For the newcomers with all the error messages (red) this is because people create VARs in different ways and you only need a few to really create a shit show of dependencies with their own dependencies. I'm not even including those that have dependencies to non-hub material.
Ideally a VAR would be created in a vanilla VAM and adding only the required extra bits. Some people do this (bless them), others don't but they take the time to fix any errors that would show and unneeded dependencies (bless them too), and then there's the rest.
Here's some methods to avoid a million error notices:
- Don't just drop a million things at once into AddonsPackages. If you do you'll have tons of dependencies likely and if one's a poorly-made VAR it will just be a nightmare.
- Have a fresh VAM install available to compare the base Addonpackages items with yours. Yes, you can have more than 1 VAM folder.
- Using the Hub within VAM is helpful to see what a scene needs and that you don't have.
- If a scene needs dozens of dependencies, be sure that you want it or use a copy of a fresh VAM copy to try it out before deciding it's worth it.
I manage the AddonsPackages folder with subfolders, but this is something I do and not necessarily a good practice. I do that to have a empty AddonsPackages folder, everything that I keep is in subfolders, this way when I have something new to try out and need to get new dependencies they get downloaded to the root AddonsPackages and I can easily see and get rid of them if I decide to not keep the VAR.
You can also place scenes that have a lot of dependencies or errors in a folder outside of VAM, When you want to use those just copy them back into AdddonsPackages, ignore the errors and enjoy them. Once you're done, move them back outside of VAM. For example Ruthven has amazing scenes but also a lot of dependencies, so I have them all in a folder outside of VAM and just copy them in when I want to use those scenes.
And one very important thing, backup your VAM often!