Artist workflow tips

As an artist working on a scene, you must choose the workflow that works best for you. The following are a few tips for common workflow related issues.

• It is possible to assemble all the components before adding them all to an asset and publishing the appropriate attributes. However, you can also create an asset first and use the Set Current Asset option to ensure that all the objects created thereafter are automatically placed in the asset. Building an asset this way helps reduce the risk of missing objects, which could happen if you add them to the asset manually.
• When creating an asset from existing components, you may want to include some nodes related to the selected nodes, but not all of them. You can do this using the Preview contents option in the Create Asset with Transform Options and Create Advanced Asset Options window. For more information, see Create assets.
• One of the primary benefits of using assets is to limit visual complexity and streamline your working interface. Here is a list of options to think about in order to maximize this benefit:
  • Once you have published all your attributes and nodes for an asset, set that asset to Black Box mode.
  • If you choose to show attributes in the Outliner, Channel Box or Asset Editor, set the Show > Attributes menu to display Published only.
  • Set the Outliner to Display > Advanced Asset Contents > Under Asset to avoid displaying the DAG hierarchy. Conversely, you can also set the Outliner to Display > Advanced Asset Contents > Under Parent to reduce the asset to a single asset node representation in the DAG hierarchy.
  • Use template views to show published attributes in a meaningful way to each artist that works on an asset.
  • In the Hypergraph, use Options > Merge Connections to reduce the number of connection lines. If Black Box mode is off, you can also turn off Options > Show Relationship Connections to hide published attribute connections.
• When setting up a file with assets to be referenced by a parent file, it is usually a good idea to lock assets so that other artists cannot modify them from the parent file. You can do this either by manually locking unpublished attributes, or by setting the Asset Unpublished option to Lock in the Save Scene As Options window. For more information on locking, see Lock an asset.
• Sometimes you may want to publish attributes that don’t appear in the Channel Box. You can do this by opening the Attribute Editor, right-clicking the attribute’s name and selecting the asset name from the marking menu. You can also use the Asset Editor. For more information on publishing attributes, see Publish or Unpublish attributes.
• You can connect multiple published attributes to a single Dynamic Attribute. For more information on publishing attributes, see Publish or Unpublish attributes.
• In scenes representing landscapes or large objects, you can publish the Level Of Detail information of various nodes to control the detail of related objects when the camera moves closer and farther from them. For more information on LOD, see Edit > Level of Detail.