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Keep in mind that even with standardized naming conventions, third-party vendors sometimes include misspelled or inconsistent layer names. These exceptions can complicate the unification process, so be prepared to adjust accordingly.
Workflow
In the ingest viewIngest View, you can choose whether to rename the additional files or preserve keep their original structure. Configuring Setting up a Python hook (pre ingest load) can save a significant amount of time and manual effort. It all comes down to how much time you can and want to spend on , depending on how much you’re willing to invest in organizing your texture library.
The more time effort you put in now, for example by getting everything into one unified name spaceupfront, such as unifying everything under a single naming convention, the more time you will save down the road.
In the Ingest View you decide to assign a common you’ll save later.
Specifically, you can assign a shared naming convention for additional files by settings the defining a layer type (e.g., texture) and layer names for each additional file. This allows lets you to generate previews for each layer, which will be visible in the Gallery View and linked to the corresponding asset’s additional files for each asset.
In the Settings View you can decide if , you have the option to configure whether and how to generate previews for the your texture files are generated. Please refer to this article for instructions on configuring the transcoding templates: 3D Assets
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There are several options which have different time investment on your end:
Clean incoming files
The task is to create a Python hook file for every vendor to deal with their naming convention. Creating different ingest logic allows you to rename to incoming texture layers in one unified naming convention.
This keeps everything nice and tidy and allows for better integration into your pipeline and workflows since it all follows the same pattern.
Pro
well structured files on disk
less work using the textures in production
easier to automate task in your pipeline
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time consuming
requires Python knowledge
External preview generation
You can use an 3D external tool to generate previews. For example a turntable rendering of the texture set applied to an 3d model in certain lighting conditions or in a neutral grading workflow. The preview can be a single image or a movie file/image sequence that gets render by your internal pipeline.
Pro
very good and custom preview of the texture
well structured files on disk
less work using the textures in production
easier to automate task in your pipeline
Cons
time consuming
needs more technical setup on your end
Ingest original previews
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Some texture sets provide you with a preview of that texture. A less time consuming option is to only ingest that preview and simply copy the entire texture folder with all it’s additional files. This keeps the original structure as it is, however if you don’t ingest the additional files via Das Element, it has no relationship with the files on disk any they will know show up inside the Gallery View.
Pro
less time consuming
keeps original structure and file naming
Cons
potentially less structure on disk
no previews for the different texture layers
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