Hello.

I am reading my PP2012 manual to help learn about different features, but sometimes it is not as clear as I apparently need. So I will take this one step at a time. I have loaded various items into content, but finding what I want and need is sometimes a challange. It seems better if I have, for example, a dedicated folder for V4, and then I can go to her items, characters, clothing, etc. I read on the procedure for doing this but it is not clear to me. Could someone please help me with this.

Thanks.

R 

Suggest saving to the library favorites panel. In that way you can save a shortcut to the item, organized however you wish, and not have to worry about Poser loosing geometries or textures.

ORGANIZATION

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.

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.

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.

Thanks, Acadia.

I did what you indicated. I Made a file on Drive F labled Poser Runtimes. Then I took the runtime sample download and put it in Poser Runtimes, renamed it V4 Clothing, and did the same for V3 Clothing. So when I install clothing for V4 it will go there and it will go to the regular poser runtime. And "Poser Runtimes" will appear in the PP2012 content as a separate file.... is that the idea... ?

R

I tried extracting a file. I thought it would automatically go into the V4 file... but it didn't. So I assume I must select the runtime I want to extract the file to... is that right?

R

Also then it only takes a second to unzip and rename the folder and dump it into your folder full of external runtimes.

(If for some reason you want to see all your poses for V4 in all your different folders, then advanced library manager by semidieu at rdna can do that in one click if needed.  but mostly you don't need them combined.  Providing your folders are named say V4_fight_poses V4_modelling_poses etc, then when you put poses in your search for runtimes all the external runtimes with the word poses come up instantly and you can combine them in one click if you want)

Love esther

also there is a python script for adding a whole folder full of external runtimes to poser in one hit so you don't necessarily have to add them all one at a time.

Love esther

I followed Acadia's instructions, but the file "Poser Runtimes" wasn't recognized by PP as a runtime. I then directed PP to "Add Library" for just "V3 clothing" and it was imported into the Poser Library... that was good. Next, when I installed an item into "V3 Clothing" and went to the library to get it, the library indicated "V3 Clothing" contained no items... empty. What do you think I did wrong?

Thanks, Esther  

Oh... sorry, sorry...

I found out what I did... the cloths folder for V3 was empty in Figures, but when I went to Pose, the cloths were there, and I could get it. It worked. I am delighted. This will help so much.

Thank you everyone.

Randy

If you buy tons of content like I do, external runtimes are by far the quickest, and unfortunately if you have one big external runtime called V3 clothes then you will have trouble finding your mat files for all your various clothes, whereas if you just keep each outfit in it's on runtime then the mats that are for those clothes are all really easy to find.  Also this way only takes a few seconds to isntall your new content as well with no reorganizing required.

Love esther

and say if you name the things V3_jeanz and another external runtime V3_SkinnyJeans, and another one V3_dynamicJeans etc and you use advanced library manager, it can see just the jeans folders in less than 30 seconds just by typing the word jea into runtime search.  You can then select one or two or combine all in one click. (a temporary virtual combo of the external runtimes) 

Love esther

Hi,

I'm running Poser 7. I have had two orgainzation problems, one of which (content organization) I have solved (sort of), the other still pending.

The thing about poser that has always bothered me is that there are so many steps clicks) to everything you want to do. The Library is confusing, as sometines clothing ends up in props, or Poses, or figures. And with so much content specific to each character, the steps to add and then dress a character can be very complex and time consuming.

Then I discovered "Collections" where you can organize different types of content into a single set of folders that are specific to a specific character. The only problem here is that inside Poser, transfering each item from the Library (you're not actually transfering them, but rather making a copy in the collections folder) to the collections is a very time consuming process when you dozens or hundreds of items to put into the collection.

However, I found the Collections folder inside the library folder in Runtime, and realized that I could create all my sub folders (figures, hair, poses, etc.) and then copy the items I wanted "in mass" to the collections.

First set-up you folder and subfolder structure in the Collections folder in runtime (using regular windows functions). Go into the folder holding what you want to transfer, select the items, right click and choose COPY (do not drag and drop as this will remove the item from the regular library folder and screw you up BAD!).

Then paste the copied items into the collection subfolders. Now I can open the collections, and everything I need for say V3 is right there.

However, the problem I have yet to solve is that of the Body Part Morph Menus.

Again, using poser involves selecting the character, and then the part of the body you want to work on. This opens the the morphs for that body part. My issue is the click-click-click and scroll and click (etc) required for me to get at and adjust all of the body parts I need. If I am working with two characters and making fine adjustments between the characters, my clicking finger is hurting by the time I'm done. The sad part is that I find that I use say a few dozen morphs, yet with all of the morph injections there are dozens of morph choices I need to go through each time I enter that body part.

Just as with collections, is there a way to create a custom morph menu where I can group specific (multi-body-part) morph wheels that meet my needs???

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thanks  

could you point me in the direction of that script for adding all runtimes in a go ?

please ?

Hi Joel2.

I have had some very fine help here... I'm the guy who asked the question at the beginning of the thread.

Estherau was especially good with her help, and if you go to RDNA you might find an item by Smidiu (I might have the name wrong) that is good for P7.

Another thing that might help is that I put V4, and all her morphs and textures in one external runtime, so that when I open that in Poser Content I have all the things there that I need to work on V4.

R 

I want add a new library. A folder named Poser2012 was setup during installation in the My Documents. Do I just add this folder using the Add new library icon. 

I wouldn't put the V4 stuff in posercontent though as there is so much other stuff there that it might be hard to find the mat and mor files for her different characters and clothes.

I would give V4 her own folder. In fact mine has separate external runtime folders for different clothes and characters, mostly.

Love esther

@Banaman: I believe that this is the main PP2012 runtime content folder and it is already linked to the Library as well as a Download folder for additional content.  Only newly created external runtimes should be either manually or automatically through Python Script added.

This folder is separate from the Main and Download. You are right about not being able to use the scripts to link it. I studied the Poser reference and realized I had to use the Poser interface to add the link. The folder is in My Documents. I switched to the Library Manager2 and it showed up, I have not installed any content in that location but it has a runtime structure. I think when I installed the application I made some choices about external runtimes, but did not understand what the result was going to be as I have never done this before.

I found my poser content folder was added automatically, and also can't be deleted from poser.

Hi BendingGrass

In Poser 7, I use a function called "Collections". As the name implies this is a system for doing exactly what you described in your post. If you look in your runtime folder and open Library, you will see the collections folder.

In Poser, the collection system works off of the same tab as your library display (on the right of the screen). If you open say a specific pose, and right click on that pose, the system will ask you to "Add to a Collection" If you select that you can save a copy of that pose in a collection folder.

If you click on the Collections tab at the top, you will see a new library display with you one pose in it. OK it works, how to make it productive?

If you go back to your Poser runtime folder, go into Library, and open the Collection folder, you will see your lone pose. Here you can structure the folders you want. Let's say you create a folder called "V4". Inside that folder you can create other folders, such as V4 Characters, V4 Poses, V4 Clothing, etc., Etc.

Now you'll notice that the single pose you transfered to the collections folder is a short-cut, not the actual file. That's fine, that short-cut is simply pointing the program to go to the regurlar pose folder and use that pose, so in the program you can add figures, clothing, hair, etc from your structured collections folder, and not have to go searching in the regular library for your V4 specific items.

Here's  the catch, for me I like to have all of my poses in my "Collections V4 Poses" folder. However, if you are dealing with dozens and dozens (even hundreds of pose files (or any other type of file; Hair, Clothing, etc.), transfering one file at a time is a pain and very time consuming. However, there is a way to do it in mass right in the runtime folder.

Again, go to your runtime folder, go to your collections folder (with the folder structure described above), Now, open a second explore window and navigate to your runtime, pose folder. Open the group of poses you wish to put into your collections (or other stuff, props, clothing, etc.). Select all of the poses you want to transfer and right click on the selected group and select "Copy"

Now this is VERY IMPORTANT... DO NOT DRAG AND DROP THE FILES TO YOUR COLLECTIONS FOLDERS, YOU MUST PLACE A COPY OF THOSE FILES IN YOUR COLLECTION FOLDERS, BUT LEAVE THE ORIGINAL FILES IN PLACE IN THEIR NORMAL RUNTIME LIBRARY FOLDERS.

So, copy what you want to transfer, and then click over on your collection folder, right click, and paste. Now your collection folder has a copy of your V4 poses in collections.

I know what you're asking; when you transfer a file to collections one at a time inside poser, it sends a short-cut to the collections folder. In this other way of doing it, you are actually sending a real live copy of the file(s) into the collection folders. Doesn't matter, the system works with either, so you can pre-set a folder structure in collections, and them transfer the files you want in mass, rather than one at a time.  Just remember the warning above!

Now you can go into poser, choose collections, and there is your V4 folder, with sub-folders for Charters, Hair, Poses, etc, with out all of the searching through the regular library.

Hope this helps  

Hi Acadia,

How does one point Poser to an external runtime folder?

Thanks

Go to the top level of your main poser library so you can see the folder with the version you are using. Mine is "Poser 6"

Repeat for the next runtime you want to add.

Refer back to the first picture of this tutorial in order to see how to access each runtime.  When you want to switch runtimes to find something for your scene, you will have to go to the top level again, and double click on whichever runtime you want to open.

I have heard that V3, M3 had to be placed in the Main runtime. I am using PP2012 and Library Manager2.

No you don't need them in the main runtime, but if a problem develops you can always copy the idaz folder in the library folder into the main poser runitme.  But you won't get a problem.  Trust me.

Love esther

Thank you for the time and info. I am ready to do it.

Yeah, Esther's right. You used to have to have the !Daz folder in corresponding location in the Poser main runtime, but I do not believe that is the case anymore.  In any case, if something doesn't work, it doesn't hurt to copy that folder over.

Quote - Yeah, Esther's right. You used to have to have the !Daz folder in corresponding location in the Poser main runtime, but I do not believe that is the case anymore.  In any case, if something doesn't work, it doesn't hurt to copy that folder over.

I keep a copy of the !Daz folder in my main poser runtime library.

Hi all,

In looking at Acadias response on external runtimes, I noted that at the top of the library menu there is no collections tab. I went from P5 to P7, and P7 has the collections tab (p5 did not), and a collections folder inside runtime (Runtime - Libraries-collections)

So it seems correct to say that using collections begins with Poser 7. If poser 8 or 9 have it, I do not know, but versions before poser 7 seem to not have the collections function.

I like the collections idea better than an external runtime. In collections I can organize the content any way I choose, while a special external runtime must still be in the runtime format or things will not work. It seems to me that the creation of a special say V4 only external runtime will require more time and much more structure to make sure everything is in the right place, and even then I'm still required to work within the click intensive structure of the library. With collections I can put everyt thing in one master folder, and then have simple sub-folders inside of my choosing. Easier to set-up, does not disturb the real runtime, and easier to use.

Now, if we could only make a collections function for the 25 top morph wheels for a character, rather than the, find the character, find the body part, click, click, scroll, click. 

Sorry, I still use Poser 6, so the picture tutorial is based on my version.

I do have Poser 2010 but my computer (graphic card) can't run it so I don't have it loaded.