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Project Settings

Intro​

Project Settings create a relationship between Scenes, Assets and Renders (and more) by using file paths relative to a Project.

When a Project is set, a Project Description is created in a set location on the file system. A Project Description is simply a .json file specifying default file paths to other directories. The result of this is that when, for example, double clicking in the Assets Window to import an Asset, Finder (macOS) or Explorer (Windows) will open in the directory specified by the Project.

Setting a Project is also beneficial when multiple people are working on the same Scenes or sharing the same Assets. It means a pipeline can be set up to keep a team organised – Renders go here, Scenes go here, Assets can be found here etc. With a Project set, all file paths to images, audio, fonts etc become relative so all links to any imported assets are maintained when sharing a project with a client/colleague/freelancer outside of the studio.

UI​

Create a new Project​

To create a new Project:

  1. Either:
    1. Go File > Project Settings.
    2. Click the folder icon in the bottom left of the Assets Window.
  2. Click the Create... button at the bottom right of the Project Settings window.
  3. Select a directory on the file system as the root folder for the Project.
  4. Give the Project a name (by default the name of the folder chosen in step 3 will be used).

Alternatively choose Create... from the drop down menu in the bottom left of the Assets Window and then follow steps 3 and 4 above.

Customise a Project​

The default locations for each directory is pre-populated within the Project Settings window. These can be edited to create custom paths if required.

caution

Changing the names of existing directories in the Project Settings window will also change the names of directories on your file system. For example, if the path to Assets was @project/Assets and is changed to @project/Images, the Assets directory on the file system will be renamed to Images.

Name - The name for the project. This is the name that's used within the drop down menu in the bottom left of the Assets Window.

caution

Changing the project Name will not change the name of the actual directory on the file system.

Scenes - The default location to save Scenes to or open Scenes from.

Renders - The default location to save renders to.

Assets - The default location to import Assets from.

Autosave - The default location to store autosave files.

Palettes - .pal files saved here will appear as Library Palettes in the Color Window. See - Palettes.

By default, there will now be directories called Assets (+ Palettes), Renders, Scenes and Autosave created within the 'Project' directory along with a file called projectDescription.json.

When running File > Open..., Finder/Explorer will open into the Scenes directory within the Project directory. This is also true for File > Save. When double clicking in the Assets Window, Finder/Explorer will open into the Assets directory. The Path in the Render Manager will be pre-populated with '@project/Renders' meaning files will be written into that directory at render time.

Edit an existing Project​

To edit a Project open the Project Settings window again and edit the paths. Alternatively, see custom settings below.

Switch Projects​

Recently used Projects will appear in the drop down menu in the bottom left of the Assets Window. Selecting a Project will set that Project.

Existing Projects can also be set by choosing Load... from the drop down menu in the bottom left of the Assets Window and then navigating to a directory that contains a projectDescription.json file.

Opening a Scene within an existing Project will also switch to that Project. See path-to-project.

Clear a Project​

To remove any Project Settings either:

  • Choose choosing Clear Settings from the drop down menu in the bottom left of the Assets Window or;
  • Go File > Project Settings and then click the x on the right of the Project Path row.

With no Project set, any paths to assets, renders etc become absolute paths.

path-to-project​

When a Project is set, a file called path-to-project is created alongside any saved Scene files. This is a simple file which points to the projectDescription.json file from the location of the .cv file.

Here is an example of a path-to-project file within a default Project:

📁 Project
  ┠ 📁 Assets
  ┠ 📁 Autosave
  ┠ projectDescription.json
  ┠ 📁 Renders
  ┠ 📁 Scenes
    ┠ yourSceneFile.cv
    ┠ path-to-project

The presence of a path-to-project file means that when opening the yourSceneFile.cv file, Cavalry will automatically switch to its parent Project.

When opened in a Text Editor, a path-to-project may read as simply .. which just means go up one level to where the projectDescription.json file is located. This file can be edited as required for any custom pipelines. For example, go up two levels and then into a directory called MyFolder would be ../../MyFolder.

If a Project is set, the path-to-project file will automatically contain the correct path relative to the Project when a new Scene is saved.

Cavalry Player

A path-to-project file is required for scenes which include assets (images, svg, audio etc) when using Cavalry Player. It's also useful when rendering via the Cavalry CLI.

Custom settings​

The projectDescription.json file can also be manually edited in a text editor but ensure that it is not already in use when doing so.

// projectDescription.json
{
    "description": {
        "assets": "@project/Assets",
        "autoSave": "@project/Autosave",
        "name": "Cavalry",
        "palettes": "@project/Assets/Palettes",
        "renders": "@project/Renders",
        "scenes": "@project/Scenes"
    }
}