Once you’ve published all your attributes, you can create a template from your asset. A template defines which published attributes an asset needs to be considered complete. You can then re-purpose this template for use with future fire truck models, or in our case, any emergency vehicle.

To create a template, you first need to open the Asset Editor.

To open the Asset Editor

1. In the Outliner, select Fire_truck_AST.
2. Select Assets > Asset Editor.

   The Asset Editor appears.

   

The Asset Editor allows you to manage all the assets and templates in your scene from a single interface. From the Asset Editor you can publish and unpublish attributes, change published names, bind and unbind attributes to published names, and create templates and views.

The Asset Editor is divided into two columns. The left column shows you all the assets in your scene in a format similar to the Outliner. The right column shows you all the published names associated with an asset. In order to see the published names for an asset, you have to pin an asset first.

To pin the fire truck asset

1. Select Fire_truck_AST in the left column.
2. Click the Pin Asset icon ().

   The fire truck’s published names appear in the right column.

Now that you’ve pinned the fire truck asset, you are ready to create a template.

To create a template

1. In the Asset Editor, select Template > Save As.

   A file browser appears.

2. Navigate to the GettingStartedMaya2012LessonData\Assets\assets folder.
3. Set the File name to emergency_vehicle.
4. Click Save.

   Maya creates a template file.

Notice that once you create a template file, the small arrows next to the published names in the right column change from red to green. This signifies that these published names come from the template and are currently bound.