How do you organise your models?

I would like to build up a model library that allows me to easily import my models into new projects to speed up my workflow.

IM A WINDOWS USER

how do you guys organise a library of models you have built up?

It would help to know your goals in a bit more detail. Are you talking about a project library to be linked into scenes for animation or something like that? Or are you talking about having a working library of generic assets you can use as bases for general tasks of modeling, rigging, texturing, etc. in arbitrary future projects?

Basically, are we talking about project management, or kitbashing organization?

sorry i didnt make myself clearer :’)

Im interested in ArchiViz, and i meant like a general library of bits and pieces (sofas, Televisions, kitchen appliances, etc.) so that i can import them into current and future projects

atm they are very disorganised (i actually keep them in the main project .blend)

so to find a model i have done so far,
i have to remember what project i did it in,
remember where i saved that project,
open that project up in another instance of blender,
search the scene till i find the model i want,
look at the name,
go to original instance of blender and hit append,
find it again,
find the model name,
APPEND!

long huh?

I copy all of my furniture and other assets into one blend file, then I open it up in a separate instance when I want to copy something. Then I just copy and paste into my working file. It’s much faster than going through and appending things.

‘-’ Wow.

erghhhh, okay, i love you for showing me that,
and now i feel embarresed and stupid lol

so do you have ALL assets in one .blend file?
or do you have like sofa.blend, beds.blend, etc. ?

I have it divided into furniture and “product” (I do a lot of retailer displays and need to have clothes or hats or whatever hanging on the displays




I also have other, more poorly organized assets spread across all of my projects that I have to go hunting for from time to time, but I try to keep things coralled into one place.

lol well the number of “assets” i would probably end up with will be in the many hundreds…
i like what you have done but having 600 high poly models in one scene doesnt sound like a situation i want to be in one day.

though i like what you have done :slight_smile:

thanks for the screen shot :stuck_out_tongue:

(i plan on having a few populer brands of TV’s at many different sizes, that alone is looking at almost 100 models,
Now imagine that for an entire house :P)

this allows me to complete projects at a High Quality extremely quickly.

i know this wont happen over night but you get the idea :slight_smile:

Yeah, for a lot of assets it can get pretty heavy. you could separate them into layers or just have several different files. But copy paste is a godsend. Blender makes you really appreciate the little features that are standard everywhere else. I had to live without an undo function for years, and copy paste was only added in a couple years ago.

trust me when i say i have literally wasted days of my life appending compared to a copy and paste.
is there a secret to linking that i need to know?

Well, if you link (not append) a model in from a separate file, that model still lives in that separate file. if you edit the original, the changes will show up in other scenes you linked it into. Handy for larger productions, or maybe for saving filesize, But for archiviz, I find it’s more trouble than it’s worth. If you prepare a good library, you won’t need to be editing the assets that much anyway. I say copy paste is perfect for archivis.

@SterlingRoth, You have been VERY helpful!
i would gladly give you a tip for your service but im an apprentice and earn peanuts as it is lol

maybe some other day :slight_smile:

anyway you seem to have a few jobs going etc…
is ArchiViz your day job?

I keep assets separated as blend files. I just append them.
The reason for this? I can watch the preview images on the blender browser.
I’m not an MS WIN user, just heard that may be an issue on previewing blend files under MSwindows.
If this is true, it’s too bad and someone should fix it. (if possible)

Think of 20 different pint glasses, 7 different whisky glasses, 2 different wine bottles, 30 different wine glasses, 5 different shot glasses, 3 different plastic cups, 4 different mugs, 5 different jugs and finally 20 other misc glasses etc…

That is JUST the glasses!
apply this to TV’s, sofas, beds, lamps, vases, light shades, light bulbs…

I would like to keep every model i make in photorealistic ArchiViz in a model library.
Things can get quite complicated when i keep them ALL seperate in one folder, or ALL in the same .blend file.

and im not sure how to categrise the models?

do i put tables and chairs that match together?
or do i have a chairs.blend and a table.blend?
do i have a lounge.blend with all things found in the lounge included?
what happens when models like a PS4 could go in the office, bedroom or lounge?

im just struggling with how to categrise my models for easy finding.
this is meant to save me time, not waste it looking for models.

I work for a company that builds tradeshow booths and I get to use blender everyday for previsualization. It’s super helpful for us to be able to show the clients what their displays are going to look like before we build them.




And on the side, I freelance. Mostly technical illustration and product rendering



I mostly serve as a go-between from CAD to something the designers and clients can understand, I really enjoy getting to use blender for a living and I feel very fortunate.

id love to do some stuff like that :slight_smile:
im 17 and want to get into the PreVis side of 3D Graphics.
whether it be booths at tradeshows or house interiors/exteriors…

atm im stuck doing coding for web development, and have got to admit it was a mistake going down this route.

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You’re further along than I was at 17. Just keep doing what you have to do to pay the bills, and keep doing what you love to do to move forward. Stay focused, get a good reel together, and most importantly: have fun. I did CG for years because I thought it was awesome. I was motivated by making cool images, and that ended up turning into a career.

Just remember: a professional is someone who does something for a living, an amateur is someone who does something because they love it. And if you play your cards right, you can be both.

yeah i have a real problem with motivation to stay on a project, even though id love to see them through…
thats why i dont have a demo reel…

there are many distractions around me too, girlfriend, minecraft, talking with anyone prepared to listen to my crazyness :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

I try to keep them as separate files, but I have more variations in the same file - like a chair with several material variants. I link them as it keeps the file size low, but when I need to customize the model I append them. There’s also an addon shipped with blender which makes it easier to jump to the linked file for editing and then back.