organization
polycounter lvl 18
my files are rather messy and would like to change that.
i'm going to attempt to change how i work; from trying to create simple and helpful habits to higher level organizational stuff. i'll be trying my best to find or create organizational systems that will help my work easier on myself as well as those i work with.
small things i have in mind would be becoming more aware of labeling my layers in photoshop, create a default max scene, searching for helpful tools and plugins, etc. larger things being how i arrange my folders, possibly using a naming conventions, mentally defining my processes, etc.
if you have a certain way of doing something, like organizing your files that works really well, i'd love to hear about it. if it works for me, i'd love to adopt your way of doing things - how are your folders arranged?
if you have any other suggestions on how i could become more organized and efficient in producing cg work, i would be much obliged.
-kill
i'm going to attempt to change how i work; from trying to create simple and helpful habits to higher level organizational stuff. i'll be trying my best to find or create organizational systems that will help my work easier on myself as well as those i work with.
small things i have in mind would be becoming more aware of labeling my layers in photoshop, create a default max scene, searching for helpful tools and plugins, etc. larger things being how i arrange my folders, possibly using a naming conventions, mentally defining my processes, etc.
if you have a certain way of doing something, like organizing your files that works really well, i'd love to hear about it. if it works for me, i'd love to adopt your way of doing things - how are your folders arranged?
if you have any other suggestions on how i could become more organized and efficient in producing cg work, i would be much obliged.
-kill
Replies
I organize everything with named layers and navigate through layer manager which is always open.
I always have a base,lights, roughs, backups, splines, lowpoly named layer, then for each major hipoly section i have a named layer of that section.
Likewise in photoshop i have named groups for diffuse, specular, normal, emmisive, overlays etc.
I always name things.
I have a directory structure of for instance environments/ models/ hi/low/ model name /textures, BSP/ static mesh etc
organization is good.
r.
Also - whats the purpose of snap-to-grid? This to make sure when working within modular constraints the sizes line up properly?
The best thing that I started doing was using layers like so when I make a high poly prop or elements. It was mainly done for revisitng later if needed:
High Poly
Low Poly
Low Poly Final (this is the low poly part all put back together)
Collision
As for my computer itself, which if its not an application its all saved to my external HDD, looks like this:
(Collapsed)
(Expanded 1 level)
Dunno if this will help, but I find it extremely helpful.
Edit: Best sentence right there folks.
who needs folders.
Name your layers, files, images, as you go. Don't wait to do it in one fell swoop or you'll put it off. Also, when you are about to start something new to organize, think about it down the line. Will this way of organizing work when I have 50 of these? 1000? And it might alter the way you are going to organize. Also, try consistency, organize your photoshop layers the same folder structure every time, your max file layers, your file folder structure. This will make it second nature for both creating them, then using them afterwards.
http://www.rsart.co.uk/2007/01/20/windows-shortcuts-speed-up-your-workflow/
Also at work I do a lot of rigging/skinning. I'm always dropping animations onto skeletons to test them, and by default max looks in it's animation folder. Therefor in that folder I have a shortcut to our exported animation folder on the network - stops me browsing for it each time.
I use Alienbrain a lot to prevent me having multiple versions of a file lying around with slightly different names.
In photoshop, if I'm using only a few layers, like using a PSD to store a diffuse, spec and normal map for the same object, I'll have empty layers between each of those, named SPACER and turned off. It helps me separate each section, and prevents me accidentally collapsing them onto each other.
With a busy PSD, I'll make use of folders - example: if I have several diffuse textures for the same object with dirt layers, then each of those gets its own folder, jumper1, jumper2. Each of those has sub folders dirt, rips etc.
Map your photshop filters to hotkeys! FILTERS?!!!!YUCK!!!!11. No, this is really clever. Alt-F5 is Unsharp mask, Alt-F6 is Gaussian Blur, Alt-F7 is Highpass (a VITAL filter)
Never name a file temp.xxx if you plan on keeping it.
Likewise, NEVER name a file latest.xxx
A few other computer workflow tips:
Sort your internet bookmarks into folders, such as Music, Money, Art, Games. Sort these with subfolders where applicable.
Delete emails as you get them/deal with them, or move them to a folder. At home I usually have 0 emails in my inbox - they are either deleted or stored in folders such as Friends, Holiday, Registration Information. If you do need to find an email later, use your packages SEARCH function.
Use an RSS reader to get your dose of news. I prefer to use Google Reader, I used to use bloglines. A web based reader allows me to read the same feeds at home or work. I'm subscribed to BBC news, Eurogamer, Lifehacker, Warren Ellis, lots of friends sites, some Polycounters sites, Boing Boing, Penny arcade etc. Like everything else, I've organised these into sections - Computing, Art, Friends, Music, News etc.
Use your feed reader to subscribe to digital photograpy technique sites - thats where you pick up invaluable tips such as colouring grayscale images with duotones and tritone. I learned the orton effect there, which is superb for concept art. I learned that you often get a better sharpen with less artifacts if you do it in LAB mode...
Second Folder I use is Textures which contains lots of References and hence the name, Textures, this folder is atm about 53Gb / 81 000 files.
And then have my save files organised like Model1... (saving incrementally), LowPoly1..., UV1, Render1...
And also put things in layers in the XSI scene, to make things faster and easier.
if you dont use quads in max you really should, the best thing to get over the hump is to delete like every default command in there so that you start with a blank slate. Then as you work throw in your most used commands, this will make sure that you know where everything is at and it's not hidden between max default 'useful' commands.
Also if I find myself doing repetitive actions in max or photoshop I make an action or maxscript command for it immediatly, even if it's just 3 or 4 actions it still helps.
Organize your reference folder! this is a big thing for me, I Always have tons of reference and I try to keep all of it around after I finish a project. I used to be really bad about keeping all of those pictures in one big folder, but if you organise these by descriptive folder names it'll really help.
username_location_title.xxx
Username is the alias of the artist. If I know who I'm saving, sometimes I'll just use their name.
Location is the initials or shortened version of where I found the picture.
PC = Polycount
EP = Eatpoo
CA = ConceptArt.org
CGChat = CGChat (surprise surprise)
etc.
Title would be the name of the picture or a descriptor if the person uploaded with some crazy ass name (ex. sbjsa12751038.jpg).
So then we get something like this...
killingpeople_PC_awesome.jpg
killingpeople_PC_sketch01.jpg
killingpeople_PC_sketch02.jpg
killingpeople_PC_sketch03.jpg
killingpeople_PC_zeBras.jpg
which groups things nicely without the need for lots of folders. I can find someone pretty quickly or if I want more I can search their username on that site. If I know I'm going to be saving a shit ton of pics from one person I'll make a folder for them. Or I'll make a folder for a single site (like I did for the Sijun speedpaint thread).
Problems arise when you get cross forum postings from the same person with different names (like blankslatejoe here and JoeM on CGChat). Nothing really to prevent this other than keeping an eye open. Ive also got a *lot* of images in one folder which is nice to just flip through them all, but when looking for something in particular it can be hell.
It gives you a little search box down by the clock and you type in something and it'll find it on your computer, it'll even search through documents for that word if you want it too. I can just type "pho" then hit tab to autocomplete photoshop, then enter, then enter again and I've got PS up and running.
Cool shit.
These days people should be searching and not browsing, especially on large projects. FACT.
It's much like Google Desktop (hot damn that's an awesome tool). We use Google Desktop at work to search through some 300 PC's, when we're looking for script examples and snippets.