Most efficient folder structure

[artmaknev]

So after 8 years of clutter, I finally have some time off to clean up my entire NAS, I also want to restructure the whole thing for most efficient folder structure! I am looking at 300GB-500GB of garbage!

Right now my setup is as follows:

Client Name -> Project Name -> 0_INFO, 1_MAX, 2_MAPS, 3_PSD, 4_RENDERS

0_INFO and 4_RENDERS folder is organized by subfolders with dates like so: 2015-06-03
1_MAX folder has 2 subfolders: a_proxy and b_assets


The biggest issue is the MAPS folder, because I find myself with a lot of duplicate materials in almost all the projects, its also a pain to relink stuff when I work from my laptop.

Have you guys had any experience with putting all the textures and maps into one GIANT FOLDER for all your projects? If yes, have you had any issues?

Also do you do partitions on your HDD to separate work from personal / financial folders? Right now I have everything in 1 partition, but I would love to have a more secure way to keep the personal stuff away from work stuff.

What is your total folder size, how many HDDs you are using?

Would love to hear your folder structure setups.

[glorybound]

I just create a client folder and I use MAX's 'set project folder'; pointing it to the client folder, and MAX creates everything for me.

[SnipeyX]

\\NetworkShare\ClientName\ProjectNumber\
then subfolders of:
01_InProgress
02_Finals
Frames
Maps
Scenes
Post
Source

InProgress and Finals are things that were sent out to clients, compiled videos, etc. Things only go into finals when the project's done, makes for a quicker 'what did we deliver' review on old projects versus digging through all the iterations from InProgress.
Frames is the target directory for all rendering out of Max, typically a 'current' subfolder with all renderpass directories created from RPManager under that. Before we render each iteration, rename the 'current' folder to the next number increment _001, _002, and make a new 'current'. Saves us from remapping paths in AE.
Maps - we have the same issue. Pretty much everything thrown in here, duplicated across projects, etc.
Scenes - Usually a "ProjectName_Master_iteration#.max" and however many individual "xref_description_Current.max" are needed. Then a 'development' subfolder below that contains all the working in-progress junk. Outside of the development folder is only the scenes used for rendering.
Post - PSDs and AE comps.
Source - Files sent to us from clients, CAD, PDFs, comments, etc.

[Neilg]

why would you duplicate assets for every job...

We've got a jobs drive and an assets drive. All textures, models & proxies get stored in a neat folder structure on assets, all jobs stay in jobs and can be backed up without fear of breaking references. Assets is huge and nothing gets deleted from it, jobs is just the live stuff so signed off jobs get moved off regularly.
assets is 4 folders:
3d models
photoshop (skies, plants etc)
textures
reference (massive, massive library of photography & art)

If you're going to go this route plan out the folders you'll make in each one of those beforehand - look through everything you use and think about things you might in the future and write a list of where you might put it. give it a week and look over it again, because you'll have forgotten some.
do you go stone/marble/type, or just leave marble in it's own root - etc. figure out what organisation is more logical before you set it up and get the whole thing planned out. if you wing it you'll want to start over after a year.

[alexyork]

One thing I rarely see people do is to simply have a folder inside your max, psd, output and renders folders called "Old". Any new renders sit in the main folder and anything old gets moved there. That way your main folders are always showing the latest of everything. It's a very simple and effective way to keep things clean and organised, especially when you're on a job with 10+ drafts of each view and 10+ views etc.

Another thing is naming things properly. I'm extremely anal about file naming to avoid issues. I normally name my max files, max cameras, renders, psds and output files the same thing and always ensure that the version number is suffixed to the file, so they display properly in order in the folders.

I also drop client info into a unique folder inside my main folder with a number prefixed, such as 01_2015_06_04_bedroom, 02_2015_06_05_bathroom etc. This way it's very clear and easy to find the latest set of info.

As for maps and assets this is always tricky. I have a centralised location for all maps and other assets, but I tend to drop them in to my project folders as duplicates so I can keep track of things more easily. In a larger studio this wouldn't be such a good idea, I guess, but it depends on the job too.

I am also running my main projects folder off an SSD, and the same for my resources/assets, on a separate SSD. Once the job is done and dusted it gets archived on a series of regular large 4/5/6TB mechHDD across various locations, including off-site. Running live jobs off an SSD has sped things up massively.

Oh and one more thing - but maybe it's best suited to a new thread about Photoshop file structure - never have hidden layers in your PSD! They're a nightmare when you pass the file to someone else to work on and they isolate layers/groups to work on, then unisolate and suddenly all these hidden layers are visible. The thing to do is simply to apply a black mask to anything you want to not be visible, but keep in the file, such as matt channels and passes that you might need later, or layers you might want to use later etc.

[tricky]

I am also running my main projects folder off an SSD, and the same for my resources/assets, on a separate SSD. Once the job is done and dusted it gets archived on a series of regular large 4/5/6TB mechHDD across various locations, including off-site. Running live jobs off an SSD has sped things up massively.

I'm interested in this. We have a centralised NAS, accessed by gigabit connections, with partitions for PROJECTS and partitions for ASSETS. It would be great to have everything running of local SSDs but for us, this doesn't seem practical or possible without regular syncing between a centralised system and a local system so that daily backups are doing there job properly.

Are you 'just you' or is there a team?

[tricky]

So after 8 years of clutter, I finally have some time off to clean up my entire NAS, I also want to restructure the whole thing for most efficient folder structure! I am looking at 300GB-500GB of garbage!

I feel your pain. We had around 16 years of clutter until we re-structured our ASSETS drive a year or two ago. We still have our old system on line just in case we forget to bring any useful bits and pieces over. It isn't perfect, but its good to have a bit more order.

[Vizioen]

I wonder how people organize their assets. I mean I had the idea once to make an excel or use a file explorer with keywords to tag all the models that for instance are chairs with thumbnails and everything but I'm afraid it will take me a huge amount of time to organize.

[theedge]

I'm afraid there is no perfect solution to this. I've seen all kinds of assets organization methods and of course no one is perfect. The most delicate aspect is how granular you go with the hierarchy you put in place. If it's too light/simplistic you'll have difficulties finding specific assets and if it's too detailed and deep it can get in the way too.
Ideally, I'd like a system similar to gmail : you dump everything in one giant folder and then everything gets sorted/organized/collected based on tags. Each person in the team could for eg organize the assets in a hierarchy that suits him. Of course that implies tagging every asset meticulously and rigorously.

[Vizioen]

I was thinking about using http://www.xnview.com/en/xnviewmp/ to organize. Anybody experience with this?

[alexyork]

I use Bridge with keywords tagged to the assets, which are also in folders, and I use favourite folders to manage things too. Works fine for most things.

Richard - it's just me in the studio with others who work remotely most of the time. Although that might change later this year, potentially.

[flino2004]

I have my projects organized with numbers...no names, only under my index file. 15001, 15002,etc my drive are: X for projects (active projects) (all the nodes can access it) Y for Assets (Materials, Maps, Proxies, models,etc)(render nodes have a local mirror copy without max files)(All my maps are read only...Custom maps go to a folder inside the project)(access for workstations) O output (raw images from my mini tiny farm) (all the nodes can access it) Q archives (dead projects)(Only my workstation) Z Administration(documents, invoices, expenses, etc) (Only my workstation) Inside each project I have these folders: MAX CAD SU IMG (final images and PSD files, boards, etc) MAPS (custom maps)

[Crayox13]

My problem is reusing models and finding them. Like 5 years ago I combed through all my projects and took out everything I know I will reuse - sitting, lights, etc and put them in MAX files like in a show room. So I have a show room for chairs, kitchen stuff, cars, etc. The problem is now that I don't update this sometimes and I can't remember where and when I did a certain chair model and just can't find it

I'm looking at this Project manager
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSG...AxqXeNX_K3_Yog
but I don't think that's what I need. Is there a "model browser" or organizer that would have all my objects in a file as a separate entity and thumbnail, and I just drag and drop it in the scene...and why not?
Did anyone build their own libraries of a sort?

[Vizioen]

My problem is reusing models and finding them. Like 5 years ago I combed through all my projects and took out everything I know I will reuse - sitting, lights, etc and put them in MAX files like in a show room. So I have a show room for chairs, kitchen stuff, cars, etc. The problem is now that I don't update this sometimes and I can't remember where and when I did a certain chair model and just can't find it

I'm looking at this Project manager
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSG...AxqXeNX_K3_Yog
but I don't think that's what I need. Is there a "model browser" or organizer that would have all my objects in a file as a separate entity and thumbnail, and I just drag and drop it in the scene...and why not?
Did anyone build their own libraries of a sort?

Take a look at http://connecterapp.com/ and http://www.archvizscenes.com/content/mt-model-saver/

Don't have time to make a library but I'm sure I would use this.

[flino2004]

X drive for active projects and the name goes year/number..1601,1602,etc
each folder has:
INFO (references from the client, general information, emails)
CAD (provided by the client and a sub folder where I have the ones I created/modified)
SU (for Sketchup)
MAX
MAPS (custom maps)
IMG (final Images)

Y: only for assets
O: Output with the name of the project...EXRs, WIP PSDs, etc....When they are finals go the X:
Q: Archives