When you create an asset, Maya arranges the nodes in a number of ways:

• In the Hypergraph Connections editor, all the internal nodes encapsulated by that asset appear as a single node with rounded borders.
• In the Outliner, all the internal nodes encapsulated by the asset appear under a new asset node.
• A corresponding entry appears in the Channel Box above the Inputs and Outputs.

You can expand an asset node to display its contents (see Parts of an asset).

In Maya there are two types of assets, and you can interact with each one in different ways.

• Asset with transform are assets that have transform properties and can be manipulated in the scene like a group node. You can also parent assets in the DAG hierarchy like any other node. Any node parented to an asset with a transform is automatically placed inside it.

  Assets with transform are simpler and allow direct manipulation and thus are most appropriate for nodes that need to be placed in the scene or the DAG hierarcy (for example, geometry or groups).

• Advanced assets do not have an associated transform. These assets are not part of the DAG hierarchy and the assets themselves cannot be parented in the hierarchy. However, internal nodes can be published as anchors and placed in the DAG hieararchy if necessary.

  Advanced assets are most appropriate for collections of nodes that do not need to interact much with the DAG hierarchy, or for collections of nodes that are not in the same DAG hierarchy (for example, shader networks or character rigs).

In both cases, you add and modify attributes and make attribute connections to asset nodes (and the nodes placed within them) just like you would other nodes in Maya.

For more information on connections, see Connect input and output attributes.