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cakeller
cakeller
Known Participant
October 16, 2020
Question

Double Clicking to Open a Project Should Not Create an Empty Project

  • October 16, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 816 views

Hi, if I double click a character animator project file to open it, it is so messy to have Ch create a default empty project. Those default empty projects are litterally just clutter!

 

Ch should always open by default similar to all other products - like After Effects, Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator.

 

I have quite gotten used to opening Character Animator and it starting up right where I left off, but when it causes problems, it's really frustrating.  And creating empty default problems is seriously gross for my OCD, especially when there's no thumbnail for the project.

 

Please, for the love of parsimony... make Ch work like other adobe apps when opening up.

 

PS> the way that Ch works with all the temp files, it's a horrific nightmare to work on Creative Cloud file storage, even exporting puppets can easily cause a sync error.  Creative cloud tries to sync the temporary repository, and then chokes and won't realize that the files are on neither local or server, and shoudl be dequeued. just sits and says "error"

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1 reply

CoSA_DaveS
Community Manager
CoSA_DaveSCommunity Manager
Community Manager
October 20, 2020

Are you deleting the last .chproj that you used? Ch shouldn't be creating a new project every time you double-click on another, although it does briefly open the last project you had open when it launches — even if you launch it by double-clicking on a different project. If the last-opened project doesn't exist where it was before, indeed Ch will create a new default project before it realizes you are opening a different one.


It’s an annoying quirk caused by the current architecture combined with the operating system not sending the open-project request during startup. If Ch is creating new projects every time and you’re not deleting the last project you had open, please provide detailed steps for this so we can fix it.

 

Regarding storing an open project in location that is synchronized (CC, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc), indeed that doesn't work well, and can actually corrupt your project if it’s modified on more than one machine at once. Ch is supposed to warn you about this if the project is in a synced folder. What operating system version and Creative Cloud Desktop version are you using? Is the synced folder on your main drive or an external drive?

 

Thank you for the feedback!

cakeller
cakellerAuthor
Known Participant
October 20, 2020
  • "Are you deleting the last .chproj that you used?"
    - No

  • "Ch shouldn't be creating a new project every time you double-click on another"
    - Well it does... but you're right it's doing it if the previous project is no longer. it's still creating clutter. don't create a new one, just open the first default one or none at all. this behavior is REALLY messy.

  • ", although it does briefly open the last project you had open when it launches — even if you launch it by double-clicking on a different project."
    - This is annoying and doesn't match the rest of Adobe CC apps.

  • "If the last-opened project doesn't exist where it was before, indeed Ch will create a new default project before it realizes you are opening a different one."
    - It should NOT do this, it should behave as if the alt button was held down.  Period.  This is not, IMO, correct behavior.

  • "It’s an annoying quirk caused by the current architecture combined with the operating system not sending the open-project request during startup"
    - I don't understand how this can't be fixed when you can hold down alt, and the behavior would be as normally expected. FLIP these behaviors or allow a shortcut switch. Something / Anything. When this behavior goes wrong it's pretty frustrating.
  • " If Ch is creating new projects every time and you’re not deleting the last project you had open, please provide detailed steps for this so we can fix it."
    - Ahh you're right - I was archiving old versions of projects after verifying them and consolidating their media files, I'd close them and archive/delete them and move on to the next. I still think the this behavior is incorrect. why not make a preference setting to open last opened project on launch. This functionality is ALREADY there in holding the ALT key while starting.

 

  • "Regarding storing an open project in location that is synchronized (CC, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc), indeed that doesn't work well, and can actually corrupt your project if it’s modified on more than one machine at once."
    - ok well I stopped using it. which sucks from a collaboration standpoint.  In fact the entire file structure of a character animator project is rather terrible from a collaboration point of view. suggestion - have a method of exporting to an archive version of the project like a .chzip or something. and for goodness sakes create the temporary project IN THE TEMP FOLDER!!! so that when it is copied to the creative cloud directory it hasn't gone in and created a few hundred temp files that then need to be deleted!

  • "Ch is supposed to warn you about this if the project is in a synced folder."
    - I did not recieve a warning. And I have stopped using CC storage for Character Animator.  After having spent 4-6 hours per session on more than one occasion trying to empty the deleted files - OMG this is another abhorrent topic that makes my brain boil! there's literally no easy way to empty deleted folder, not even with the help of tech support.  I've lost a full working day+ of productivity over this. obviously I've fixed my workflow but yuck!.  10,000 files takes about 4-6 hours to delete from CC deleted files. and tech support can't even help. ;( and I was promised a call from an engineer over this and never recieved it. oh well. I finished and will hopefully NEVER make the mistake again.

  • "What operating system version and Creative Cloud Desktop version are you using?"
    - Windows 10 x64 latest build. Creative Cloud Desktop (always up-to-date)

  • "Is the synced folder on your main drive or an external drive?"
    - Default location C:\Users\<me>\Documents\Creative Cloud Files\

 

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. I have worked around a lot of these shortcomings so in practice I can still do what I need to. But when things break down I end up wasting a lot of time futzing with things.

cakeller
cakellerAuthor
Known Participant
October 20, 2020

Summary - For what it's worth I really think the following would solve a lot of problems for me, and I think others as well: 

  1. add a preference to open Ch by default in the same way it opens when pressing Alt <Most important
  2. add an option to save an "archive" similar to a puppet, but with the entire project.
  3. add an option to save a "scene" akin to that of saving a puppet (then you can archive your completed scenes with all the necessary components etc exactly as it was when last exported as a video, etc.)
  4. saving puppets and any other archive type should create it's temp files in the local temp folder to avoid vomiting temp files onto cloud folders only to delete them and end up with zombied files.
  5. change behavior so that Ch first checks if it's opening a project from a double click before re-opening the prior project. again... if #1 above is the default behavior, this would be a straight up no-brainer.

 

Creative Cloud's Deleted Folder (not specifically related to Ch, but... )

  1. I would request, please talk to the CC folks and encourage them to add an "empty deleted" button and better ways to see that the files in there are ones you actually want to delete and they aren't files that CC "accidentally" wiped off your local drive - which has happened as well, which is why I prefer to keep deleted files to a minimum so I can review the deleted content to verify it should be deleted. 10,000 files can't easily be reviewed so no more Ch on CC for me. hahah.
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