Feature request - Save Visible or Save Selected, kb shortcut for Collapse all

[Peticel]

Hi.

I would like to request a Save Visible or Save Selected feature to be implemented. Also a keyboard shortcut for Collapse all ( in the Model tree ).

I work for a company that produces light fixtures and I have to render hundreds of articles like spots, lamps, accent lighting and so on.
For speed and convenience I prefer to import a whole family ( up to 20 articles ) into one scene - this includes different sizes and variations of an article.
I do this so that I don't have to adjust 20 cameras ( usually every article has 2 cameras so actually 40 ), environments, materials, etc. This gives me consistency across articles.
After this I save each article as an individual scene, then open it up and delete the remaining 19. I know that I could just leave them hidden but I'm working with CAD data and the file size for one scene can go up to 5Gb really fast. Make that x20 and I use up 100Gb, as opposed to 20 files that have 5Gb together. This workflow has been very fast and efficient so far.
I think that this feature will speed up this type of workflow consistently.

I know that I can do something similar with Model sets but I find it slower to have to:
right click on the article > Create model set from selection > name the model set > toggle visibility ( show only ) > go to File > Save Active Model Sets > name the file > Enter
As opposed to:
Alt+click ( show only ) on the article > Ctrl+Alt+S > name the file > Enter

Please let me know what you think. Thank you!

[Philipp Meyer]

Hi.

My workflow seems nearly the same. I developed a configurator for industrial products (like car configurators) with millions of combinations. Therefore many thousand of renderings are needed.

Scripting helped a lot and will speed up your workflow, too.

Best Regards

Philipp

[mattjgerard]

This has been discussed before, and I too have similar situations. Our archive system likes to have seperate archives for each render, which is a real pain since like all of you I work with dozens of products in one project. If you have your items in seperate model sets, there is a "Save Active Model Set option that will save a bip file of just the selected model set. Just make sure to have the entire model you want to save expanded in the scene tree and select do a CTRL (CMD)+A to select all objects AND the model set in the Model Set tab. If I just select the model set and not the objects, sometimes it will export all the groups but nothing inside the groups.

But yes on all parts, the collapse quick key would be great too. In my opinion everything should be available via shortcuts. If i don't have to touch the mouse I don't want to.

[Peticel]

@Philipp Meyer - I'm also working on a configurator. Unfortunately, I have zero experience with scripting. I am, however, using a script that a colleague made to replace materials and render the articles in all available colours. Very useful.

@mattjgerard - I know about the Model sets, even wrote about them . The problem is that it just adds extra steps to sort and name everything. Plus there is no option to set a keyboard shortcut for Save Active Model Sets - so more clicking. 3Ds Max has this feature when you go to export > you have an option to export selected ( if my memory serves me right )
And yes, every function should be map-able to a key / key combination.