It would be extremely helpful to have the ability to gather all linked files (materials, picture frames, blocks, GH, etc.) into one place so they can be neatly zipped and transferred to others. Currently, Rhino sometimes spits out the Embedded Files Folder with some embedded files but not all. I still don’t understand why Rhino does what it does when it makes this folder.
I often work on 3DM files that live on a shared server and are worked on my multiple people. We have a folder structure that words great, however, things inevitably get messy when myself or others put linked files in the wrong place.
I’ve posted about issues that I’ve had with Embedded File Folders in this thread. I think what I’m bringing up here deserves it’s own separate conversation.
What are your thoughts on this as a potential feature? Are there any hidden secrets that I’m not aware of?
Well, I can’t find the actual post but I made one more suggestion somewhere and I was told that they will not change 3dm file for any reason whatsoever.
I can sympathize with the opinion that a second file format would be a whole can-o-worms. With that said, I think the issue that we’re bringing up, and surely recognized by others, can be resolved in a number of ways. Not everyone uses Rhino in a way that would benefit from this. A feature that would make our lives easier should also avoid making others lives more complicated. This is why I think the best solution would be a PackageProject command that would gather all linked files and other attributes if and when ya need it as not to intrude on others’ workflows.
I can’t speak with certainty but the current 3dm file also contains other files, however not zipped but encrypted in some way, base64 or whatever. Hence, the ability to “Save small” simply cleaning the file from some of the data leaving only the geometry piece of the file. There are notes in the document. Dictionary objects to provide additional attributes for each file and each object, they may as well be serialized data objects embedded in there. This was similar before with DOC files. Now, DOCX files are zipped files containing the DOC file as separate files containing the data, text, styles, themes, images. Same could be implemented for 3dm but in such a way that it will not affect the end users, besides improving their (our) experience.
Of course there are other directions they could go like database-based application instead of file-based application but…
I’m curious what your thoughts are on this topic. Do you feel the Rhino community would benefit from such a feature? Are we asking the right questions?
I was searching for something exactly like this, thinking I must be missing something. I didn’t question Rhino would have a way to package everything like AutoCAD (create Transmittal). Rhino is very good at keeping the file size down by linking materials and imported models, which I appreciate. But it gets quite cumbersome, often practically impossible, to neatly package a project if everything wasn’t already well organized to begin with.
