Tk-config-default2 and the remote studio?

What is the feasibility of using the tk-config-default2 toolkit configuration if a studio is 100% remote work and there is no “local” file system? I tried using this config setup with nothing defined in the SG Site Preferences > File Management page and just keep getting errors. The only way that I am able to get this to work is to set a default file path for my local machine. Then when I launch a DCC like Maya the local folder structure is created based on those settings. But, if I am trying to setup a system where artists from around the world are working on their local machine from home, how do I make this work without enforcing my pre-defined file structure onto them? I am fine with enforcing the sub-folder structure, which is handled within the config definitions. But, I cannot force the root file structure on their personal machines… Is there any way to setup this config where the user can work from any root location on their machine and from that point on my defined subfolder structure takes place?

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This is what I have, and it works fine, in theory.

SG Site Preferences > File Management:

roots.yml:

project.yml:

If I then launch a DCC from Toolkit I will get on my local machine the seq/shot/asset/etc folder structure residing under /Users/Shared/dvs/retailer_test. Which would be fine, if we had a shared file system to work under, and I could control the root. But, since I am unable to pre-determine what the root folder structure for the system path will be on their personal machines, how would I set up the config to still create the seq/shot/asset/etc folder structure on whatever root file system path they wish to use?

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Hey @mharris,

Check out this forum thread talking about what options work for some of our clients when setting up a distributed team with toolkit;

Let us know if you have more questions after.

-David

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In that thread they are talking about syncing data and distribution of tools. I am asking about setting up folder structure on the local workspace. The use of an online cloud storage space for working files is not something that would be an option as that would cause too much headaches in performance. The artists will work with their scenes and tools locally on their machine and then upload the media to the cloud storage and SG for reviews. It is the creation of their file system structure that I am asking about, not sync’ing of media and working files.

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Hi @mharris,
Unfortunately at present, you must have the same roots across all locations.
This is something we’ve heard requested before, and I agree it would be great to have a more flexible solution here.

I know some people have modified tk-core I think to allow the use of environment variables in the root path so that it can be redefined per machine, but I don’t know what steps they took, and I have concerns that might introduce issues, as I think changes to the Shotgun web side are probably needed for it to work in all situations.

I’ll pop a request into our roadmap on your behalf.

Best
Phil

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Hi @philip.scadding ,

Thanks for chiming in| This leads me to two more questions:

  1. Is there a way to make SGTK use a different way of determining the root path? Say for instance, can we use a folder Description that would check a field on the User entity where each user could enter a preferred path on their local machine instead of using the Local Files from the Site Preferences?

  2. Is there any way to disable the creation and dependency of local file folders all together? If so, is there any side effects elsewhere in SG which could then become unstable in doing so? Our site is currently using tk-config-basic v1.2.5, which does not create any local folders, but it is limiting and outdated in it’s implementation, as well. We are wanting to migrate to using tk-config-default2, but the only way I could get that to launch any DCC was to have it create local folders. While that would be fine to set it up on my machine, when it is used across other artist machines there is no guarantee the local “root” will even exist for all instances. As we are a 100% virtual studio with no shared drive setup anywhere. So, until which time as we can figure out how to do a per machine root location, is there a way to allow tk-config-defalt2 to launch a DCC without trying to create any local directory structure?

Cheers!

Mike Harris

Pipeline Developer

DreamView Studios

mike.harris@dreamview-studios.com

Hi Mike,

Sadly, there is currently no way to have dynamic roots for files in Shotgun. Also, folder creation is baked into the workflow of default2 and cannot be removed due to the way our templates, schema and file resolving work together.

With this being said, this doesn’t necessarily have to be an issue for you. :smile:

Assuming you are on Windows, your team could agree on a single drive letter and have every member of your team use the subst command (or maybe something more modern, I haven’t managed a Windows machine in a long while) to map any folder on disk to a specific letter. This would allow a user to select a storage location that is appropriate for their setup and expose it with the same drive letter that everyone uses.

On Linux and macOS, I’m assuming a similar arrangement could be reached with symlinks.

Please let us know if this works, we haven’t tried it ourselves to be honest and would love to hear more for our users.

JF

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