Introduction#
During the National Day holiday, our studio had the privilege of participating in the production of the “CCTV 2025 Brand Strong Country Project Launch Conference” opening video. It can't be said that the process was smooth; it was more like rolling and crawling. The pace of such projects is extremely fast, with a total production cycle of only 20 days, which is non-negotiable, while the video specifications are absurdly high, with a duration of 90 seconds, output resolution: 7036 x 1000 pixels, 30fps.
Even more intense was the iteration speed. After the project was completed, I counted myself; other colleagues may not know, but in the 12 days of joining the team, I modified and iterated 70 drafts for the shots I was responsible for, and the entire project folder contained 280G of data.
The team consisted of 10 people, working remotely across multiple provinces and cities. Excluding technical difficulties, such a tight pace, efficient process control, and file management are also necessary conditions for completing such large projects. This article will not extensively describe boring professional knowledge but will mainly share file management and naming conventions that can help cope with most scenarios of remote digital collaboration, as well as a review of the various pitfalls I encountered during this experience.
Clear Directory Structure#
I briefly mentioned my work directory template in “How to Elegantly Use Windows PC in 2024”, as follows:
project name
- doc
- pj
- render
However, due to team collaboration, the directory structure was adjusted accordingly for this project:
project name #Project Name
- 01-in #Files provided by upstream colleagues
- 02-doc #Documents and reference materials
- 03-pj #Project files
- tex #Materials called in the project files
- 04-export #Output directory
- pre #Preview files for review
- render #Files output to downstream colleagues
There are several benefits to this approach:
- Manually adding a numerical prefix to the top-level directory can enforce a clear and intuitive flow from input ➡ output.
- In the “in” directory, files sent by upstream colleagues are not modified; I save a copy to the project directory to prevent accidental modifications and save others' time.
- I still try to maintain the minimum number of directories, making full use of the computer's built-in sorting functions like “by type/date/name” to reduce unnecessary directories and save search time, while also minimizing the number of open windows, as screen space is precious.
- It facilitates version tracing; although it is not as quick and convenient as advanced version control systems like Git, which are better suited for code or plain text files, it can still relatively quickly locate files, aiding in project optimization and quality control.
However, there are also drawbacks to this approach:
- Due to the characteristics of professional software plugins, it is recommended that directory names be non-Chinese, as this makes it harder for others to understand. An effective solution is to package with Chinese names, and if the structure is more complex, write a “documentation” in the project root directory.
- New team members need a certain amount of learning and understanding cost, which may slow down efficiency in urgent or unexpected situations.
- The directory structure is relatively rigid; once the project scale exceeds expectations and many branch tasks arise, subdirectories can easily become complex, increasing the likelihood of operational errors to some extent.
- It may not be suitable for searching, as the number of sequences and files output from animation projects is enormous, making searches more time-consuming.
Make It Understandable for Yourself First#
Regardless of the type of digital work, a clear directory structure and file naming habits play a crucial role. In my view, the key is to make it understandable for yourself first, or more accurately, for your future self.
This way, even if many details are forgotten during future searches, it is easier to confirm the general purpose of the files just by looking at the directory structure and names without needing to preview them.
On a side note, believe me, you must organize and review past projects, whether commercial or original; your hidden wealth lies within.
Key Points of File Naming Conventions#
In summary: under the overall naming conventions of the system, follow your production process as a guideline.
Next, I will explain separately.
File Naming Guidelines for Windows#
In fact, Microsoft has detailed explanations on file naming in its official documentation, and I have summarized some key points to note:
- All file systems follow the same general naming conventions for individual files: base file name and optional extension, separated by a period.
- A “directory” is just a file with special attributes that designate it as a directory, but it must still follow all naming rules like a regular file. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, any naming or usage rules or examples for files also apply to directories.
- Do not assume case sensitivity. For example, treat the names OSCAR, Oscar, and oscar as the same, even if some file systems may treat them as different. Although I use case sensitivity in disk and project root directories for convenience and aesthetics, their content is essentially indistinguishable.
- Do not end file or directory names with spaces or periods.
The same goes for macOS.
Components of Standard Naming#
In actual work, my naming habits are very concise. Taking this 3D animation project as an example:
The C4D project file name for creating the bud is “huabao-anim-1004.c4d”, and the entire name is divided into:
Naming term: huabao (bud)
Category/Status: anim (indicating it is a project for animation)
Creation time/Version: 1004 (created on October 4)
Another project file for “Mudan” is also:
Naming term: Mudan (capitalized because it is the parent of the bud in the model structure)
Category/Status: solo (indicating a single static model, with no animation)
Creation time/Version: 0929 (created on September 29)
Isn't it very simple? This way, both I and my colleagues can easily see the purpose and status of each file. There’s no need to search; just keeping them sorted by name makes it very easy to find.
Another point worth mentioning is the use of delimiters, generally a hyphen - and an underscore _. The hyphen serves as a connector in English but can effectively divide information categories within file names, while I avoid using underscores as separators because they are often treated as spaces in programming.
Continuous Testing and Optimization#
Rome wasn't built in a day. Once you establish an initial naming convention for yourself, it’s best to test it in a small-scale project for a while. Observe whether colleagues and yourself can quickly adapt to and accept this method, much like a game beta test.
If colleagues express confusion or suggestions, be sure to ask clearly about their difficulties and inconveniences. Understand whether the naming convention is unreasonable or if it’s a communication issue within the team.
Then, through larger-scale collaborations and project needs, further expand and iterate more naming conventions, which will invisibly enhance the team's cooperation efficiency.
Conclusion#
Standardized file naming implies a high level of summarization and generalization ability. This ability is not only an essential skill for professionals in the workplace but also reflects the level of expertise of designers or engineers in their respective fields.
Naming files is a process of thinking; humans tend to be lazy, and the brain naturally prefers low-energy operational modes. Human anxiety and worry always stem from “seeking benefits and avoiding harm” and “eagerness for quick success,” while I prefer to believe that “slow is fast.”
If you have better file naming methods, feel free to leave comments to discuss and share.
References:#
- https://learn.microsoft.com/zh-cn/windows/win32/fileio/naming-a-file
- Wikipedia: Naming Conventions (Programming)
- Wikipedia: Computer File
This article was first published on CGArtLab