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Show an example...
Because I haven't seen any 'vanity' folders in recent products.
OMG, I don't "time stamp" everything in my collection. It goes back over 15 years. But here is one example. Really, I think anyone who really looks at their stuff would already know this fact.
Yes, quite a few characters do come in folders for the PA - personally I think this is a good thing as different PAs can have very different approaches to character building and texturing, so their products don't always mix nicely in a single scene. Much the same applies to hair, where I create my own "vanity folders" if they aren't set up that way initially (using shortcuts to the actual files so as not to break updating).
It does look as if the Red Rabbit stuff iss et up logically - the iar in the \People\Genesis 2 Female\Hair folder, the clothes in \People\Genesis 2 Female\Clothing and the characyer in \People\Genesis 2 Female\Charaters - all in Pretty3D folders though.
None of those are vanity folders...
The current method of setting things up is Figure > Type/Category > Vendor > Item >Materials.
So if I made a dress for G3F it would be, (to be properly set up) G3F > Clothing > mjc > Dress > Materials >3DL and Iray, each having a folder.
Then if I made a blouse and skirt, they would then go into G3F > Clothing > mjc > Blouse and G3F > Clothing > mjc > skirt and so on.
To me the vanity folders are all those that start out !!! to get them to jump to the top of the folder list.
mjc1016, your definition of "Vanity Folders" is different than mine. But my point sticks. Some items are in "Vanity" folders, while others are in folders with the name of the item you bought. No consistency,
The consistency is in where specific types of items are found, based on the figure they are primarily intended for.. Clothing is under Clothes, Poses are under Poses, Props are under Props, etc. There are some variations, but they are rare; I've seen several instances where pose sets that have matching Male and Female pairs are under a gender neutral Genesis 3 (or Genesis 2) folder instead of being separated into the figure specific folders. As long as the clothing items are under clothes, does it really matter if they are nested by vendor?
The bulk of the differences come about from the different 'standards'....Genesis and early Genesis 2 stuff was mostly done without the vendor folder. Later Genesis 2 and most Genesis 3 stuff is with the vendor folder. The 4.5 and 4.6 era covers the 'without', 4.7 onwards is 'with'. 4.0/early Genesis was different.
Also with those switches certain folders have been dropped/consolidated.
Having the items grouped by vendor was an oft repeated request, before it was implemented.
And no, I have not gone an updated any of my freebies to comply with the latest 'standard'...and I doubt any store PAs have really done it, also. Maybe some of the Daz Originals have been...but I'm pretty sure not all of them are.
Here's a video to more clearly state my concerns on this issue. Just click the image to load the YouTube video.
These vendor folders serve a purpose, they separate products so that if two different vendors where to make products with the same name they will not overwrite each others files.
OK, then why aren't all oroducts in vendor folders?! When I buy something, I never remember who made it. I just remember what it was called.
MJC explained that above its due to the upgrades to Studio itself. No one is going bnack and changing the old formats to mimic the new. And poser file formats are also different. The only way to get them all in one set format would be to use categories.
So I encountered lots of denial, and it finally comes down to the fact that DAZ installs are a mess. But I tried Smart Content again, and it worked.
Not a misconception, practical experience on my part been working with poser since 2010 Even in the latest version(11) poser still has an issue with displaying content that is not in the "correct" folder.
At the least it doesn't show the associated thumbnail, at the worst it doesn't show the content at all. Not on my workstation so i'll have to wait to post a screen shot.
You are still limited to 10 folders, no more, period, beyond those 10 poser cannot display the content.
Sure you can shuffle the content around within those 10 but you can't work outside those 10 folders.
Daz studio on the other hand, doesn't really care if you have 10 or 1000 folders as long as they are mapped for daz content(duf etc)
It's very easy to understand, DIM is additional software you don't need to learn.
Most of us already know how to drag and drop files and folders.
Switching settings in additional software, everytime i want to install something, is an unecessary step.
In my case my content is spread across 5 hard drives.
One for all my textures, whether daz/poser or for Keyshot or my Total Textures collection.
One for all my geometry files.
One for all the Data files for daz content.
One for all the clickable stuff.
The last is for content development.
Partly this was born out of limited disk space and partly because i organize a bit differently than most people.
Now try using DIM in that layout. It doesn't work, nor can it.
Glad you found something that works for you that's part of the fun in working with most 3d software.
As a suggestion, start doing what you are doing with the categories in cms and instead start making those categories into directories on your HDD.
You'll never have to worry about CMS crashing, or the latest update to daz studio wiping out the last 6 months of work(happend to me so i know).
Just save the preset to the particular category folder you want.
I have a very large somewhat organized mess of content also. I started out with the idea of alot of separate runtimes - several for each major character for hair, clothes, morphs and on and on all in Poser format since I didn't use DAZ Studio back then. I even set up a separate runtime just for physical poses so at least in that runtime the pose subdirectory was actually poses. For DAZ studio stuff I have always just lumped it into one giant content library which originally just ignored but now I use DIM and really like it as a time saver. I didn't start from scratch with it though... I only transitioned Genesis products but going forward I installed everything I bought from DAZ whether it was Poser or DAZ. So you see why I refer to the whole of it as sort of a mess. I use DIM to find content, PzDB from Rocketship software for searching runtimes, and the search funtions in DAZ Studio itself, and I often search my bought content in my download libraries by store. I think at least for me having good search tools and understanding your own library history works better than trying to achieve the utopia of the perfect library setup... because something like the RDNA merger and the movement of products with DIM wanting to install products already installed when you bought it at RDNA.
I can't comment on Smart content because I have errors because I didn't start clean empty and I just don't use it... it just slows my startup. I can connect to the store but I dread the day Smart content and DAZ connect may replace DIM.
And again, that is a misconception. You must be doing something wrong, I have never had this problem.
First a definition
Misconception: A view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/misconception)
My understanding of the Poser folder/file structure.
There are 10 folders that associate with the 10 buttons in poser.
There are 10, primary, formats used that each are supposed to go into specific associated folders.
Cr2=character, pp2=props, pz3=scene, mt5/mc6=materials, hr2=hair, pz2=pose, lt2=light, cm2=camera, hd2=hand, fc2=face
You assert any of those formats should be able to go into any of those folders and be visible in poser.
There for if i put a cr2 in the Props folder it should appear in poser.
The reality, in my case, is that it does not work that way all the time.
In some cases content is not visible and in others it does not show the associated thumbnails.
Now please explain what i could be doing wrong and where my misconception is?
Alright, here is some clarification: It is a common misconception among non-Poser users that Poser files can only be placed in their 'correct' folder, because that is how Poser worked in the past. It is, however, misinformation to claim that it is still true, because it is no longer the case. My apologies, I should have been clearer, English is not my native tongue.
As for why it doesn't work for you, I don't know, but it works for the rest of us. I didn't intend to derail the thread but I don't like seeing misinformation like that spread around ;)
We're degrading into the realm of "macs don't crash" at this point.
I'll cut you some slack on the english thing.
I will concede that you can place the files in any of the 10 folders you wish
I will not however concede that poser will consistently allow you to access said files if not in their "proper" folders.
You run the risk of not being able to use content in poser if not in the "proper" folder, in my experience.
I've been an active poser user for roughly 6 years+ at this point.
I've used it on 9 different computer configurations, including servers and laptops, and 8 different operating systems, and about 4-5 different versions of the software.
In every case this issue has been present.
There are literally hundreds of forum posts i've read over the years discussing possible reasons and cures for this issue. I've pretty much tried all of them.
In some cases the suggestion is that poser just can't handle large runtimes, literally that at some point poser just balks at the number of folders and files.
in other's that it's an issue with IE or flash player, and on and on.
This is not misinformation, a misconception or incorrect in any way, it is based on personal usage, experience and research.
I'm glad it's never cropped up for you, one less headache for you.
But it does exist for many of us poser users.
As an aside though, if it's not a real issue, then why would content creators continue to use the same outdated system as opposed to putting shader and material presets in with the particular content they work with?
Is it just the "this is the way it's done" mentality?
or is there more to it than that?
just a thought to consider.
Well, I can only speak for myself, but I have around 1TB of content in one single runtime, categorized in a way that makes sense to me, that I have no trouble accessing. YMMW I guess. Claiming that Poser can not read files unless put in the 'correct' folder is still misinformation, even if it doesn't always work for you.
As for why vendors still use the old style of placing content, there are many possible reasons:
1 - It has always been done that way, and many vendors have a hard time breaking old habits
2 - Customers expect files to be in their 'correct' folder
3 - Many customers still use old versions of Poser
4 - Many vendors still use old versions of Poser
5 - Possibly easier to use with Studio? (Haven't used Studio myself for a while, so uncertain how that works nowadays)
Or a combination of many things.
I can't help thinking of an analogy. You might have a different term. I need to sort my paperwork alphabetically and place it in a filing cabinet. It's far easier to find things that way. Or I could just scatter the paperwork all around the place, and write little programs to tell me where to find each piece of paper. DAZ chooses to scatter stuff all over the place, then writes all sorts of scripts, creates Smart Content, whatever.
If some folks, like myself don't go along with the program, they potentially expose themselves to negative reactions. Some folks forget that I, like others, am a paying customer. DAZ should pay particular attention to any employees who dis-respect their customers. This is bad business. My exprience and opiinions have as much weight as any other person. Stage Left!"
And yet what you describe with the filing cabinet is exactly what DAZ Studio is doing with content in the user interface, whether someone uses "smart content" or not. I personally don't want to have to go to a separate "clothing" folder and try to figure out which items are for Genesis 3 when they can be filed under Genesis 3 (male or female) in a subfolder called "clothing".
Let's keep the discussion civil, and make sure the comments address the topic and not the poster.
sorry richard, have a tendency to get defensive when my integreity is being challenged.
if you look under "products" you should have everything together