hey all,

I like to put installs in my own runtimes.

But how to label them so they show in the LIBRARY WITH A NAME of my choice - not "content" ?

thanks

I do the renaming from Windows, with a folder one level above Runtime. My standard Runtime is left in Poser's main directory, along with the Downloads Runtime. Externally I have a folder named "Old Main Runtime", from my old Poser 6 and one called "Dalek Runtime".

That's all there is to it.

wow guys! What a great forum here! Im finally making some progress after endless roadblocks! Thanks all!

Hi SamTherapy,

thanks much, I will try it

Same as Sam Therapy said, I put each Runtime in a folder called (Runtime M4, Runtime V4, Runtime K4, Runtime V3, Runtime Scenes, Runtime DM,...etc)

I have over 40 Runtimes so far and keep on adding as I sort them out and reorganize them with the help of P3dO Explorer Pro! :)

Rena

One thing I do with my "master" name for runtimes is when I get a new version of Poser I named the last "download" runtime after the version it was attached to. Poser 5 downloads ... etc. Now ... I don't even use that directory. I just use the custom ones I've made. I have runtimes back to Poser 4. I've never archived them. I always find something I can recycle.

Runtime Organization is probably the most important (yet overlooked) issues with getting the most out of Poser. It pays to plan up front.

This could be you one day:

No, I don't have everything installed. Yes, I can quit any time. No, really.

I have a base folder labeled Additional Runtimes

In it, I have a separate runtime for each of my figures (Project Evolution, Dawn, Dusk, M2, M3, M4, Sp3, Mariko, Sydney, P6 Jessi, etc.), a separate clothing runtime (V3 Clothing, V4 Clothing, etc), and finally separate settings (Modern Homes, Modern Environment, Egypt, etc).

There are 2 reasons for this:

1. It makes things easier to find.
2. It speeds up Poser.

Using this file structure, I only load the runtimes that I need for the scene I am working on. Doing it this way means that you aren't digging throughout your runtimes looking for the carpet that ties the room together.

Organize your subfolders.....

This is one (of two) V4 Clothing subfolders (why 2? Because I didn't organize the 1st one. Don't be like me, organize from the beginning.)

In this example, my New V4 Clothes runtime has multiple subfolders based on type (Casual, Dresses) and Time period (Period Clothing - Ancient, Period Clothing - 20th Century). I have a lot of stuff from different time periods, so this makes it easier for me.

About those Dots..... Blue Dots - those are subfolders that Poser "sees". The others (!DAZ, !Billy-T, etc) hold morph information for content. During the V4/M4 lifecycle, these were used before the Morphs (Yellow Dot) subfolder was added to later versions of Poser.

Whatever you do, DON'T move those (!DAZ, !Billy-T, etc) subfolders to the Morphs subfolders. Everything in those folders are HARD-CODED. Poser doesn't like it when stuff that is hard coded is moved. If you are lucky, Poser crashes. If you aren't lucky, Poser searches in vain for that hard coded .pz2. After 5 minutes, it will give up and ask you if you want to continue - it will look for each of them until you force quit Poser.

Next up, dealing with idjit vendor follies......

Dealing with Vendor follies or Why we can't have nice things in Poser

In a perfect world, vendors would look at their products from the perspective of the end user. Alas, we don't live in a perfect world. Fortunately, we have the tools and ability to fix all of the product shortcomings that storefront QAs ignore.

File Follies.....

I have to make .pz2 for materials because the product is for Victoria 4.

This is incorrect. Most folks here are on Poser 9 or later (90+% over a year ago). In addition, DS 4.5 and later can read .mc6 files.

So why are vendors still making materials as g(##!&##@% .pz2 files instead of .mc6 files? There hasn't been a need to do it for over a decade (It was a hack for Poser 4). Not to mention that .mc6 files are a requirement to sell at 'Rosity (So why doesn't 'Rosity QA kick stuff back? Good question.)

Fortunately, there are simple solutions to stupid problems......

On your desktop, build a runtime (I call mine Example). As you purchase content, dump each product into this so you can fix all of the vendor follies. Once you are done, move the corrected content into your permanent runtime. A few minutes here will save you hours later.

Get yourself a copy of Batch Material Convert (sold right here at 'Rosity). This product will mass convert all of your material .pz2 files to .mc6 files AND move them to the material folder (keeping the same file structure). With this product, pose files are in the pose folder and material files are in the materials folder, the way that Cthulhu and SmithMicro intend it to be.

In a perfect world, vendors would not do the following. Alas, we don't live in a perfect world.

Thereisnoneedtoramallofthefilenamestogether, ALLCAPS, and Nor_is_there_any_need_to_use_underscores you will need to fix manually. Those are DOS/OS6 requirements. Neither Poser nor DS run on DOS or OS6. All of these throw off both sorting and the Poser search function, not to mention making it hard to read. Spending 10 - 15 seconds when installing can save you minutes (or hours) of frustration later. Then there is the leading !!!!! nonsense - use a space instead. It doesn't confuse the Poser search function and it is easier to read. (Yes, I didn't do that in the Additional Runtimes image above - that was a mistake on my part.)

Naming conventions: In a perfect world, vendors would name their products < foo outfit > by < vendor name >. Easy to read, easy to find, and easy for the vendor to drive associations (and eliminate those d!&^#d ego folders). Alas we don't live in a perfect world. Instead, we get crap like this:

Dawn Dress #01, Dawn Dress #02, Dawn Dress #03

This makes the search function useless. Take 10 seconds to change it to < foo outfit > by < vendor name >. When you are actually Making Art, you will be glad you did.

And the worst offender - Naming material files MAT_name, MAT_name, MAT_name. I recommend name_Material, name_Material, name_Material, ; this makes it easier to find. Better yet, move to the 10+ year standard of an .mc6 - If it is in the Materials subfolder, as it should be, we know it is a material.

WARNING: Some idjit vendors think it is real clever to name their colors 01, 02, 03, etc. Don't punch out your monitor - name them properly and add the vendor to you DO NOT BUY FROM list. (Yeah, we all have one of those, don't we.)

Product Addons: If vendors had the brains Cthulhu gave a goose they would name addon packs < Add-on pack name > for < Product name >. Take the time to fix this before it gets out of control. The reality is that after a few days, you won't remember what that oh too clever by a half product name goes with.

A little later, I'll give a list of my "must have" tools to get the most out of Poser.

ssgbryan posted at 1:52PM Tue, 16 January 2018 - #4322346

Dealing with Vendor follies or Why we can't have nice things in Poser [-snip-]

THAT!! Signed, stamped, sealed and filed every bloody single line of the rant.

And @ssgbrian's method works! I do so with every new item I aquire, right after I unpacked the ZIP/RAR, and before I copy anything to one of my runtimes. Since then I rarely need the search function of the library at all because everything is in a logical place and easy to locate, in a matter of minutes or even seconds.

Wow, lot of great info, and food for thought here all.

Thanks,

And yes, I've noticed vendor added problems, too. In fact, HOW MANY WAYS can a product be installed INTO poser? That deserves it's own thread. I had an argument with one supplier, because he never heard of the way I use, and his products wouldn't install that way.

What categories does a vendors product show up under? Often not the ones you expect, right?

I will try @ssgbrian's method.

thank you