When one starts to install all items to a new directory structure under 1 runtime what do you do with all of the extra readme's licenses etc? Or do you unzip to a separate folder and skip moving all of that stuff to the runtime?

I never use only one runtime. I categorize products by type, and and leave the read mes where they are, so its easy to locate them.

Never install everything in 1 runtime, unless you want to slow down poser to a crawl.

I have a folder above Runtime - I use only one - where all the Readmes are stored. My Runtime is organized into sub folders. IMO it's the only way to fly.

Depends if it is just a standard readme or if it's pdf.  I usually haved pdf docs in a separate folder.

Well... I'm playing with the Poser content sample runtime (from FightingWolf?) and I'm trying to add a few things at a time to figure it out. It has categories... each with a Runtime folder inside. So I was under the impression that all vehicles go under "Vehiclesruntime" and I take all of the stuff from under the runtime in the old (messy) external runtime for "Car1" "Car2" or whatever and put them all into the same Runtime under "Vehicles". It all works and is easy to find (small scale with 4 items)... but I end up over writing all of the readme's and licenses for all of the various products. Maybe it would grind to a halt with more items (my messy one certainly has). Maybe I just don't get it. Which is entirely possible since I obviously don't get it.

I look at the readme and if it contains information that is instructional that I might find useful for future reference I move it to a completely different folder, outside of the Runtime that I set up for product documentation.  It if is simply a file manifest, I delete it and if I were to need it in the future, I still have it in the original zip file.

Make your own new separate runtimes based on category. That way you can add or remove them at will. dumping everything into one huge runtime is a bad idea.. poser has to then sift through everything when you access anything.

Keep in mind, you could easily be talking 50 gigabytes of data, once you total everything up. Imagine a file cabinet with 100,000 pieces of paper, and you pulling 10 specific ones out every day... for a few months. Wouldn't that drive you mad, and wouldn't that be very time consuming?

The less poser has to sort through, the faster it will run.

Ok... so pardon my cluelessness... but I would have Multiple runtimes under each category and have to add each one separately? If I simplify the set up so Poser sees all of the content automatically then It slows to a crawl?

Make the new runtimes categories.

For instance, install all vehicles in a vehicle runtime. Add the vehicle runtime if you are using a vehicle, don't bother to add it if you are not.

For characters with a lot of crap (like VictoriaXXX) They get their own separate runtime

I have runtimes for:

toons

vehicle

buildings

interiors

weapons

Christmas

Halloween

plants

environment

Ect. You get the idea. if I'm not doing a christmas render, none of the christmas stuff is sorted through. many times I'm doing an outdoor scene, and I only need the figure, the plants and the environemtns available.

Just make enough initally to cover as many categories as possible. Once you start to mix them up, you end up with a real mess.

I'm a pretty Dim bulb apparently.

Toons/runtime/everything

or

toons/runtime/tunename/runtime

toons/runtime/tunename2/runtime

?

Thanks.

You just make a folder named toons, and install all your toon products into it. The installer will create all the folders you need.

You are overthinking it. Some people kill themselves trying to micro manage their content, and then as a result, end up spend more time on that than creating.

Try it, and if you screw it up, you can alway sjust delete that one folder and start fresh.

In the few days you've been trying to sort it out, you could have already installed hundereds of products, and be off playing.

I still have my over bloated original Poser 4 runtime linked to externally! LOL!

I have 13 or so runtimes, containing something like this:

Gen 4: Generation 4 Daz figures, character textures, and hair

Gen 3: Likewise, only Generation 3

Gen 4 Clothing (needs to be split into male and female, now)

Gen 3 Clothing

Kids

Toons

Creatures

Other humanoid figures

Miscellaneous Props

Props and Scenes

You could organize things however you want. The main thing is that I always unzip (or instal, if a Daz product) the files to a dummy runtime first so that I can look at the file structure and rename folders, if I need to.

The renaming of folders is key to my sanity. If I later come across a structure such as

Runtime>Libraries>Pose>4Mp7yal>Characters>Bountiful>V4

I may have no idea what on earth it is. But if I rename the folders to:

Runtime>Libraries>Pose>V4 Clothing>Fantasy>Bountiful for So and So's Fantasy Wrap...

I'll know exactly what it is, where to find it, and whose clothing figures the MAT poses refer to.

You just have to be careful not to rename geometry, morph, or texture folders that will be referenced in the files themselves -- unless you want to edit the paths. But folders in the actual libraries (Pose, Props, Character, Hair, Light, Face, Hand, Cameras, and Materials categories of the library) can be renamed whatever you like.

I move all readme's and licenses to one folder at the top of the runtime. If I feel like renaming them, I do.

Some vendors have a habit of putting all of their work into folders using their own name:

Runtime>Libraries>Props>Kool3DKid>Scifi Mega City...

...which is great if you can remember who made what. If you're a fan and have multiple products for them, it's a good system. I do this for Stonemason, for instance. But for single products, it's a pain in the rear. So I would rename the props folder to read:

Runtime>Libraries>Props>Sci Fi>Urban Exterior>Scifi Mega City - Kool3DKid

If there were any MAT poses that went with the set, I'd keep as much of the file structure identical as I could:

Runtime>Libraries>Pose>Sci Fi>Urban Exterior>Scifi Mega City MAT - Kool3DKid

Finally, runtimes that I don't use much, aren't added to Poser. They still sit on the harddrive ready to use, but I don't force Poser to load them every time.

Oh, and one last point: There's no need to waste days of your life on a content installing frenzy reinstalling everything you own. Just re-install what you need for your next project.

Maybe the whole Runtime access has changed since P6 but with that, a huge Runtime doesn't slow things down.  A longer load time maybe but once it's in, it's in.  In any case, switching from one Runtime to another can slow things down because Poser has to read all the indexes (indices, if you prefer) for the new one.  Then if you switch back, it does it all over again.

My way, there's a minimum of fuss and bother, the cranky Mill3 INJ/REM poses never screw up and I can find anything I want rapidly.  Installing is a piece of kelp (recent over exposure to Nemo, thank the kids), since everything goes to one Runtime.  Stuff then gets put in relevant subcategories, such as Humans, Robots, Vehicles, Weapons and so forth.

What's not to like? 

Quote - Maybe the whole Runtime access has changed since P6 but with that, a huge Runtime doesn't slow things down.  A longer load time maybe but once it's in, it's in.  In any case, switching from one Runtime to another can slow things down because Poser has to read all the indexes (indices, if you prefer) for the new one.  Then if you switch back, it does it all over again.

My way, there's a minimum of fuss and bother, the cranky Mill3 INJ/REM poses never screw up and I can find anything I want rapidly.  Installing is a piece of kelp (recent over exposure to Nemo, thank the kids), since everything goes to one Runtime.  Stuff then gets put in relevant subcategories, such as Humans, Robots, Vehicles, Weapons and so forth.

What's not to like? 

Yeah. I think you're probably right. There's likely no substantial difference between one runtime with a bunch of subfolders, and a bunch of runtimes... except that if you keep separate runtimes, and the content in one or more of them gets outdated, they're dead easy to delete and forget about.

I would like to have all of my content available.

I'm just a Hobbyist and all of my renders are useless idiocy. Most of them relate to the Character "3D Mac" (Profile Pic). I just made him/me in the Faceroom and then I think up nonsensical crap for him to do. I never know what I might need or what might, well.... for lack of a better world, inspire me. Inspire is not the right word.

I'm going to try a bunch of categories with one runtime under each for testing and to see what happens.

I have Runtime, Downloads, Clothing runtime, Morph runtime, Robot runtime, vehicles runtime, hair runtime and weapons runtime. Robot includes sci-fi stuff.

If I was starting again I would probably divide it up even more.

I finally went with 40 categories, each with it's own runtime. I didn't install but 1/4 of my total content as I realized how much of it I never even look at. now, assuming I don't screw up the install, I don't have to seek out and add to the Library each Item I have and/or get.