Asset-Browser Utilities

Edit Assets (True-Assets)

The 'Edit assets' function for True-Assets is designed to provide an easy way for users to be able to access the asset (Object, Material, Collection etc) and make changes to that asset so that those changes will be used going forward.

Example use-cases of this:

• You've noticed an issue with the topology of an object, and don't want to keep changing it every time you bring the asset in. Use the edit Asset function to address the issue at the source so future use of the asset will not use the old broken topology
• You've noticed that an object is coming in with the wrong scale for some reason. Use the edit Asset function to change and then apply the scale at the source so future use of the asset will be at the correct scale
• A material that you've saved as an asset may have missing textures. Use the edit Asset function to re-link the textures so future use of the asset will not have missing textures

You should use this feature if you wish to fix any issues that you see, or wish to make changes to the asset.

Bear-in-mind that this is a destructive process and all changes will be permanent.

Making changes
‍Once you have made changes in the source file, you MUST save the file. You do not use the save-as feature, just the normal save function and close the blend-file that you made changes in. Then you need to refresh the asset-browser with the little refresh icon

Rename Assets

The 'Rename Assets' function, allows you to either quickly add a prefix (something to the beginning) or a suffix (something to the end) of selected assets (single or batch) and manually replace the current name of the asset too.

When you have a selection of assets (either single, or multiple) and use the rename function, a floating window will appear for you to input text to make changes.

Single asset rename

If you have only one asset selected for rename, then a box will appear with the option for a prefix, suffix and then you'll see the "old name/s" (current name) and an input box for what you want the new name to be.

• Prefix will append characters or words to the beginning of the current name
• Suffix will append characters or words to the end of the current name
• New name will replace the current name

For example, if you have the object named as "Tree" and apply the prefix "True-VFX_" and the suffix "_LOD1" then this will change the name of the object from "Tree" to "True-VFX_Tree_LOD1"

Multiple assets rename

If you have only multiple assets selected for rename, then a box will appear with the option for a prefix, suffix and then you'll see a list of  "old name/s" (current name) and an input boxes for what you want the new names to be.

• Prefix will append characters or words to the beginning of the current name
• Suffix will append characters or words to the end of the current name
• New names will replace the current names

For example, if you have multiple objects named different things, and you wish to standardise these like we do, then you would use a distinguishing prefix like "True-VFX_" then press okay, and your list of objects would now be renamed with the changes.

Old NamesNew namesCube.001True-VFX_Cube.001Tree.001True-VFX_Tree.001Tree.002True-VFX_Tree.002Suzanne.001True-VFX_Suzanne.001Robot_Final.001True-VFX_Robot_Final.001Car_Audi_Final_SeriousFinal03True-VFX_Car_Audi_Final_SeriousFinal03ReallyWithTheseNames?.001True-VFX_ReallyWithTheseNames?.001

Caveats

Things to be aware of:

• Rename function will NOT automatically numerate (001/002/003etc) any renamed assets. If you rename a batch, they will ALL have matching names. Blender will auto-number assets when brought into the scene.
• Rename function is not designed as a fix for bad/poor naming.
• Rename function will ONLY rename object names, material names, collection names. It cannot rename mesh data
• Rename function does NOT rename any of the meta data for assets. You should use the "update asset data" function for this
• This is a destructive process. Renaming cannot be undone as the process happens inside the source file which is updated and saved and closed automatically. No history is stored for this!

Update Asset Data

The 'Update Asset Data' function is designed to allow the management of Asset-Browser meta-data like tags, descriptions, and Author.

This function will amend ALL the selected assets under this process. This process doesn't have any kind of logic to provide context aware descriptions or tags. For example, if you select 5 totally different assets (Trees, cars, buildings) It will NOT know that they are different and cannot selectively tag based on what that asset is. This is a manual process and user-intent is how this process will update the data.

Tags

There is no character or word limit on tags. Tags must be separated by a comma (,) if you wish to add multiple tags. You can use spaces and any other character in the words for tags, however a comma will AWLAYS break tags up.

Conventionally, you should use separate words to tag things. for example if you wish to tag a selection of tall buildings, then you should not use the tag [Tall Buildings]; you should tag it like this: [Tall],[Building]. Now when you search for Tall OR Building, then they can be indexed correctly and shown to you in a logical manner.

Replace or Add

This toggle is for Tags only! This will allow you to batch replace all tags on an asset, or batch add to current tags on an asset.

Author

This can be any length, but should be used to identify who made the asset. If the asset already has an Author then using whether you have Replace or Add selected, the Author will always be replaced/overwritten.

Description

This input box is for adding descriptions to assets. Again this needs user-intent and cannot be dynamic. Whatever you put in this input box, will also always replace the current description that is there.

Clear Assets (True-Assets)

This function is designed for removing assets, specifically selected/selections of assets.

You will need to have assets selected to use this function, or you will not be given the option to use it. If you wish to delete specific types of assets, then use the "Clear Assets by Type (True-Assets)" function.

Delete Data

This will specifically delete the the actual asset file, and not just unmark it as an asset. For example, using this function on object "cube.001" if you check Delete Data, then the cube object will be deleted. If you do not, then the asset will just be cleared (un-asseted) but will remain in the blend file as an object.

Delete Linked Data

This will remove any materials, textures, node-groups etc from that asset. For example, if you had object "cube.001" and this had a material on called "material.001" using textures called "textures.001" then bot the material, and those textures would also be deleted from the source file of the asset. Leaving this unchecked could leave those as residual files in that blend file.

Delete Blend file if no other asset is found!

This does exactly what it says on the tin. If the blend file that houses assets is now completely "asset" free, then the blend file will also be deleted. This is a destructive process, and will delete the blend file even if there is other data in it. If that data is not an "asset" then it is deemed irrelevant and the file will be deleted anyway.

Move to Catalog

Use this utility to move all the selected assets to another catalog within the same library. Choose the catalog you want to move from the dropdown menu, or choose 'New' and type in a new name for your new catalog. To create a nested catalog, use the '/' symbol. For example, if you want to create a catalog tree like this:

type 'Nested/Catalog/Example'.

Fix Kitbash Assets

If you are experiencing shading issues with your Kitbash assets, use this option to resolve them. Select your Kitbash assets and choose this option. It will change the material displacement settings from 'Displacement and Bump' to 'Bump Only'. You can also choose to remove the subsurf modifier if desired.

Re-Render Thumbnail

If you are unsatisfied with the asset thumbnail, use this utility to re-render it using True-Assets' advanced rendering options. You can choose between 4 shading options: 'Material', 'Eevee', 'Cycles', and 'Solid'. The 'Material', 'Eevee', and 'Cycles' options allow you to select the camera angles, while 'Solid' uses Blender's default settings without camera angle options.

Delete Catalog

Use this utility to delete the active catalog. This functionality exists in True Assets because Blender doesn't allow deleting catalogs from external libraries without opening them.

Batch Delete Catalogs

If you have numerous unused catalogs, you can use this utility to delete multiple catalogs at once. It will display the top-level catalogs, and the selected ones will be deleted along with their child catalogs. Please note that displaying all levels of nested catalogs is not possible.

Rename Catalog

You can use this utility to rename the active catalog. Simply click on it, enter a new name, and click 'OK'.

Reorder Libraries

By default, Blender shows your asset libraries in the order they were created, and there is no built-in way to reorder them without manually deleting and re-adding them. However, with True Assets, you can easily reorder your libraries. Use the 'Reorder Libraries' function, which will display a list of all your libraries. You can use the 'up' and 'down' arrows on the left to rearrange them. Once you are satisfied with the order, click 'OK', and your libraries will be reordered.