I've been on a buying spree and before I install all this newly purchased stuff into Poser 8 I need to figure out the best way to use multiple runtimes. Right now I'm using just one runtime, things are starting to get out of hand and it takes far too long to find what I'm looking for. The Poser 8 search feature seems to be really sucky, at least in my Mac Poser 8 version, so that doesn't help.

Somewhere I've seen a good tutorial on how to really organize multiple runtimes to maximize working efficiency. There's probably a tutorial right here on Renderosity but I can't find it if it exists.

Can someone please point me in the right direction?

Thank you,
Dkal

you mean like this? http://www.posermocap.com/2008/09/16/tutorial-setting-up-multiple-external-runtimes/

Found that in the Poser Tutorials section ;o).

Laurie

 Ya ya ya! Dats it! Thank you very much, LauieA! You know what I'll be doing all night tonight!

:-)

Dkal

Thanks, esterau!

That sounds a little simpler than what is being recommended in the 2 tutorials that I've found so far. They both recommend that you categorize in broader categories, i.e., "Accessories_Fantasy," "Accessories_Horror," "Accessories_Household."

I like your ideas for organization. In some cases though you must mix different products together in one folder, e.g., the folder you call "Poser_Plants" probably contains products from different vendors. Just guessing. You still are doing some grouping of items from different vendors, right? For example if you had a prop of a basket of fruit from one vendor and a watermelon from another vendor then you'd probably just create one folder for them called "Poser_Fruit" right?

But I can kind of see what you're doing and it does look like a better way to organize things. Right now, with all my stuff in just one Runtime, I usually remember what the product name is that I'm looking for but the vendor put it in a folder that has the vendor's name on it , e.g., "AcmeModels,"  and I can't always remember that the watermelon is in the AcmeModels folder, for example.

Can I ask, why do you begin every folder name with "Poser_"?

Dkal

yes, I do group things sometimes especially if there aren't lots of MAT poses,  but more and more I'm tending not to as it is so much quicker to find stuff if everything is separate, and of course it is very much quicker to install the runtimes.
When I first started poser, everything went into one runtime and now I hardly ever use that runtime as it is too difficult to find things.
I had everything starting with poser in case I have to do a mass-replace change to PZ3s for paths (this dated from the days when absolute paths were in pz3s).  It's probably unnceccesary now, but I still do it.
Love esther

Thanks so much for your help, estherau! Just one more question, hopefully, the last.

Do you keep all of your DAZ characters and models (people) in the "main" runtime, the one that Poser initially creates? I read somewhere where it said that it was best to do that for some reason. Not sure why or if it really matters.

Again, thanks!

Dkal

Organization in Poser is very important.  Libraries grow quickly and it soon gets to a point where you can't find anything.

So far as organization goes...

You have 2 options that can help you with organizing and being able to find things:

1.  Create sub folders inside the library folders.

This is the preferred method for many. It uses one single runtime with lots and lots of sub folders within the main library folders, in order to organize the content.  The learning curve is minimal. If you can right click and create a new folder and drag and drop, you can do this.  The learning curve is knowing what folders you can move files around in and what folders not to touch.

You can move around the files inside the library sub folders. 

Don't move, touch or rename files or folders  in the top level of the library folder that carry the name of the merchants, or the "Morph" or the !DAZ  folder because those are morphs and need to stay where they are.

Just work with the standard ones inside the Library folder such as camera, faces, hand, pose, props, hair, lighting, character. 

Leave the files inside the geometries and texture folders alone.

Right now you have a hodge podge of files for various figures in each folder plus props, poses, lights etc.

Open the character folder and create sub folders for each of your figures IE: V3, V4, M3, D3, Aiko, Apollo etc.  Do the same for each of the other library sub folders.  You can also create other folders too, such as "Poses" or "Props" or "Backgrounds" or "Hair" etc.

Then go through your files in each of the library subfolders and move them into the appropriate folder for the figure they belong.

Things like lights, and poses and hair and props are universal items really, and can be used across figure, so I like to have those separated instead of filed by "figure" because I often use V3 poses on Aiko and hair for Posette on V3 etc.

You will run into a problem for items that are for more than one figure. Like where do you file those?  For exxample an outfit that is for V3 and M3 and Aiko and SP3: where do you file them? If you put them in the V3 folder, then you forget that they can be used for M3 and Aiko and SP3 too. It was this complication that prompted me to move onto using external runtimes (described below).

I did it this way at one time and it worked well enough,well except for items that could be used on a few figures like I described above.   I decided I wanted even more organization, and I didn't like having one huge runtime because it was impossible to really burn it to a CD/DVD without having to break it into bits and pieces.  Plus it took Poser forever to load because the runtime was so big.  So I tried option 2 below.

**2. Multiple External Runtimes
**

This is my choice for organizing my installed content.  I did the first method first and it worked for awhile, but as my content grew, it became cumbersome, so I switched to multiple external runtimes, which works out great.

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.

So far as organization inside the runtimes, continuity of naming goes a long long way.

Let's say for example that LaurieA gave me a beautiful clothing package for V4.  The package consisted of the following:

Dress
Shoes
Purse
Hair
Poses

When I get that file I will unzip it into a folder on my desk top in order to see what is inside.  Here is what I find

Dress inside a folder in the character folder aptly named "superstar dress"

Shoes inside a folder named "LaurieA" inside is another  folder named "V4" inside is another  folder named "props" inside are 2 more folders: 1  called "V4 Flats" and finally inside that folder are the shoe files, the other called "V4 Purse" with the purse file inside.

I find the hair  in the hair library, deep inside several folders as I did the props

And finally the poses for the figure are found in a folder in the Pose Library called "Gotta Have Fun" and another folder that simply said "dress textures"

Now if I were to install all of that into my runtime I wouldn't have a clue later on when I went to look for stuff to use from that one package, of what went with what!

Which is why it's important to open things onto your desktop and look through it and rename some of the folders that the vendor created.

The example of above is a very real nightmare that for some reason many vendors seem to do.  Another nightmare is using there real names as names for the folders instead of their vendor name.  That only adds to the confusion.

Here is how I would sort out the mess above while it was still on my desktop.

LaurieA - Superstar Dress
LaurieA - Superstar Dress
LaurieA - Superstar Dress
LaurieA - Superstar Dress
LaurieA - Superstar Dress

Yes, each folder in each libary is now called the same thing.  BUT I now have no doubt that when I do to use the superstar dress, that I will know what I'm looking at when I open up each library.

You can get even more organized.

For example under Poses, if you have found 5 new textures for that dress by 5 different artists, you can keep them all in one place. For example:

Artist 1 - (superstar dress) - sequins
Artist 2 - (superstar dress)  - dragon textures
Artist 3 - (superstar dress) - metalics
etc. etc. etc.

Just plunk those extra textures you found, as named above, inside the LaurieA - Superstar Dress  folder in the Pose Library.  Now when you want to use the superstar dress you have all of the textures at hand in one place.

 Wow! Excellent information, Acadia. I'm printing it out to keep for future reference. Need to get all of this organization stuff to really sink into this old brain of mine.

Also, thanks estherau for turning me on to the Semidieu scripts at Runtimedna. I'll probably buy most of Shaderworks advanced scripts and Semidieu utlity scripts. Very cool stuff that I didn't know existed before!

Thanks to all,
Dkal

 I keep separate runtimes for each DAZ figure.  And as mentioned I have been doing separate runtimes for each product, although I'm starting to rethink that setup. I've been moving outfits into the figure's runtimes, but then you run into the problem of things that fit both V4 and A4.  They are like fighting over the clothes X.x

Quote - They are like fighting over the clothes X.x

Sounds like my two younger sisters. LOL

Thanks for the advice on the DAZ people figures. So, I have a question on that ... if you install Vicki 4 into a separate folder, and then buy a character that's based on Vicki 4 (e.g., Mec4D's "Natasza" character), do you combine them in the same folder? Or do you put the Natasza character into a separate folder of her own?

 I don't think there is a set rule on that.  So, either, or into the original Poser runtime.

I like to keep my hard drive nice and tidy, so I keep everything archived and categorized in different folders in an external Downloads folder until I need something.  Then I install whatever I need into an external !Projects! runtime named for the project I'm working on.  When I'm done with the project and rendered the final image, I delete the !Projects! runtime and everything in it.

I, too, use mutiple runtimes.

Quote -  I keep separate runtimes for each DAZ figure.  And as mentioned I have been doing separate runtimes for each product, although I'm starting to rethink that setup. I've been moving outfits into the figure's runtimes, but then you run into the problem of things that fit both V4 and A4.  They are like fighting over the clothes X.x

That's why I have "V4 Clothing" and "A4 Clothing" and "V3 Clothing"

If something fits more than one figure, I put an entire copy of the package into that specific runtime folder.  If a clothing item fits all of the above figures, the clothing item gets put into each clothing runtim.

 That sounds like it makes sense, Acadia. I'll start doing that too now.

Dkal

 with my method I sometimes put the same runtime in two different places if I think I might look in another place for the item.
and of course if someone makes hair mats and poses for a particular hair I put them in the same folder with the original hair. Other than that I don't do too much, as I have such a lot of content I would be all day organizing it, and with my method I can find things quickly and easily.
Yes the semidieu scripts are invaluable! eg delete multiple - I use that one heaps and also change visibility (although lately it has been scrolling really slowly for me - perhaps because of my large scenes)
Love esther

 sorry - the delete multiple python semidieu script works fine.  the change actor visibility scrolls very slowly for me.
Love esther

Thanks, estherau.

I left a message in a runtimedna forum asking if all of the shaderworks advanced scripts and semidieu utlity scripts work fine on a Mac running Poser 8.  Also wrote a direct mail to the vendor. Nobody's answered so far. So I'm waiting for confirmation before I buy. Just being a little cautious.

I use a MacPro desktop but it seems as if most of the folks discussing Poser are on Windows machines and often people seem to presume that others are using Windows machines. Macs must still be in the minority for 3D work. I know that's how it used to be any way.
That makes me cautious when buying some new items that I don't have too much experience with, like python scripts that have to work together with the computer's file structure.

Tell me if I'm being overly cautious, estherau. You'd seem to know.

Dkal

My runtime is completely empty other than work files. I keep all my content in the original zip-exe files or packed away. If I have a need to use something I go get it, install it, and then promptly delete when finished.

I would not recommend that arrangement. It is only useful if you never do anything but work on your own stuff. Then its good to keep everything cleared out of the way. :)

I have sorted my runtimes in such way that they fit with my peronal working flow. And I allways try to find logical way to splitt  my runtime even more. Right now I'm working on my "Plants" runtime  -going to splitt it into; Trees, bushes, flowers and fungi . . I think :P not really sure yet. And I also want to splitt my Architecture runtime, since it contains all sort of buildings, temples, homes and just building parts; i dont like that runtime its too big. But I also have a little issue of overthink things; some items I cant fit - some items is very hard to place, is it a temple? is it a structure?...hmm well it aint a home, but where do I place it? :P

Some of my newest runtime is "Jewelry" - wich is all jewelry items, "Weapons" - wich is all kind of weapons, no matter wich figure they was made for and "Costume extra" - this is things like hats, glasses, bags and belts; items that easy can be fitted on other figure that it was made for.

Right now I have 61 runtimes :)

LOL

I'm having the same issues with some of the props that can fit into multiple categories. THe answer for me in some cases is to duplicate them.

Because I'm starting from scratch and making multiple runtimes for the first time ever, I am starting by following estherau's advice and initially creating a new runtime for each item that I install. Certainly makes installation go quickly! Then, if I decide to combine a few items I can always do that later. This is all going pretty smoothly for me.

Estherau's approach seems very flexible and less daunting than some other organization schemes which call for stricter adherence to naming conventions and categories. So far, I'm liking it very much but I still have much more installation to do (went crazy and purchased hundreds of new things recently).

After all of my new runtimes are installed I'll have to go back to what used to be my one-and-only humongous runtime and move some of that stuff to new runtimes and then delete it from there. That may be the only really time-consuming part of my major reorganization.

:-)

Quote - Thanks, estherau.

I left a message in a runtimedna forum asking if all of the shaderworks advanced scripts and semidieu utlity scripts work fine on a Mac running Poser 8.  Also wrote a direct mail to the vendor. Nobody's answered so far. So I'm waiting for confirmation before I buy. Just being a little cautious.

I use a MacPro desktop but it seems as if most of the folks discussing Poser are on Windows machines and often people seem to presume that others are using Windows machines. Macs must still be in the minority for 3D work. I know that's how it used to be any way.
That makes me cautious when buying some new items that I don't have too much experience with, like python scripts that have to work together with the computer's file structure.

Tell me if I'm being overly cautious, estherau. You'd seem to know.

Dkal

Mac BookPro today as I am traveling in Asia. At home Intel Mac desktop about 2 years old all running latest OSX, no problems with seideu scripts for the most part. He makes what seems like a 100 different scripts. One or two might act wonky at first. But he has always figures them out and corrects if needed to run on a Mac. I used the delete items one so much because I add a lot of various scenes together a lot and steal props from one to the other to add real life clutter and delete what I don't want by using his script. I have it in my main python pallet menu that is how much I use it.

Quote - LOL

I'm having the same issues with some of the props that can fit into multiple categories. THe answer for me in some cases is to duplicate them.

Because I'm starting from scratch and making multiple runtimes for the first time ever, I am starting by following estherau's advice and initially creating a new runtime for each item that I install. Certainly makes installation go quickly! Then, if I decide to combine a few items I can always do that later. This is all going pretty smoothly for me.

Estherau's approach seems very flexible and less daunting than some other organization schemes which call for stricter adherence to naming conventions and categories. So far, I'm liking it very much but I still have much more installation to do (went crazy and purchased hundreds of new things recently).

After all of my new runtimes are installed I'll have to go back to what used to be my one-and-only humongous runtime and move some of that stuff to new runtimes and then delete it from there. That may be the only really time-consuming part of my major reorganization.

:-)

For me, all prop packages go into the "Props" runtime.
 

I consider things like the following as props:

swords
jewelery
buildings
dishes
fans
food
musical items
sky domes
temples/shrines
vases or urns
statues
rocks
books
eye glasses
crowns
skulls
purses

Basically Anything that is its own stand alone package of accessories (what I mean is that the props are not part of a character or clothing package. I treat those differently).

Now, on the other hand, some character packages and clothing packages come with props included in the package.  Those props get put into  a different runtime.  For example.

Let's say tha I bought a clothing package for V4 that had some props such as a magic wand, a magic globe and a nifty headdress.   Since it's clothing and for V4, I would put that entire package, props included, into my "V4 Clothing" runtime.  And remember... continuity of naming from one library folder IE: character, poses and props etc, makes for easy location of things that belong with the package.

Now let's say I bought a full character package that comes with clothing and some props.  It took me some time to figure out what worked best for me in this situation. I decided that because there is a character involved, the entire package would go into the proper character runtime.  I have a "V4 Characters", so if the character was for V4, I would put that entire package into my "V4 Character" runtime.   

When I go to use props in a scene, I look through my "Props" runtime, but I always check my various character runtime folders to see if there are any props in there that I could use, especially for purses, hats and jewelry since some clothing packages have those included with them.

One thing I want to clarify is when I put a package into more than one runtime if it's for multiple figures.  IE: V3, A3 and SP3.  I have a character runtime for each of those figures.  Plus I have a clothing runtime for each one too.    When I said I put the package into each runtime, I do do that.  BUT, what I do is go through a delete things that don't belong to the figure of the runtime that I'm putting the files into.  Basically, if I am putting the package into "V3 Clothing", I will delete the files for "A3" and "SP3".  And when I'm putting the package into "SP3 Clothing", I will delte the files for "V3" and "A3".  This way I only have files for the figure that the runtime belongs too.

I could never go back to using another method of organization.  My runtimes are so highly organized that if I'm looking for something I know exactly what runtime to look in, what library folder and which sub folder to find it in.  I have dozens of runtimes, but because they are so highly organized, it takes me literally a few seconds to go from one to another and find what I'm needing.

Personally i use 1 runtime (external) for each artist (vendor). Then i have a folder or group of folders with a picture of the product sorted as v4 character, scene ,prop,etc.

This allows me to view what i have in my runtime as needed click link to vendors page for deatiled info,and any addons for that package.

also when loading poser, i know the artist or group of artists the products and all i need before hand, so no searching poser library for it.

Quote -  link to vendors page for deatiled info,and any addons for that package.

I must be a little dense. I don't follow. What are you clicking on to link to the vendors page? Is this inside of poser?

No no outside poser i set up a file for each type ie v4 , props etc. these each have a picture of each vendor product , dragging the text info for that product page to the folder sets a bookmark link to that product within my file, clicking on this takes me to the vendor info page.

within poser my runtimes are set as artist names each one having its own runtime then all that artists stuff goes in there , easy to find. i .e....
3d zone
3da
3dc
3dfever
3dream
3ds
4blueeyes
a gentle muse
etc...

so my outside folder  would be v4 characters for instance , then all the v4 characters as i install them i would drag the pic from the vendor page rename it appropriate
example :Vamp Siobhan
then clicking the link ive dragged over will take me here www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php

now all i need to know is within reach.... open poser scroll to vamp runtime and there she is
i can scroll through pics of all my v4 characters till i find the 1 i want .
same with props sceens etc

Okay, I believe I now understand what you're doing, morgothemage.

So in each product folder you have 2 things: 1) an image of the product pulled from a marketplace product page, and; 2) a hypertext link to that product page.

Did I get it right? Thank you for your patience.

Dkal

yep exactly right, gives a catalog of sorts.

Thank you so much, morgothemage!  I beleive that I finally get the idea.!

Kind of assimilating all of this while I'm still working on installing all of these new runtimes. It's seeming to work out really well though.

Thank you very much,
Dkal

Anytime glad i could help
feel free to site mail me if you need anything

 I just thought of another advantage of multiple runtimes. If you have one huge runtime, when you scroll through it you see a lot of questionmarks, and the thumbnails take a little while to load, but not with small runtimes
Love esther