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[Alpha2]

Do people generally build all their assets for an Anim8or animation in one file or do you build them seperately and import them into a final project file? I have one main character and a weapon, I plan to build a second and a generic badguy as well as the sets and what ever other props I might need but I keep getting the nagging feelings that I should split them up into multiple files and import them into one file later.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

[lynn22]

I usually make each object/prop in a separate file and for two reasons;
1. each object/prop can then be used in a later project if suitable
2. if your main file crashes irrepairably, no harm done, you can always start over (though that has not happened yet, it might tomorrow )

[johnar]

 More often than not, i'll end up with a new object, or figure, in the file i'm working on.
 But then i'll export that object, or figure, into a library of a) objects or b) figures.

 So you've got a copy always, that you can import into other projects.
 But, remember to give everything a unique name, materials included.

 You can also build a library of sequences, which is gr8.
 I would put sequence files into a folder that contains the figure that the sequence works with. No mistakes or confusion later on.

[Alpha2]

yeah I'm thinking I'll just import them then. I'll make a copy of the first character's file as a reference for each new character. Is there a way to access the names of all the elements easier? I mean it's good that you can name everything so it avoids conflicts when importing but with so many variables I keep missing some, it'd be nice if there was a way to check them.

Actually what would be better is if all the elements could just be stored together under the character rather than having to rename everything, but that's just one of the many tweaks I wish we could see made.

[johnar]

"Actually what would be better is if all the elements could just be stored together under the character rather than having to rename everything..."

 If you have 1 folder named (eg) banana man, then inside that folder you can keep all the bananaman materials, objects and sequences along with your bananaman figure(s).

 Renaming everything isn't always necessary, but as you mentioned, it can avoid conflicts when importing.

 I do it as habit now. Materials are easy, with names like 'kkjhu', or something equally meaningless. After all, it is just to avoid possible conflicts later on.

 One way to see everything you have in your file is to go 'mode -> browser

[Alpha2]

Yeah The browser is useful but it only works for the individual parts, not things like the bones. What I mean is when you look at the Object menu, you can have a huge list of parts in a short time. It'd be nice if you could group the objects under one "folder" for lack of a better word. This way you'd have all the parts for your character separated from other elements and also this way the bones wouldn't cause conflicts since they'd automatically be associated with a specific model sort of like how materials can be assigned to an object. As is stands now I'm naming everything this way: Character.part.left/right

As for materials it's not so much about the name (although I name those too), I try to put them in the "file" tab that way they're available for all of the objects instead of having to remake them over and over.