Assets: Option to treat library as either personal or project asset library #101124

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opened 2022-09-16 16:40:17 +02:00 by Julian Eisel · 3 comments
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Motivation

  • When working in a project context (asset library is created for a specific project), linking is the preferred way of bringing in objects, materials, collections, etc. Currently this has to be set every time a new asset browser is opened, and forgetting it means having to redo work.
  • In this case (project specific assets), assets should also typically use relative paths. Currently there's no option for that.
  • In earlier Asset Browser design discussions, it was determined that there may not be any point in linking assets from libraries that are not project specific. Working files should stay independent of anything that's not part of the working file's project.
  • Having Link exposed so prominently in the Asset Browser has lead many people to use it, without knowning much about what linking is in Blender, the trade-offs and the context it's created for (more complex projects). I've seen plenty of confusion from it.
  • Part of the initial asset browser design was to differentiate between personal and project assets, this wasn't made concrete so far (because it wasn't deemed necessary for the initial asset browser milestones).

Now, there are plans to introduce the concept of projects to Blender, and Blender would know that an asset library is part of a project. But this is likely not going to be done too soon. The proposal is a simple solution for until then.

Proposal

Allow users to define if an asset library is user-specific (reuse across projects) or project-specific.

In the Preferences, add an option for each library (enum):

  • Treat As:
    • Personal Library
    • Project Library

Personal Library

Only allows Append and Append (Reuse Data), no linking!

"Personal" is chosen because Pablo and I agree this works better than "User". The default "User Library" should be renamed to "Personal Library" too.

Project Library

Uses linking and relative paths by default.


Once project support in Blender is added, the option may be removed, although it may still be useful. The Asset Browser would have a Current Project (or similar) library then, that too would link by default and use (project-?)relative paths.

### Motivation - When working in a project context (asset library is created for a specific project), linking is the preferred way of bringing in objects, materials, collections, etc. Currently this has to be set every time a new asset browser is opened, and forgetting it means having to redo work. - In this case (project specific assets), assets should also typically use relative paths. Currently there's no option for that. - In earlier Asset Browser design discussions, it was determined that there may not be any point in linking assets from libraries that are not project specific. Working files should stay independent of anything that's not part of the working file's project. - Having *Link* exposed so prominently in the Asset Browser has lead many people to use it, without knowning much about what linking is in Blender, the trade-offs and the context it's created for (more complex projects). I've seen plenty of confusion from it. - Part of the initial asset browser design was to differentiate between personal and project assets, this wasn't made concrete so far (because it wasn't deemed necessary for the initial asset browser milestones). Now, there are plans to introduce the concept of projects to Blender, and Blender would know that an asset library is part of a project. But this is likely not going to be done too soon. The proposal is a simple solution for until then. ### Proposal Allow users to define if an asset library is user-specific (reuse across projects) or project-specific. In the Preferences, add an option for each library (enum): - *Treat As:* - *Personal Library* - *Project Library* **Personal Library** Only allows *Append* and *Append (Reuse Data)*, no linking! "Personal" is chosen because Pablo and I agree this works better than "User". The default "User Library" should be renamed to "Personal Library" too. **Project Library** Uses linking and relative paths by default. ---- Once project support in Blender is added, the option may be removed, although it may still be useful. The Asset Browser would have a *Current Project* (or similar) library then, that too would link by default and use (project-?)relative paths.

Adding rudimentary project support may not be much harder? Something like this:

  • Always have Current Project available as a library in the asset browser.
  • Detect if .blender_project folder exists in one of the parent folders of the current .blend file, and if so use that folder.
  • If Current Project is selected in the asset browser and none exists, show a text explaining what it is, an editable folder path initialized from the current .blend file, and a button to create the project library there.

Ability to give the project a name, description, and project wide settings can come later. All you need for the assets to work is an empty .blender_project folder.

Adding rudimentary project support may not be much harder? Something like this: * Always have *Current Project* available as a library in the asset browser. * Detect if `.blender_project` folder exists in one of the parent folders of the current .blend file, and if so use that folder. * If *Current Project* is selected in the asset browser and none exists, show a text explaining what it is, an editable folder path initialized from the current .blend file, and a button to create the project library there. Ability to give the project a name, description, and project wide settings can come later. All you need for the assets to work is an empty `.blender_project` folder.
Bastien Montagne added this to the Pipeline, Assets & IO project 2023-02-09 15:39:30 +01:00
Philipp Oeser added
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Needs Info from Developers
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Design
and removed
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Needs Triage
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labels 2023-05-31 13:19:51 +02:00
Member

Not sure what the type/status is here?

Not sure what the type/status is here?
Author
Member

There is an Import Method and a Relative Path option in the Preferences for an asset library now. Plus a WIP patch for basic projects support: #107655.

So I think this can be closed.

There is an _Import Method_ and a _Relative Path_ option in the Preferences for an asset library now. Plus a WIP patch for basic projects support: #107655. So I think this can be closed.
Blender Bot added
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Archived
and removed
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Needs Info from Developers
labels 2023-05-31 18:58:47 +02:00
Bastien Montagne removed this from the Pipeline, Assets & IO project 2023-07-03 13:03:11 +02:00
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Reference: blender/blender#101124
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