While the recent improvements to the resource browser are welcome, I still find the process of finding something like a renderworks texture very tedious.
For example, say I want to find a timber texture.
Firstly, ignoring any libraries I might have created myself, just to see what resource files are available, I have to go seperately into two high level folders and then dig down two levels in each.
a) Subscription libraries > defaults > renderworks textures
b) Vectorworks libraries > defaults > renderworks textures
(And why is there a folder called "default" on the same level as a number of "objects" folders? Why isn't that first level of folders sorted by general type of resource, like "objects", "renderworks", etc?)
Then when I do get to one of those "renderworks textures" folders I am confronted with a long list of files, which are only really usefully sorted in as much as their names happen to work out alphabetically. So if I want to look for wood textures, effectively I have to look through the whole list, because there might be a suitable texture in "wood_..." or "flooring_wood_..." or "misc_materials" or "misc_arroway_textures" or "_default textures" or who knows where else - there might be some folder called "timber_..." or "oak_..." for all I know.
The files should be organised in a way such that if I don't know exactly what I'm after, but want to see what is available, it's easy to find everything in a broad category. eg:
Libraries > renderworks > textures > wood > hardwood or something like that. And then, not a long list of files with unhelpful names like "wood_arroway_textures_vol02f" but a minimum number of files with names that describe what's in each of them. So if I am looking for an oak texture I don't have to look through all of volumes 01a to 99z.
I'm guessing some might say this is what the search function is for. But the search function relies on the file or texture having been named with the right word that I happen to think of. This is not of much help if I want to look for, say, a light-coloured hardwood texture. Searching for "light coloured hardwood" isn't going to get me anywhere. But if I can go down into a logical file structure, then I can be sure that I can do a fairly exhaustive search of the options without having to look through virtually every folder on there, which is what it feels like at the moment.
I find the file structure for renderworks textures such a mess, and so tedious to look through, that I sort of dread going in there, and will often use a texture that I've found previously and used in another drawing, instead, even if it's not really quite what I want. Surely this is not how VW wants people to be using the resources made available.
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While the recent improvements to the resource browser are welcome, I still find the process of finding something like a renderworks texture very tedious.
For example, say I want to find a timber texture.
Firstly, ignoring any libraries I might have created myself, just to see what resource files are available, I have to go seperately into two high level folders and then dig down two levels in each.
a) Subscription libraries > defaults > renderworks textures
b) Vectorworks libraries > defaults > renderworks textures
(And why is there a folder called "default" on the same level as a number of "objects" folders? Why isn't that first level of folders sorted by general type of resource, like "objects", "renderworks", etc?)
Then when I do get to one of those "renderworks textures" folders I am confronted with a long list of files, which are only really usefully sorted in as much as their names happen to work out alphabetically. So if I want to look for wood textures, effectively I have to look through the whole list, because there might be a suitable texture in "wood_..." or "flooring_wood_..." or "misc_materials" or "misc_arroway_textures" or "_default textures" or who knows where else - there might be some folder called "timber_..." or "oak_..." for all I know.
The files should be organised in a way such that if I don't know exactly what I'm after, but want to see what is available, it's easy to find everything in a broad category. eg:
Libraries > renderworks > textures > wood > hardwood or something like that. And then, not a long list of files with unhelpful names like "wood_arroway_textures_vol02f" but a minimum number of files with names that describe what's in each of them. So if I am looking for an oak texture I don't have to look through all of volumes 01a to 99z.
I'm guessing some might say this is what the search function is for. But the search function relies on the file or texture having been named with the right word that I happen to think of. This is not of much help if I want to look for, say, a light-coloured hardwood texture. Searching for "light coloured hardwood" isn't going to get me anywhere. But if I can go down into a logical file structure, then I can be sure that I can do a fairly exhaustive search of the options without having to look through virtually every folder on there, which is what it feels like at the moment.
I find the file structure for renderworks textures such a mess, and so tedious to look through, that I sort of dread going in there, and will often use a texture that I've found previously and used in another drawing, instead, even if it's not really quite what I want. Surely this is not how VW wants people to be using the resources made available.
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