Saves object and scene files and creates incremental backups. Unlike LightWave's incremental savers, the latest version always has the same name as the original file - the versions are stored in a backup folder.
Let's suppose you've loaded a scene called
D:\Content\Scenes\Benchmark\Textures.lws
The first time you Smart-Save the scene, the following things happen:
[1] A requester pops up and asks your for your initials and the name for the backup folder:
[2] An "Old" subdirectory is created in the scene folder, e.g.,
D:\Content\Scenes\Benchmark\Old\
[3] Your original scene is renamed as
D:\Content\Scenes\Benchmark\Old\Textures.lws
Each time you save, two copies are written:
[1] A copy of the current scene is saved in the old folder with a subscript denoting the date and time saved, and the user initials.
For example, if it's the 20th May 2008, and the time is just after 12.30 in the afternoon, your scene is saved as:
D:\Content\Scenes\Benchmark\Old\Textures_080520_123015_XYZ.lws
[2] The current version of the scene is saved with the original name.
Add the plugin (and this one really is a plugin) to both Layout and Modeler. Each will report 6 plugins found. Four of these are for layout, two are for modeler.
The plugins are:
| S-Save Scene (LAYOUT) | S-Save Selected Objects (LAYOUT) | S-Save Object (MODELER) |
| S-Save Options (LAYOUT) | S-Save All Objects (LAYOUT) | S-Save Options (MODELER) |
Each of the main (bold) functions do essentially the same thing - it's what they do it to that differs!
| Date | Version | Details |
| 31-Oct-08 | 1.3.5 | 64-bit version released. |
| 27-Apr-08 | 1.3.5 | Streamlined some code, and generally tidied up a bit! |
| 26-Apr-08 | 1.3.4 | Uses OS copy function to make backup rather than saving twice from LightWave. |
| 15-Apr-08 | 1.3.3 | Found a problem with a bug in LightWave 9 and added additional error check to cope. |
| 14-Apr-08 | 1.3.2 | Corrected an error whereby a null with the same name as an object caused an error message when saving all. |
| 13-Apr-08 | 1.3 | New build has a settings panel, allowing you to configure user initials and the name of the "old" folder. |
| 22-Oct-07 | 1.2 | Corrected an error which caused problems with file names containing spaces. |
| 19-Jun-07 | 1.1 | Finally squashed a bug where LW returned a trashed filename when using the "Save Object As..." function. |
| 27-Jul-06 | 1.0b | Backup versions no longer show in Recent Files history. |
| 27-Jul-06 | 1.0a | Cancelled Scene Save would leave trash entry in Recent Files history. |
| 11-Jul-06 | 1.0 | LWUSERID.cfg is now LWUSER.cfg. Space removed from the line User Initials (now UserInitials). |
Click the link to download: Smart-Save.zip
| (c) Simon Coombs | Utilities Main Page | Updated: 31 October 2008 |