Page Comparison

The software organizes the categories into a hierarchy tree structure.

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The hierarchy view is a visual presentation of the categories hierarchy. It is organized visually presents the structure of categories in a tree structureformat. By unfolding expanding the top-tier categories, you will can see all the child categories and get , providing a better clearer understanding of their relations to each otherrelationships.

By clicking on an a tree item you get further information , additional information is displayed in the details view on the right side.
It will show This view includes the Wikidata ID, a human-readable tag of for the category, a description text, and the different various synonyms.

On one hand, the The hierarchy tree is structured based on the actual order of categories, but on the other hand it is also optimized for the commonly used vocabulary in the Visual Effects (VFX) industry. There are many Many VFX-specific terms that got have been incorporated into this category tree which makes the most sense from an artists , making it most intuitive and practical from an artist's perspective.

There are the The top-tier categories which make the most sense for grouping certain types of elements together, like are designed to logically group similar elements, such as fire, smoke, and explosions. Organizing the elements into top tier categories helps with This organization aids in naming and storing of elements on disk. This way, you can create a sustainable library and avoid that elements need to be moved or renamed if the category of an element changes. Changing the category can be done easily , creating a sustainable library. By maintaining consistent file locations, even if an element's category changes in the database, but the physical file stays remains in the same location on disk. This is important if you want to load a project file from a few years ago and want to avoid missing media files.More and more categories will be consistency is crucial for loading project files from previous years, ensuring that media files are not missing.

As more categories are added over time, hence the library structure will continue to improve and become overall more detailedincreasingly detailed. This ongoing expansion will enhance the organization and accessibility of the library, making it more comprehensive and user-friendly.

Category ID

Everybody Everyone has a different understanding of what a certain element is supposed to should be called. We all have different , influenced by our diverse linguistic backgrounds. That problem often leads This variation can often lead to confusion when talking to your collegescommunicating with colleagues.

Since each category can be linked to one exact a specific Wikidata page, we can unify one common our understanding and vocabulary about what a certain category is calledregarding category names. This should standardization helps avoid the confusion for everybody in our daily conversation conversations with our colleagues.

The ID for each category typically looks something like this: Q3196
This text is an identifier that can be used to link to a human-readable text entry in the Wikidata database.

Resource: www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Identifiers
License: cc pd CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

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Change the hierarchy tree

Go to settings → CategoryThe category hierarchy tree can be full customized. Simply drag'n'drop items from the Tree View to change the order and the parent/child categories. Add new categories if need or change the existing ones by clicking on a category and changing the data in the Details View. Settings → Category

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Edit hierarchy menu bar

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Hierarchy tree file

The category hierarchy tree will be saved to a file called hierarchy.json
In order for the software to find some
This hierarchy tree data will be used across all loaded libraries.
Since version 2.1.0+ a different hierarchy tree can be defined for each library.

To ensure the software can locate custom hierarchy data, the file must be either placed in the your resources folder at this specific location(DASELEMENT_RESOURCES) at the following specific location or in the folder defined by the hierarchy environment variable (DASELEMENT_HIERARCHY):

$DASELEMENT_RESOURCES/hierarchy/hierarchy.json

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$DASELEMENT_HIERARCHY/hierarchy.json

This hierarchy tree data will be used across all loaded libraries. Using a hierarchy tree for one specific library is not supported at the moment.

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Hierarchy tree overwrite per library

To define a specific hierarchy tree for a library, create an override in the library settings.

Create overwrite

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Overwrite active

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The order of loading the hierarchy:

1. use hierarchy defined in the library hierarchy overwrite

2. if not found, use hierarchy defined with environment variable (DASELEMENT_HIERARCHY)

3. if not found, use hierarchy defined with environment variable in global resources folder (DASELEMENT_RESOURCES)

4. if not found, use default hierarchy of the installed Das Element version

Edit the hierarchy tree

Each category has the following fields: an ID (by default, the Wikidata ID), the a human-readable label, some a description text, and the synonyms.

Both the category ID and the category name can be used in the Path Builder, the custom command line as well as the ingest view for tags and metadata. Use is as the Path Value tokens, e.g. <category.name>

The user can add, delete, or modify existing synonyms in the details view (on the right side). Searching for the a synonym will always get you this category in e.g. bring up the corresponding category in views such as the gallery view or the ingest view.

The category hierarchy tree is fully customizable. Simply drag and drop items within the Tree View to change the order and parent/child relationships of categories. You can add new categories as needed or modify existing ones by clicking on a category and updating the data in the Details View.

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Default hierarchy file structure

Here is the empty data structure for the hierarchy file. The root item (/ : Q2574811) is required. You can start by adding data inside the children list to build your customized hierarchy tree.

{
    "hierarchy": [
        {
            "children": [],
            "id": "Q2574811",
            "name": "/"
        }
    ],
    "version": "some version text"
}

The child item data structure looks like this:

# minimum requirement
{
    "id": "my-category-id",
    "name": "My Category"
}


# all options
{
    "children": [],
    "description": "some description text",
    "id": "my-category-id",
    "name": "My Category",
    "synonyms": [
        {
            "language": "custom",
            "value": "some other category name"
        }
    ]
}

Example: Folder structure to hierarchy file structure

A use case for this hierarchy structure could be to organize all your final shots and plates into a "project archive" library. This allows you to quickly access the shots from previous shows. It also provides an efficient way for the editorial department to edit showreels or for production to collect showreel shots for freelance artists.

Here is an example Python script that converts a nested folder structure on disk into a hierarchy conform file:
https://github.com/das-element/resources/blob/main/misc/code_snippets/get_hierarchy_from_folder_structure.py