Preface#
During the National Day holiday, our studio had the honor of participating in the production of the opening video for the “CCTV 2025 Brand Strong Country Project Launch Conference”. 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, lasting 90 seconds, with a resolution of 7036 x 1000 pixels at 30fps.
Even more daunting was the iteration speed. After the project was completed, I counted myself; other colleagues might not know, but just for the shots I was responsible for, there were 70 iterations within the 12 days of joining the team, and the entire project folder contained 280GB 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 large-scale projects. This article will not extensively describe boring professional knowledge but will mainly share file management and naming standards that can help cope with most scenarios of remote digital collaboration, as well as a review of 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 by 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 directories forces them to be arranged in the order of input ➡ output, making the file flow clear and intuitive.
- In the “in” directory, files sent by upstream colleagues are not modified; I save a copy in the project directory to prevent accidentally modifying them and having to ask colleagues again, saving their time.
- The number of directories is kept to a minimum, fully utilizing the computer's built-in sorting functions like “by type/date/name” to reduce unnecessary directories, saving search time, while also minimizing the number of open windows, as screen space is precious.
- It facilitates version tracking; 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 still allows for relatively quick file location, aiding in project optimization and quality control.
However, there are also drawbacks to this approach:
- Due to the characteristics of plugins in professional software, 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; if the structure is more complex, a “documentation” can be written in the project root directory.
- New team members require a certain learning and understanding cost, which can slow down efficiency in urgent or unexpected situations.
- The directory structure is relatively rigid; if the project scale exceeds expectations and many branch tasks arise, subdirectories can easily become complex, increasing the likelihood of errors to some extent.
- It may not be suitable for search, 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 when searching later, 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 Standards#
In summary: under the overall naming standards of the system, base it on your production process.
Next, I will explain separately.
File Naming Guidelines for Windows#
Actually, Microsoft has detailed explanations on file naming in their official documentation, and I have summarized some key points to note:
- All file systems follow the same general naming conventions for individual files: a base file name and an 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 the same.
- Do not end file or directory names with spaces or periods.
macOS is quite similar.
Components of Standardized Naming#
In practical work, I prefer very concise naming. For this 3D animation project, for example:
The C4D project file name for creating the bud is “huabao-anim-1004.c4d,” with the entire name divided into:
Naming term: huabao (bud)
Category/Status: anim (indicating it is for animation production)
Creation time/Version: 1004 (created on October 4)
Another project file for “Mudan” is also:
Naming term: Mudan (capitalized because it is structurally the parent of the bud)
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 my colleagues and I can easily see the purpose and status of each file. There’s no need to search; just maintaining normal name sorting makes it very easy to find.
Another noteworthy point is the use of separators, generally short dashes - and underscores _. The dash serves as a hyphen in English but can effectively divide information categories within file names. I avoid using underscores as separators because, in programming, underscores are often treated as spaces.
Continuous Testing and Optimization#
Rome wasn't built in a day. Once you establish an initial naming standard for yourself, it’s best to try it out 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 for clarification on their difficulties and inconveniences. Understand whether the naming standard 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 standards, which will invisibly enhance the team's cooperation efficiency.
Conclusion#
Standardized file naming signifies 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 thought; humans tend to be lazy, and the brain prefers low-energy operational modes. Human anxiety and worry always stem from “seeking benefits and avoiding harm” and “impatience for quick success,” while I prefer to believe that “slow is fast.”
If you have better file naming methods, feel free to leave comments for discussion and sharing.
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