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Author Topic: best way to configure library structure  (Read 1205 times)

PJ4739

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best way to configure library structure
« on: August 12, 2015, 09:15:21 PM »
I'm trying to get my head wrapped around how and where to structure my custom libraries. After watching the video tutorial on creating libraries, I have a grasp of most of the procedure but I'm wondering-
1. Where is the best place to store the library folders, (external hard drive, C: directory, or my documents)
2. If I want to add single elements to a user's "tree library", should I have separate folders for each individual tree with maps and objects, or is it better to save all maps in the same folder in the user's library.
I would think that having separate folders would get pretty busy as you may end up with 1,000 different folders but, not being able to separate the maps for each object might make things confusing. Although it drastically minimizes the folder amount.
To see a comprehensive hierarchy of a typical user's library structure would be very helpful.
Thank You

Michal Karmazín

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Re: best way to configure library structure
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2015, 04:46:42 AM »
Hi,

1) Well, the only general rule would be to not save them anywhere under C:\Programs Files(x86)\Itoo Software and its sub-folders (as on upgrade it might be overwritten).

I personally found useful to have these assets stored on an external drive (shared network drive), so when doing any changes on local hard drive(s) like reinstalling OS / changing hardware (computer) you don't need to take care about its location. I would suggest you to put it where you have all the rest of your assets stored.

2) There is no need to have those scenes in separate folders. While having many scenes, some categorizing might be handy, but it's not really necessary (and I would say not recommendable for each scene / model). A descriptive file-name would be recommendable and usually does the trick.

It's usually better to have all maps stored in one (or few) folder(s) - this way tracking your assets will be pretty easy and clear and you'll avoid the need of having many paths mapped under Customize - Configure User Paths - External files (stored in 3dsmax.ini). Also when using network rendering you'll need to map just that folder.

In most cases the "Your Library" \ "Thumbnails", "Objects", "Maps" folder structure is recommendable and clear enough.

Hope that helps a bit.

Best regards,

3d-labor

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Re: best way to configure library structure
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2015, 08:43:07 AM »
"My documents" folder is NEVER, NEVER, NEVER the right place to store personal data or data you work with. You also should never put these data to your system disk C:\ . I ever would use a physical independent harddrive to store own data to prevent data loss in case of system crashes. And of course regulary save it to an external disk (I suggest to use the program Synchronizer from Aborange.de, I have good experiences with it)
I have 2 main folders on my D:\ drive  for all my "\models" and "\textures" stuff, organised with many, many subfolders. Hard to keep it organised, but one tip would be, to give self explaining names for all these files once and never change these names to prevent problems if you have to edit older projects.
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