Your Workspace in Connecter is the aggregation of everything.
It’s the central hub where the metadata of your library is stored and managed. The"space" where you'll be organising your assets, whether working alone or as a team.
Every time you start Connecter, it must connect to and open your Workspace to set the work environment of your assets library.
When you tag an asset, add a preview or description, or leave Feedback - that information is stored in the Workspace, through which you and your team's members access and share everything more efficiently.
Starting with Workspaces
Connecter has three workspace types: Personal, Shared(local workspaces) and Connecter Server.
ThePersonal Workspace best suits individual 3d artists who need a simple working environment that is easy to set up and maintain.
The Shared Workspace allows the synchronisation of the asset library metadata across up to 5 Connecter instances connected to a shared workspace within the local area network(LAN). This workspace type allows for a maximum of 10 000 assets in the library.
The Connecter Server workspaces offer advanced collaboration workflows for demanding teams and come with paid SasS subscription with a 90-day FREE trial
The Connecter app organises all Personal and Shared Workspaces data in folders on the file system. Connecter Server workspaces are hosted on Connecter's cloud, or a self-managed PostgreSQL database hosted on-premises.
When you start Connecter for the first time, it will ask you to create a workspace(Personal or Shared), activate an existing one(Personal or Shared), or log in to a Connecter Server workspace:
WORKSPACES interface when Connecter starts for the first time, or there's no last-used workspace available.
To create a new Personal Workspace, click the button to browse a local or network folder, and when ready, click the"Select folder" button in the browser.
NEVER use a cloud-synced local folder(e.g. Dropbox, Drive, etc.) as a synchronisation process will corrupt irrevocably the workspace.
To create a new Shared Workspace, click the button to browse a shared local or network folder, and when ready, click the"Select folder" button in the browser. IMPORTANT: You must select a shared folder to which all Connecter instances that will use the workspace have access.
NEVER use a cloud-synced local folder(e.g. Dropbox, Drive, etc.) as a synchronisation process will corrupt irrevocably the workspace.
To connect to a Connecter Server Workspace you are granted access to, click the"Log in" button, use your credentials to log in, and select the workspace you want to access. Contact your team admin if you manage to log in but don't see any workspaces available to connect to.
Logging in to a Connecter Server account and connecting to a workspace.
To use an existing local workspace(Personal or Shared), click the"Activate existing local workspace" button to navigate to a folder containing the workspace, and when ready, click the"Select folder" button in the browser.
What data is stored in the Workspace
BEFORE WE BEGIN: Your assets' content(e.g. the local files you browse in Connecter) is not part of the Workspace. The Workspace only holds the information necessary to provide Connecter's organisational and management features. None of the files in your asset library will be changed, moved or otherwise altered by Connecter.
Following are some main types of data Connecter stores and manages in the Workspace:
The locations of the root folders you add to Connecter;
The locations of all assets you catalogue by adding metadata and custom previews plus:
The metadata you add and modify: tags, descriptions, ratings;
The locations of any custom previews you add to your assets;
The custom previews' content(for Personal and Shared workspaces).
All Version Control and Feedback metadata that is being added while you use these features;
Folders colours;
The tags you add and modify and their colours and custom icons;
Custom properties you add and change;
Changelogs with all events that happen in the Workspace.
If you use Connecter as part of a team with a Shared Workspace or Connecter Server, all these types of data you add or modify in the Workspace sync with all other team members who connect to the same Workspace.
Personal Workspaces
You'd typically need a simple Personal Workspace environment if you're a freelance artist or a one-person studio.
Setting up
When you create a new Personal Workspace, you can choose any local or network folder. Every time Connecter starts, it will need complete read and write access to that folder to validate and successfully connect to the Workspace.
IMPORTANT: Though accessing a Personal Workspace from different Connecter instances is possible, this practice is HIGHLY NOT RECOMMENDED. If two Connecter instances try to make changes on the same workspace, there's a 100% chance of corrupting the database and making the workspace irreversibly inaccessible. If you need to share a workspace across multiple computers, consider using a Shared Workspace or Connecter Server.
Workspaces in Connecter
Starting with Workspaces
Personal Workspaces