Viz Artist User Guide

Version 5.2 | Published March 20, 2024 ©

Asset View

Viz Artist comes with a new Asset view replacing the old server and items view. It also merges the search functionality and freetext search option of previous versions into a unified search tool.

Asset View Window

The Asset View window is split into the following parts:

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  • Server Tree (1): Manage files and projects on your Graphic Hub.

  • Items View (2): Browse and view your available items.

  • Properties (3): An even more detailed view on your assets and a set of tools.

  • Search (4): A powerful search tool to find the items on your Graphic Hub.

Server Tree

The Server Tree shows a structured representation of your Graphic Hub. It has the possibility to create projects and folders, so anyone can organize assets matching various needs.

There are two types of folders:

  • Regular folders images/download/thumbnails/140822636/image2021-6-1_13-13-44.png

  • Project folders images/download/thumbnails/140822636/image2021-6-1_13-14-26.png

The difference between a regular folder and a project folder is that by defining a working project, the tree can be collapsed so that only the currently selected project and its sub-folders and sub-projects folders are shown. A project can contain various folders, but a folder cannot contain projects. To restrict the view to your current project only, right click on your project folder and select Restrict to Project.
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This allows to see only the relevant structure of your project, while search functionality and others are still available. The current select project is shown on the top of the server tree. To switch back to the original view, right click in the scene tree and select Remove restriction or click on the light blue colored project name on top of the tree (Engine in the sample above).

Working with Project/Folders

New folders or projects can be created by right clicking on an existing folder or project in the tree view and selecting Create Subfolder / Create Subproject. The new item is created underneath the selected folder/project. Sub-folders can be added to both regular folders and project folders.

If you click on an empty area, you can choose Create Root Folder or Create Root Project to create new Folders/Project on the root level.

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Information: Only Project folders can contain Sub-Project folders.

To rename a folder or project, right click and select Rename. Be aware that not all characters are allowed as names, some reserved ones like * { [, spaces, etc... are not accepted.

Tip: Folders or projects are not restricted to Latin characters.

Example:

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To reorder your structure, both types of folders can be dragged around after being added to the Server Tree. Only Project folders can contain Sub-Project folders; however, sub-folders can be added to both regular folders and project folders. To prevent folders/project being moved by an unwanted drag operation, this operation can be limited in the User Interface option in the Viz Config section:
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This can be either unrestricted (Normal) or only by using the SHIFT key in combination with the drag operation (w/Shift) or can be completely forbidden (No).

Working with Bookmarks

To provide quick access to the most important folders or projects, they can be bookmarked to speed up navigation. Bookmarked folders are added to the Server Tree Bookmark context menu. Right click on a folder or project and select Add to bookmark. This adds your favorite into the bookmark drop menu on top of the server view:

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Bookmarks can also be created by dragging a folder to the Bookmarks Icon.
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Bookmarks can be deleted by opening the bookmarks menu and clicking on the small trashcan next to the item. Bookmarks are sorted alphabetically by their full path.

Information: Bookmarks are stored on a per user level on Graphic Hub. If multiple users use the same login (for example, Guest) Bookmarks will be mixed up.

History

The asset view automatically adds up to 20 folders and project locations into a history once an asset has been used from within that folder. This applies to actions (like an item has been deleted or double-clicked, renamed, dragged into the scene tree and so on). Whenever an action happened within a folder or project, it is added to the history list. This history is available at the top of the server tree.

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Information: History is stored on a per user level on Graphic Hub. If multiple users use the same login (for example, Guest) history entries are mixed up.

Items View

The content of a selected folder or project is shown in the Items view. Items can be represented as icons, list or details view.

Icon View

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List View

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List View with Details

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Information: Columns can be shown/hidden by right clicking on the column bar.
Columns can also be resized. Clicking a column header sorts the list according to
the selected column.

By using the slider on the bottom, you can choose the size of your icons in Icon view. Once you switch to list view, this option is disabled. Since Viz Artist version 4.4, the creation time is also displayed.

Sorting and Filtering Items

images/download/thumbnails/140822636/image2021-6-1_14-59-33.png You can sort how items are being displayed by using the sort icon next to the Content switcher. Then you can sort by Name, Modification Date, Creation Date, Size and in both Ascending and Descending order. In the Details view the same can be achieved by clicking the corresponding column header. Clicking the header again changes the sorting order. images/download/attachments/140822636/details_sort.PNG

Underneath the Items view, there is an input field for doing a quick filtering on your items. The filter applies to any part of the filename. As an example, if the content switcher is limited to images and given that your items follow a certain naming convention, you set a filter to "normal", it only shows the normal maps within a folder:

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The name and the UUID of any item are taken into account.

Content Switcher

Folders can contain various types of items. To view only a selected type of items, contained in a folder, click an item type tab from the Content Switcher. This also allows multi-selection while holding the CTRL key while clicking on it. If you want to see all of your items, click on any previous selected item, so no one is selected. This replaces the old All tab.

Content Switch to Show only Scenes

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Content Switch to Show All Material Types

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Content Switch to Show All Types

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Item Types

The various types are represented by a symbol in the content switcher as tabs. Currently all types are shown, independent from the selected render pipeline. This is expected to be improved in future versions.

Symbol

Meaning on Graphic Hub

S

Scenes

G

Geometries

I

Images

F

Fontstyles (Classic Render Pipeline only)

FF

Fontface (Viz Engine Render Pipeline only)

FL

Fontfile (Viz Engine Render Pipeline only)

A

Audio

M

Materials (Classic Render Pipeline only)

MA

Materials Advanced (Classic Render Pipeline only)

MD

Material Definitions (Viz Engine Render Pipeline only)

SB

Substances

SH

Shader (Classic Render Pipeline only)

TR

Texture Renderer (Viz Engine Render Pipeline only)

FC

File Collections

File Collections

File Collections have been introduced in Viz Engine to allow a user to store data from external applications (like Unreal projects) in Graphic Hub. The File Collection holds the information about this data and is usually linked to amount of binary data. This binary data (BINARY_BLOB) is invisible to the Viz Artist user. Deleting File Collections from within Viz Artist always deletes all references too.

Item States

Items on Graphic Hub can have different states, while they are being worked on. Items that are currently in work are active items. Active items are locked or checked out.

Overlay Icon

Meaning

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Linked Item
This item appears one more than one place on Graphic Hub, but is physically stored only once. The UUID of the one saved item is the same for all linked items, while information such as path and name may vary. If modifying the item in one of the folders, for example cropping an image, all the linked items reflect these changes.

If this item is being deleted, only the reference counter is being decreased. To delete all references of linked items, choose "With all References" in the confirmation dialog.

To create a linked item, press the ALT key and drag it to the destination location.

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Locked Item
If a user connected to the database opens an item, the item is locked for all other users and marked with the locker icon. A locked item means that the item can be opened and viewed by all users, but only modified or saved by the user that has locked it. The item is unlocked when the user closes the item or disconnects from the database.

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Checked out Item
If a user connected to the database checks out an item, the item is locked for all other users and marked with the stop icon. A checked out item means that the item can be opened and viewed by all users, but only modified and saved by the user that has checked it out. To cancel the check out, the item must be checked in.

Any item can be checked out within Viz Artist by using the context menu and selecting Check out or Check in.

The item remains checked out (locked) even if the user closes the item or disconnects from the database.

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Locked and Checked out Item
For a locked and checked out item, the icon represents a combined keyhole and stop sign.

It can be opened read-only but not modified unless unlocked and checked in again.

n/a

Expiring Item
Some items, for example images staged by the IMEX Agent can have an expiration date set. This is, however, not yet covered by Viz Artist Asset view.

File Operations on Items

Items can be copied, moved, renamed, deleted or linked.

  • images/download/thumbnails/140822636/image2021-6-1_16-33-41.png To copy an item, you simply drag the object to its new location. The copy operation is shown within the mouse cursor by a small + sign. As an alternative you can use CTRL + C and to paste CTRL + V within the new location.

  • images/download/thumbnails/140822636/image2021-6-1_16-48-8.png To move an item, keep the SHIFT key pressed while moving to a new location. As an alternative you can Cut (CTRL + X) and paste (CTRL + V) the item.

  • images/download/thumbnails/140822636/image2021-6-2_8-9-11.png To create a link, keep the ALT key pressed while moving to the new location.

  • Items can be deleted by either selecting Delete... on the context menu or by hitting the DELETE key. In addition, you can drag any item to the trash bin to delete it.

    images/download/attachments/140822636/image2022-8-24_13-28-34.png

If you perform a delete operation on an referenced item, an additional option With all references is available. This removes all references of this file from Graphic Hub. A regular delete operation only deletes the reference within the current folder.

The Delete all links option also removes all Folder links of this object.

Note: Referenced items are deleted if they are referenced to ONLY the selected item. If they are also referenced to others, then they are not deleted.

File Collections are ALWAYS deleted with all references. As the operation to resolve a lot of references takes some time, please be aware that deleting File Collections can require a lot of time!

Tip: To delete multiple items, select the items to be deleted and drag to the Trash Can.

  • Creating a copy of an item within the same location is currently only possible by selecting Duplicate in the context menu.

  • To create a new scene, open the context menu on either a scene or somewhere in the free space area.

To search for references item, please see Searching for References.

Tip: Files can be imported by dragging them from the filesystem (Windows Explorer) into the Asset View. For details, please see Import of Files and Archives.

To Rename an Item

  1. Select the item to be renamed.

  2. Open the rename text field:

    • Right-click the item and select Rename from the context menu, or

    • Press F2.

  3. In the text field that appears, type a new descriptive name.

  4. Press ENTER.

    Note: Special characters, such as space, are not allowed in item names.

    Note: If renaming a linked item, only the name of the selected item changes, not the linked one.

To Lock an Item

An item is automatically locked when a user opens the item. It is not possible to perform this operation manually. Some types offer additional options on the context menu: Add to Container is available for the following types: Geometries, Materials (Classic), Material Advanced, Material Definition, Images, Fonts (Classic), FontFaces and Substances. This requires a container to be selected in the Scene Tree.

Images

There are several options available for images:

  • Open in External Editor: Opens the image in the External Image Editor.

  • Open in Internal Editor: Opens the image in the integrated Internal Image Editor.

  • Export...: Exports the image from Graphic Hub to your hard drive. several formats are available.

    Information: The name of the image is taken from the existing name in Graphic Hub, The file dialog is for selection the destination folder only.

  • Prefilter Environment Map: Prepares Cylindric HDR images to be used as Environment maps. This applies to the Viz Engine Render Pipeline only.

Fonts

Hide or Show Blur- and Outline- variants of imported fonts. This cleans up the view by hiding those variants from the asset view. Those variants are used for example as a drop shadow effect for your fonts and are not necessarily visible. This can also be set as default in the configuration section:
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Audio

  • Export...: Exports the audio as .wav file from Graphic Hub to your hard drive.

    Information: The name of the image is taken from the existing name in Graphic Hub, The file dialog is for selection the destination folder only.

To Select Multiple Items

You can select multiple items in the Asset view. To select single items, keep the CTRL Key pressed while choosing the items you want to select. If you want to select a range of items, select the first item and then use the SHIFT key to select the last one. An alternative is to use your mouse to draw your selection.

Tip: Multiple items of the same type can be selected and dragged into the scene tree or scene editor. This is for example useful if you want to animate an image sequence using the OMO plug-in.

The Properties Panel is disabled if multiple items are selected.

Location History

Asset view keeps a history of each location where a certain type has been used. This can be shown by CTRL+ right clicking on one of the tabs. For example, if you CTRL + right-click on the S tab, a history of the last 20 locations where an item of type Scene has been modified are shown.
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To remove this browsing history, click on the small trash can next to the entry.

Hot Folders

Hot folders are a kind of history items, but bound to a certain type of item. For example a folder with all your environment maps (images) can be set as Hot Folder. This allows to quickly jump to this folder and set the view to Image. To do so, right click on the folder you want to remember and the type of your item and choose Add as Hot Folder.

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You can then quickly jump to your Environment maps by right clicking on I and select your Hot Folder location.

To remove Hot Folders, click on the small trash can next to the entry.

Information: Hot Folders and Location History are stored on a per user level on Graphic Hub. If multiple users use the same login (for example, Guest) they will be mixed up.

Properties

The Asset view offers a side panel which shows detailed information about an item. Click on the images/download/thumbnails/140822636/image2021-6-17_10-25-8.png button to show or hide the panel

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General

The general tab shows basic item properties. On top a large preview icon is shown.

  • Name: Shown underneath it, you can copy the name, but you can not modify it here. To rename an item, see Renaming an Item.

  • Type: Shows what kind of asset you selected.

  • Path: Shown underneath. The location of the item. Please keep in mind, that a linked item can appear in multiple locations. The path shown here is the currently selected one on Graphic Hub. If an asset from the Search result is selected, then it is the first folder link, otherwise the exact path of it.

  • Owner: Shows the active user that owns this item. For more information about user and group management, see User and Group Management in the Database Management section of the Graphic Hub Administrator Guide.

  • Size: Shows the actual size of the selected item in Graphic Hub. Items on Graphic Hub have different sizes than for example the same file on your hard drive (images on Graphic Hub contain additional data like mipmap levels, preview icons, etc.).

The two date items shows when an item has been created and when it was last modified. Since Viz Artist version 4.4, the time is also shown.

Permissions
can be changed on User, Group and World level.

  • User: User may overwrite their files and create files.

  • Group rights: User can overwrite files which belong to the group they are a member of.

  • World rights: User may overwrite files which belong to anyone.

On the bottom, the UUID of the item is shown and be copied to the clipboard with the small clipboard icon.

Tip: The UUID of any selected item can also be copied to the Clipboard by using the CTRL+U shortcut.

Keywords

Keywords can be assigned to all types of items. They can be useful for example to categorize or label your items. Keywords can also be used as a search criteria.

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To assign a keyword to your selected item, either double-click on the keyword you want to assign or click the small + sign. To remove it, do the opposite.

Tip: Use Graphic Hub Manager to create and manage your keywords.

History

Graphic Hub stores a simple history of what has happened with your items. When a assets has been created or imported, modified etc. This is useful if you need to know who modified or imported something.

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Advanced

Special tools can be found in the Advanced section.

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  • Check for Background Loading: Checks if the selected item is suitable for Background Loading. A message box opens and shows if the item is suitable, or shows why the item is not suitable.

  • Verify/Restore: Locates, verifies and attempts to correct a corrupted item.

Shortcuts

The following shortcuts are valid for the Asset View:

Action

Key and/or Mouse Shortcut

Renames an item

F2

Focuses on the search input field

CTRL + F

Copies the UUID of the item to the clipboard

CTRL + U

Copies the path of the item to the clipboard

CTRL + SHIFT + U

Checks in an item

CTRL + I

Adds a new scene or material (if the type is selected)

CTRL + N

Checks out an item

CTRL + O

References search on this item

CTRL + R

Exports file

CTRL + E

Zooms in

CTRL + +

Zooms out

CTRL + -

Copies

CTRL + C

Cuts

CTRL + X

Pastes

CTRL + V

Shows icon view

CTRL + SHIFT + 1

Shows list view

CTRL + SHIFT + 2

Selects all items

CTRL + A

Shows properties

CTRL + P

Duplicates file

CTRL + SHIFT + V

See Also