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Documenting assets in a BIG project...

mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,510
in The Commons

BACKGROUND

Until now, I have worked on mostly small projects of a single image or two. Only lately have I been venturing into what I would call “medium” sized projects of multiple images being combined to form comic books. So far, I’ve only done a few pages here and there (for a superhero noir comic that I did as a test), and I’ve laid the groundwork for a 16-page story. By “laid the groundwork,” I mean that I have written the script, sketched thumbnails, purchased all the assets I will need and designed the three main characters in the story, as well as purchased the pieces I need to create the two locations in which the story occurs. And I’ve started work putting it all together to creating the pages, one panel at a time.

 

IDENTIFIED NEED

I need to document what goes into each scene (possibly down to the page/panel level). This includes characters (and their specific settings, morphs, etc.) as well as all the costumes and props (as well as any customization I’ve done). I need to do this in case I need to revisit the project in the future (what if I have a new PC and suddenly can’t find a bit map or prop that inexplicably didn’t get moved to the new machine?) and to provide credit to the content creators.

 

SOLUTIONS?

So far, I’ve tried a spreadsheet and a Word doc, but neither is intuitive, nor are they easy to use (finding the product names is often hard, especially for older products).

Maybe there’s a software tool out there that can help? Or someone has created a spreadsheet or database that I could use as a guide? If anyone has suggestions or examples of how to do this, I would love to hear them.

 

Comments

  • TooncesToonces Posts: 919

    Occassionally, there are threads where customers request to know what assets are used in specific promos. I've seen it mentioned there's a free script you can use to scan your scene and list the assets.

    I haven't used the script myself, and I have a hunch it doesn't go into the level of detail you're needing (morphs, etc.), but figured I'd mention it.

  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,281

    https://www.daz3d.com/content-gatherer is the closest thing that I know of.  The nice thing is that besides listing the items, it can be used to store all of a scene's assets as a separate zip file in case your original scene gets lost or you want to move it to a different computer.  

    Of course, you can also just save the scene file for each project for major sets.  My own process is to save every original character variation I create off as a character preset and to save every big set off as a separate "clean" whole scene file, along with subgroupings of all the key furniture and/or props as scene presets.  That way I can do all my posing using just the elements I need to set up a shot, save the adjusted version as a preset of the posed characters and any props that have been moved, then import that preset back into the clean master file.     

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,510
    Cybersox said:

    https://www.daz3d.com/content-gatherer is the closest thing that I know of.  The nice thing is that besides listing the items, it can be used to store all of a scene's assets as a separate zip file in case your original scene gets lost or you want to move it to a different computer.  

    Of course, you can also just save the scene file for each project for major sets.  My own process is to save every original character variation I create off as a character preset and to save every big set off as a separate "clean" whole scene file, along with subgroupings of all the key furniture and/or props as scene presets.  That way I can do all my posing using just the elements I need to set up a shot, save the adjusted version as a preset of the posed characters and any props that have been moved, then import that preset back into the clean master file.     

    Thank you SO MUCH. That may just be the tool I'm looking for (and the price isn't too bad, either). I'm definitely going to check it out!

    I do save a separate file for each panel in the comic (or at least for the scene); I'm real paranoid when it comes to having multiple backups. But that doesn't help much if, for some reason, I want to come back to a project in a year or two on a new installation and discover that – in spite of my best efforts to duplicate/back-up my content directories – I'm missing one small file or morph.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,079

    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/metadata/list_products_used/start will list content used, as long as it has assets (so it won't list most poses or light sets, for example). If you run the script from a file the output will be in the log.

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,664
    edited July 2018

    I purchased content gatherer, but also happened to come across this in the forums the other day:

    https://sharecg.com/v/91237/browse/8/Script/Daz3D-Scene-exporter-Standalone

    - Greg

    ETA: Haven't tried it yet.

    Post edited by algovincian on
  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,281
    algovincian said:

    I purchased content gatherer, but also happened to come across this in the forums the other day:

    https://sharecg.com/v/91237/browse/8/Script/Daz3D-Scene-exporter-Standalone

    - Greg

    ETA: Haven't tried it yet.

    Cool, I hadn't seen that one yet.  It never hurts to have multiple options, so I'll definitely give it a test run. 

  • MattymanxMattymanx Posts: 6,996

    For characters that are reused, I save out the following for each of girls I use in my art:

     - Shape Preset - This is so her shape can be reapplied at anytime.  Save all shape settings instead of just the ones that are modified so that you will get that character off the base everytime regardless of whats active

     - Material Preset - I save out my modifications to the character mats I use.  This is so it can be applied any time I need it, or just part of it.

     - Scene Subset - For my girls, each is saved as a SS with their morphs, skin and hair plus anything else I normally use on them like fiber brows and the new Lashes Utility.

     

    You can save anything as a scene subset to be honest.  A scene subset is not the same as a scene file.  A SS will basically save a list of whats there and their settings and locations.  So it can be shared or moved and all you need on the other computer is to have the correct content installed.

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,510

    Thank you all. I'll look into the products and scripts. I really appreciate your input.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,079
    Richard Haseltine said:

    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/metadata/list_products_used/start will list content used, as long as it has assets (so it won't list most poses or light sets, for example). If you run the script from a file the output will be in the log.

    the script has now been updated, it will now by default include items fitted/parented to the selected item or items (though this can be turned off)

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