Migration of textures etc.

[designgestalt]

in our studio we often create textures specifically for our clients.
our workflow requires, that we keep the textures, colors etc. in the specific project folder, from where we draft the textures also for our Keyshot renderings.
we normally do so by manually adding the paths in the link library in the options menu.
now, with KS7 all those links are missing, obviously! to manually relink all the textures etc. will take forever and a day.
is there somehow a possibility, to write out a file with all the links, or is there a folder, where all the links are kept, that I can copy across?
I do have the same problem with specific lighting configurations, that you normally can save under the userdefined lighting tab.
thanks a lot in advance !!!
cheers
designgestalt

[mattjgerard]

I believe I heard of an XML settings file somwhere that stores all those links, there was a case of someone wanting to be able to set up all machines to the same network folder for assets, and they just emailed around the xml preferences file to each workstation instead of having to manually setup each one.

MyDocumnets -> Keyshot 6-> KS6 Settings

make a copy of it rename it KS7 Settings  and replace the KS7Settings file that is in the

MyDocumnets -> Keyshot 

Folder. Of course after making a backup of that as well. Not sure if that will have an effect on the preferences, since there might be stuff missing in the KS6 settings file that KS7 needs. If you are ok with editing, you can try to merge the 2 and replace the <folders> section in the KS7 file with the one from the KS6 file, and see if that works. In the end, you can't really break anything, if it screws up jsut delete the settings folder in the KS7 folder and it will regenerate to its defaults. Just don't delete the KS6Settings file, as then you will have lost all your links!

[designgestalt]

thanks Matt,
I will try that out over the weekend!
let you know what happened !
cheers

[designgestalt]

Update:
unfortunatelly I was not able to solve this problem yet.
the script of the KS 6 file is different to the one of the KS7 file, so I could not find the right location , where to place the part from KS6 into KS7.
it was easy to find the location in the KS6 file, though!
I have to say, I did not dare to just merge the two XML files into one big new file.

[mattjgerard]

I think that is what would need to happen, that will keep the integrity of the KS7 settings file valid, but update the paths. I'mnot an xml expert, and there might be some syntax issues, but it could probably be done.

How many diffeerent locations are you talking about, and are all of these live in your library all at once? We have a single central network folder that houses all the corporate approved materials, but we only have to worry about our own, not multiple clients.

You might be able to set up a single location for each client  and have to change it every time you change jobs, (pain in the arse) or if you only have 5 clients, then they can all be live in the library whenever, there are many ways to get this done.

[designgestalt]

thanks mattjgerard for your time,
it has to do with the way our workflow developed over the years...
we do create textures i.e. for fabrics or plastic surfaces especially for our clients and most times even especially for certain products.
we keep those textures with the project folders, which means, that the graphic guys can work on the textures and I only hit the "reload" button in KS to update the textures.
it is crucial to not  have two locations on the server.
this way we avoid duplicates that are not updated.
you helped me out beginning of the year, when I moved from one PC to another, by showing me, how to re-link all the textures manually (don't know, if you remember)
our KS history is still young, but it took me half a day to re-link all the libraries back then and I don't dare to think, how long it will take in two years time from now.
not to mention, that this is not a robust procedure. if someone else from my studio has to re-render an old project, because the colors changed or whatever, and I did not re-link this very project, he will be in trouble.

it is just, that this is not migration from one version to the next as I understand it or as I am used to it.

when I move up one version in Alias as an example, the program asks me if it should migrate all the settings from the previous version.
in this case, you open the program and can start with your days work as usual.

it also takes  of of the excitement of a new update, when you know, you have to invest a few hours, before everything is running as before...

[mattjgerard]

Totally understand. I'm dealing with the same thing on a KS6 project I just worked on a couple months ago. Tons of labels with many iterations of them, and even though I packaged the project up, i still had to go and relink hundreds of label texture nodes.  I tried openeing the project in KS7, but the labels all appeared incorrect, and the mapping was all over the place. Had to spend 4 hours rebuilding the project. They really need a pretty robust texture manager.

Off to the wishlist!