  Simply download it and unzip it. You will have a folder called "Runtime_Sample"

www.divshare.com/download/8531562-1f6

Find a place on your hard drive that you want to have your external runtimes living. For me it's on my partitioned drive D.

Make a folder called "Poser Runtimes"

s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii124/Acadia_ca/

Then simply copy that sample runtime you unzipped into that "Poser Runtimes" folder and make as many copies of it as you want to.  Change "Runtime_Sample" to whatever name you want.  Here is what I named some of mine:

s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii124/Acadia_ca/

Then all you do is simply install your content into whichever runtime you feel it fits best into.

Once you have finished installing your content look in the Runtimes where you have Daz characters such as V3 or V4 etc.  Go into the Library folder and look for the !DAZ folder.  Make a COPY of that folder and place the COPY in exactly the same place in the main Poser Runtime. 

Poser looks there first so by placing a copy of them in there, you are helping Poser out.  Don't delete the !DAZ folder from your other runtimes though. That defeats the purpose of having external runtimes, which is not only to allow Poser to work faster, organize your content better, but also to not lose your installed runtime content in the even of a crash because hopefully you have also saved your external runtimes to a couple other places for easy access in case of the need to reinstall.

Hope that helps.  If you have more questions, just ask.

Oh yeah, never install anything directly to your runtime. Always unzip / install to a folder on your desk top so you can see what is in side and what the folder structure is.