Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Depending on your needs, there are different ways to link and use these library assets. For an animation's sets
and other static objects, it is suffi cient to link them in as an entire scene, then use that scene as a set in the
Scene buttons. Assets that require only object-level animation can be linked either directly and animated by
making a proxy, or by adding them to a group, linking that group into the scene and assigning an Empty to
use it as a dupligroup. For character animation work, all of the elements of the character, including the rig
and controls, are linked at once, and a proxy is created for the controlling armature.
Library and link information can be viewed in the Outliner, in the console when the fi le loads, or with the
Report Missing Files tool in the External Data submenu of the File menu. It is important to maintain your
original fi lenames and relative paths when you begin linking to your library assets.
The Peach Perspective
On asset management: Can you imagine doing a project of the size of BBB without a nicely function-
ing asset linking system like Blender has?
Nathan: Well . . . “nicely functioning” might be giving it a bit too much credit. It's certainly not
perfect and has its share of bugs and annoyances that we ran into (and ripped our hair out
over). But it did get the job done. But to answer the question: Yes, I can imagine it. However, it
wouldn't be pretty. For example, if I updated a rig with a bug fi x, it would have to be manually
replaced in all of the scenes. Not pretty at all, and lots of unnecessary work, not to mention the
increased storage usage.
 
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