Locating your Object Library somewhere other than the Default

Admittedly the object library with all its textures takes up a decent amount of space, and in some systems, you may want to locate it somewhere other than the default locations, which is, on Windows, in the standard (hidden) ProgramData folder, while on the Mac it is located in a folder named FrameForge Support Data within the FrameForge program folder.

CLICK HERE FOR MAC OS INSTRUCTIONS

On Windows, the installer allows you to specify an alternate location simply by checking the box labeled Install the Object Library to a Custom Location (advanced) and selecting the folder where you would like them to go.

However, if you want to change their location for an existing installation, it's still possible, through a bit more involved.

1. From within a running copy of FrameForge, go to the Tools menu and select Manage Support Folders then choose Object Library.
2. This will open Windows Explorer set to the program's Object Library Folder, and you'll see all your object categories.
3. Without closing this Windows Explorer instance, go back and exit FrameForge.
   
4. Now, in Windows Explorer, go up two levels in the Folder Hierarchy until you see the folder labeled FrameForge Storyboard Studio which contains both your library and texture folders.
5. Move this folder to where ever you want it, though we don't recommend remote network drives as they can be fairly slow.
6. Now, open your FrameForge program FOLDER (not the application itself), 
7. Press and hold the ALT Key and drag the folder from its new location into the Frameforge program folder.  
8. BEFORE RELEASING YOUR MOUSE make sure that the hint says something like "making a link" or "creating a shortcut" rather than move or copy.
9. Assuming it does, release the mouse within the FrameForge Program folder and it will create a shortcut to your library there.
10. Finally, rename this link to just the word library (or, if you have it showing extensions, it might be library.lnk) and you are done.

Mac OS Instructions

1. From within a running copy of FrameForge, go to the Tools menu and select Manage Support Folders then choose Object Library.
2. This will open a Finder window for the Object Library folder, and you'll see all your object categories.
3. Command-click or right-click on the title of this folder, which will pop up a menu showing the ancestry of the folder.  Go up 2 levels to the FrameForge program folder, containing the FrameForge application and the FrameForge Support Data folder.
4. Without closing this Finder window, go back and quit FrameForge.
5. Hold the Command key (⌘) and drag the FrameForge Support Data folder to another location, though we don't recommend network drives as they can be slow.  (The command key guarantees that you will do a move rather than a copy, even if the destination is on another drive.)
6. Hold the Command and option/alt keys (⌘⌥) and drag the FrameForge Support Data folder from its new location back into its old location. Before releasing the mouse, make sure that the drag image is accompanied by a curved arrow, indicating that you will be creating an alias rather than doing a move or copy.

Mac and Windows Libraries in Unified Cloud Storage

What if you use FrameForge on both a Mac and a PC, and you want to use the same object and texture libraries for both, synchronized by a cloud storage mechanism like Drop Box, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, or what have you?  That can be done, but it more complicated due to different naming conventions on the two platforms.  The key is, on the Mac, instead of making FrameForge Support Data be an alias, make Object Library and Texture Library be aliases to the library and textures folders used for Windows.

In the diagram below, black arrows indicate folder containment relationships, and red arrows indicate references by shortcut (Windows) or alias (Mac).  The items shown as "FrameForge Folder" are the folders containing the FrameForge program, which by default is named "FrameForge Storyboard Studio 4.0".  You can handle the Windows side essentially as described in the first section of this article.  Then hold the Command and Option keys when dragging the library and textures folders from the cloud area into the FrameForge Support Data folder to create aliases, and then rename the aliases from library to Object Library and from textures to Texture Library.