Hello. Something I have neglected while learning blender was proper file structure. This became apperent when I recently switched computers and my old projects have the materials all pink because they can’t find the images.
So I was wondering what the proper file structure should be for different projects. Lately I have been doing
Renders
Reference
Textures
Scenes
Does it matter what they are called? I remember lightwave had its own way, and you were supposed to name them correctly. Is blender like that?
Also, a related question. What is the correct way to handle image textures at the macro level? I have a small texture library on my HD. I know its bad to open a texture from that location, because if I move folders around, or try to open the blendfile on a different computer, the images will not load.
So I assume the correct thing to do, is to make a copy of the texture, and put it in my project directory. So if I have the same texture in multiple projects, I have that same file multiple times on my hard drive. Is that right?
Then lastly, what do I do about appending (or linking) materials that use image textures. Should I make a copy of the image and put it in my project directory? If I do that, wouldn’t the material still reference the location of the texture that I originally applied to it? I’m trying to make a material library, and an object library. If I’m appending things from different scenes, I don’t think its smart to have textures scattered about all over my hard drive. What if I need to give someone my blend file?
I know I should have learned this years ago, but better late than never.