read so many tuts about rumtimes and i still can't get the hang of it. re-install poser 6 and try again but time after time it ends up looking like a salvage yard without an office. what i want to do is set up different runtimes outside the poser program. mainly for individual characters. so that i can then somehow import said runtime into poser 6 and have everything i need for said character at hand. say...aiko character, aiko clothes, morphs, poses, hair etc etc. can anyone tell me with some easy steps how to perform what i'm trying to achieve. i'm relatively new at poser (extremely relatively new lmao) and having to keep reinstalling to clear it out is doing my box in. much thanks and apprecciation will heaped on anyone who can set me on the right path. ( an easy and i mean easy step by slow step account would be really appreciated) billy

Attached Link: http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=9060&start=0

This is the link to the tutorial I learned to do Multiple Runtimes with. One thing I have discovered while trying to help others set up external (multiple) runtimes, is that the confusion comes from people thinking that they are different. They aren't. A runtime is a runtime is a runtime no matter where it's located. They all have the same folder structure. The only difference between an external runtime from the poser 6 runtime is that the runtimes sit "externally" outside the poser 6 folder... and are added to the library inside Poser. They function in exactly the same way as your poser 6 runtime folder does. One thing with external (multiple} runtimes is that you have to **copy** the morph folders from inside the first level and inside the first level of the library folder to the same place in the main poser 6 runtime. How you choose to organize each of your runtimes is entirely up to you. I personally organize by theme (V3 character addons, V3 Clothing, Props, Angels and Faeries, Mermaids, Lighting, Plants, Animals, Aiko etc). Just make sure that when you decide on an organization method that you remember to select the proper runtime for the item you are installing (IE: V3 Clothing for any clothing items; Props for any prop type items etc).

thanks acadia. after having a quick browse through the link it looks like the thing i needed. billy :)

You don't really have to do this, Poser 6 and 5 can handle normal folder structure without a problem, for instance: Character folder: Make sub folders for DAZ people, clothing, buildings or whatever and then in the clothing folder you can again use sub folders for say M3 clothing, V3 clothing, A3 clothin etc. You can do this in all the main folders and everything is right where you need it and how you want it.

@ thefixer you are right but after a while Poser will slow down at startup as it is reading all the png's in the folder structure of the last used runtime, which is also the startup runtime, in advance. So it is advisable to have small runtimes to split the reading time. Sure, if you use items of all runtimes, the total reading time will be at last as long as the one with only one runtime but who does this?

acadia. the tut you menioned worked a treat. i at last am now able to load runtimes outside of poser and use as needed. big big thanks. fixer. i was originally doing as you said fixer. the problem i had was that i had so many files loaded it took an age to scroll through things like poses and stuff this way i can have all aikos things in a foledr, all v3 in another and load or unload runtimes as i see fit. i can still have subfolders for each runtime which is a good suggestion ..thanks. jules. slowdown on startup is also one of the reasons i needed and wanted to structure my out of poser runtimes. this was at the end of a session i can simply click onto an empty runtime i have and when i return to poser i'm at the start up window in no time at all. i know it may not seem much to those who know the ins and outs of poser but the help i got on this was a big big thing. i only hope i can be of help in the same way once i become a little more proficient with it. at least all my time won't be spent tring to sort my runtimes out lmao billy

@Jules Hiya, I understand what you're saying but my Runtime is 12 Gig uncompressed and I don't have an issue with start up times. I guess it suits me as I have it set up, but maybe not everybody! I like having the sub folders and I find the work flow easier but I guess it's what you're used to, I've set mine up like this since P5. Never had Poser before version 5 so multiple runtimes wasn't something I'd experienced before. Thanx for the info though, appreciated.

Once I had my basic runtimes set up, I took time to sort them further with many many sub folders so I could find their contents easier. For my V3 Clothing Runtime, I sorted the character and pose folder further by adding sub folders called: Morphing clothing, non morphing clothing, jewelery, shoes. This way when I'm wanting to use something morphing, I go to the morphing clothing folder. I know to look for textures for that outfit in the pose folder in the "morphing clothing" folder. Makes like easier. I also took it even further (yes I'm anal when it comes to organizing). Inside the Pose folder and each of the "morphing clothing" and "Non morphing" folders, I sorted further by outfit name. This way anything related to the MFD is found inside the MFD. Anything for the Mediteranean Wrap Dress is found in a folder for the Mediterannean Wrap Dress. I did that same thing for my hair file textures in their runtime. Once you have the basic runtime set up, you can organize the contents of the library folder anyway you like.

I'm with you Acadia, as I said previously it makes the workflow a lot easier! Just my view though! [and yours of course!]. ;-))

And you can go directly to the file when you are looking for it! Which is what I like. I know exactly what's in my runtimes and where to find things. A far cry from when I first started and lumped it all into the main poser runtime and cried because I didn't know where anything was in among that long, long, long list in the Pose folder. I had found a working solution back then. I created character folders inside each of the folders in the library. Anything V3 went into V3, anything M3 went into M3 folder etc. I further sorted those folders into sub folders. Clothing, character addons, poses, hair. That method worked and I could find things easily enough, but I found that it took forever for poser to open.

I for one can vouch for Acadia's External Runtime structure - I was new to poser and she showed me how to get my stuff organized properly (despite my trying to overanalyze everything..LOL) - My External Runtimes are all now set up and working fabulously with a lot less pressure upon my Poser program itself due to the External Runtime Structure. Thanks again to you, Acadia!

And to think, it only took almost 3 months before the light bulb finally went off!!! LOL

LOL...no kidding!! But...better late than never and with your patience...we got there after many trial and errors and much hairpulling on both of our parts!

External runtimes is an neverending story for me as I like to have my PC well organised. When I think I have enough items for a seperate runtime I just move all related items, like I did just with vehicles; the props, poses, chars, ... into a new runtime.

Since I use Advanced Library I have easy access to the items and to be honest, it is a little bit of work to move also the related obj and texture files but IMO it's worth the work.

Just one hint, it is not necessary to close Poser in an empty library if you do it once and then set the attribute of the LibraryPrefs.xml to writeprotected. You have to change this only if you create a new runtime. edited due to typos

Message edited on: 02/07/2006 02:42

Has anyone done a step-by-step tutorial for Mac users yet? I have the manual and also a guide book, but I can't figure out how to link other Runtimes to P6. The tute for Windoze completely confused me--Mac is very different. Patricia