Organize a new asset pack with tags and collections
You just downloaded an asset pack and want it organized before you start using it. In this tutorial you add the pack to your library with its author and license, browse it, tag the models you care about, filter by a tag, and put a set of them in a collection you can export later.
You need: the app installed, and a pack folder (or .zip) on disk. The
screenshots use “Low Poly Props”, a small pack of 3D models with a
LICENSE.txt at its top level. Any pack works the same way.
Time: about five minutes.
1. Add the pack to your library
Section titled “1. Add the pack to your library”Click Add to library at the top right (or press Cmd/Ctrl+O), and pick the pack’s folder. You can also drop the folder or zip on the window, or click + next to Folders in the sidebar.
The Add to library dialog shows what’s inside before anything is
indexed: how many files, their size, and a breakdown by type. Because the
pack has a license file at its top level, This is an asset pack is
already ticked, the Pack name comes from the folder name and the
License box holds the text of LICENSE.txt (“Detected from
LICENSE.txt”). Fill in the Author and, if you have it, the Source
URL: they end up in the credits when you export.
Click Add & scan 10 files. The dialog closes and the scan runs in the background; the status bar at the bottom shows its progress. Your files stay where they are: the app only indexes them. (A zip is extracted to the app’s data folder first.)
2. Browse the pack
Section titled “2. Browse the pack”When the scan finishes, the pack appears under Folders in the sidebar. Click Low Poly Props to see only its files. The grid header shows the folder name and count, and a folder: Low Poly Props chip appears under it; click its × (or Clear all) to go back to everything.
The pack has more than models: a material file, a texture, the license and a zip of source files. To narrow it down, click Model 3D under Types. Filters add up, so you now see the pack’s 3D models only. Add filter next to the chips does the same from a menu, and its Pack submenu filters by pack instead of folder.
3. Select the models
Section titled “3. Select the models”Click the first model, then Shift-click the last to select the range. Cmd/Ctrl-click adds or removes a single asset.
With two or more assets selected, a bar appears at the bottom of the grid (“6 selected · Collection · Tag… · Rename… · Archive”), and the right-hand panel sums up the selection: count, total size, types and tags.
4. Tag them “props”
Section titled “4. Tag them “props””Click Tag… in the selection bar. Type props and press
Enter. A name that doesn’t exist yet creates the tag; existing
tags are listed under the field, so you can click one instead.
The status bar confirms “Tagged 6 assets with “props””, and the tag appears under Tags in the sidebar with its count.
5. Tag some of them “dungeon”
Section titled “5. Tag some of them “dungeon””Now select just the models you want for a dungeon level: click the barrel,
then Cmd/Ctrl-click the crate, rock and torch. In the selection
summary on the right, type dungeon in the Add tag to all 4… field and
click Add.
The summary lists the tags every selected asset has under On all 4. Tags only some of them have show under On some; click one to give it to the rest. Click × on a tag to remove it from the whole selection. Removing a tag can be undone with Cmd/Ctrl+Z.
6. Filter by tag
Section titled “6. Filter by tag”Click All assets at the top of the sidebar to drop the folder and type filters, then click the dungeon chip under Tags. The grid shows the four dungeon models, wherever they live in your library.
Click more tag chips to widen the filter: the grid shows assets that have any of the selected tags. Click a chip again to turn it off.
7. Create a collection
Section titled “7. Create a collection”A collection is a hand-picked set of assets, for example everything one level of your game uses. Assets can be in any number of collections, and collections don’t move or copy anything until you export them.
Select the four dungeon models (click the first, Shift-click the
last), then click Collection ▾ in the selection bar and choose New
collection…. Type Dungeon level and click Create (or press
Enter).
The status bar says “Collection created with 4 assets.” To add more assets later, select them and pick Dungeon level from the same Collection ▾ menu, or right-click an asset and use Add to collection.
8. Open the collection
Section titled “8. Open the collection”Click Dungeon level under Collections in the sidebar. A header above the grid shows the collection’s name, how many assets it holds and their total size, with an Export… button and a ••• menu for Rename, Duplicate and Delete….
Deleting a collection only removes the collection; its assets stay in your library.
What you did
Section titled “What you did”- Added a pack with its name, author and license, so the app can credit it.
- Browsed it by folder and narrowed it down by type.
- Tagged a batch of assets from the selection bar and from the selection summary, and filtered the library by a tag.
- Gathered the assets for one level in a collection.
- Export a collection into a game project copies a collection into your game with a manifest and a credits file.
- Tags and collections covers renaming, duplicating and deleting, and tagging a single asset in the inspector.
- Auto-tag rules tag new files for you during every scan.
- Library and scanning and Packs and licenses explain adding folders and zips, and editing pack details later.
- Grid and selection and Search and filters cover every way to select and find assets.