Blender's Assets, workflow frustrations and addons to fix them.

[@maglerdon]

I'm so glad you brought up these issues. I remember back when "Library Overrides" were first introduced to Blender, I was really excited to be able to utilize a "source" file and make all my changes in there, then have them propagated to any other .blends that referenced that source. I ended up giving up on using them because they felt way too clunky and restrictive. They didn't behave as I expected at all. It gets even more complex when you're trying to link an entire rig with custom properties and whatnot. I really wish Blender made it easier to link entire character models/rigs. The workspace synchronization add-on is amazing! I'll be getting a lot of use out of that one.

[@guilhermecampos8313]

Yes, this disappointed me. As a user of Autodesk software long before using Blender, I expected the Linking System with Library Overrides to behave somewhat like the reference system in 3ds Max and Maya. However, the Linking and Library Overrides in Blender are quite clunky and restrictive, and I don’t understand why they don’t just use the system that other software has been using for over two decades.

[@SilverwingVFX]

Thank you very much for bringing all of those points up. I was not aware of the gotchas in the assets workflow. But I so often wished for a method to edit materials without assigning them. It's really tedious when you come from another 3D app being used to just edit materials by selecting them. Kudos for the work you do in driving the development of Blender forward!

[@Levi3D]

As someone who came from Softimage back in the black and white days - you echo many of my frustrations with Blender's limited asset/project management structure... Keep up the great work, some of the best Blender content out there!

[@0fucks]

Last addon is actually a very nice tip. I'll use it immediately. When I first started to use Blender years ago, I did switch in-between active workspaces, but with time and experience I just ditched it completely, because I would rather expand a new window and change it to whatever editor type I need, without changing active workspace from "layout" at all. Changing active workspace felt like a waste of time. With this addon though I'll give it another go.

[@felipesachs]

I was in the same path that you was.

[@ddmorales]

This workflow problem has been driving me nuts since the launch of asset browser and I’ve been looking for solutions ever since. I work on architecture visualisations and have built nice libraries for materials, furniture, housing elements etc and always I always use them as linked assets in the project files. The limitations you mentioned make it very annoying in real life. Things I’d love to see: - Easy overwrite for materials by default by simply drag and dropping them to the linked asset. - Easier way to handle the origin point of an asset - Variable states for assets, similar to what we have in tools like Figma where you can create variables (ie. door closed, door open, door color etc). Would be nice if we could create similar simple toggles or dropdowns for states. - Reset overrides / Push changes to master (similar to Figma) - Booleans inside assets (for example ceiling spots) or kitchen sinks so that you could just drop them in place I feel like the current asset system is designed for very different workflow what I for example would use it.

[@christopher3d475]

Yes, I agree with your points. InDesign has a an overrides reset type feature for style sheets that functions this way. If you make a local override, you can have it back propogate those changes into the stylesheet so all linked materials take on those features. Very useful.

[@cramosaurus8853]

Edit Instanced Collection is a huge help! It always drove me nuts that I couldn't edit collections directly from the asset library. I do product rendering professionally and have built a massive asset library for our products. I can't tell you how many times my boss asked for a specific change to one of our products, and I had to say, "Okay, but hold on. I need to hit 'Make Instances Real,' completely destroying my parent/child hierarchy, naming conventions, and material names." I'm a digital neat freak, and the lack of that feature felt downright criminal. Thank you so much for adding this! Now, the asset library is fully useful and not just a shiny toy I show off while hoping no one asks for changes after I drop in a model. Thank you again!

[@christopher3d475]

Make sure and watch the follow up video I did to this where I go over some ways of circumventing, or at least lessening the pain, of several of the items. One is another way of approaching the Collection/Collection Instance problem.

[@cramosaurus8853]

@@christopher3d475 I've actually created an add-on that addresses some of Blender's other annoying issues, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. It started as a way to speed up my workflow at work, and I’ve since expanded on it. I’d be happy to provide you with a free copy if you’re willing to take a look. The current version on Blender Market is outdated-I’m holding off on uploading the new version until I’ve done a bit more testing. I’m not asking for anything in return, just your honest opinion because I see we have similar jobs. If you're open to it, how can I send it?

[@graphikeye]

Thank you. We need to talk about these issues

[@JackMontegue]

We have ran into similar issues with linking assets, which was supposed to help save on file sizes, but only ended up making the process confusing and frustrating. We work with CAD models imported into Blender, which means they are often very polygon heavy, and when we do an animation this can also mean we have duplicates in the same scene. This has lead to problems with both materials and animations, which often make no sense to us how they are saved or declared for each object. And that's after struggling to get over the hurdle that was the difference between object vs. data. Part of the issue was that my boss was wanting to change aspects of the material down the line in the linked scenes, and often per scene, depending on where the camera was. We also ran into animation issues where we tried to have multiple scenes in a blend file, each with the the linked object having different animations. My boss is not happy with any solution where the user has to leave the linked scene to change either the object or the material being linked in, even if that would be the "correct" way to do it in Blender.

[@christopher3d475]

Yeah, that was why I wanted to do this video, because I feel Blender needs refinement and more robust functioning in this area.

[@DileepNow]

I find that Game engines have the most sensible approach when it comes to material handling. Materials are saved as material files that can be edited independently. Also you can override properties of a material's instance that is applied to an object without breaking links to the source.

[@arch.blender1178]

thank you for this excellent video, it has helped me with a couple of black holes i have found myself in

[@markh7776]

This is one of the best yt vids I've seen all week

[@Mystora23]

Hey Christopher, there is a free addon/extension for easier material editing called "Matalogue". It adds a panel named "Trees" inside shader editor which lists all materials that you have in the scene that you can click on and load inside shader editor. Extension also lists created world materials, geometry nodes setups and compositing items for quick editing. I hope this can help with some of the frustrations. As always, thanks for the great video.

[@christopher3d475]

That's a great suggestion. I'll give Matalogue a try.

[@jcfnav]

Since I found it long time ago, I cannot work without it.

[@binyaminbass]

@@christopher3d475 I just tried it. It actually allows you to edit materials that are not assigned to an object!

[@binyaminbass]

To be more specific, it creates a dummy object with no vertices that the material is assigned to and then deletes it when you choose another material.

[@christopher3d475]

I installed Matalogue, but it doesn't show up for me in 4.3.1 for some reason.

[@felipesachs]

Synchronize workspace!!! Thank you!!

[@shteeve]

thankyou SO MUCH for this video! i just finished a large collaborative project where i was handling final scene layouts. it was truly a slog.

[@charlesque]

Thank you so much for your videos. They are so clear and comprehensive-it's incredible. Regarding the "Edit Instanced Collection" addon, I would also go crazy without it. I use it a lot, but I find it much faster to edit the collection directly within the same scene. To streamline this process, I use a small script that automates "blender files > link to scene". The script also adds the collection i want to edit to a non-rendered collection named "instances library." Later, I simply go to this collection to edit the instanced collection I want to edit.

[@geeffeeg2343]

There is also an add on called QOL Material Panel, which helps to edit materials of collections. But what I'm missing is a proper material editor with an overview of all materials and the possibillity to organize them in certain groups. Just like cinema 4d for example has it.

[@christopher3d475]

Yes, I agree. The Assets browser is not a replacement for a proper material access and organizational feature.

[@andreamacor4135]

Great Christopher! Thank's for all!

[@AsirisC]

This is a huge hurdle and one of the reasons I love Houidni and USD workflow these days. It's so easy change anything about your scene, assets and materials with straight forward layering concept. Blender's liking system is a dead end right now. I never use it because of the reasons outlined above. It makes so much move work and clicks if you need to change anything.

[@Benn25]

Now, those are good tips! thank you so much for sharing!

[@mytube001]

The ridiculous workflow required to edit and update assets reminds me of a game where the game engine was designed to handle walking, and couldn't deal with vehicles well, so when the game engine was used in a more modern setting and they needed a subway car, they made it into a body part and had the player character run fast, hidden underground, to make the vehicle move. Instead of creating a proper solution that requires more work, but gives a better result, many small iterative patches and fixes are made that end up creating a bad and messy situation.

[@omnymisa]

Good to be aware as am about to embark toward more complex models myself and am already contemplating just how many textures and decals they could require

[@casiovadal]

Great Video! Another frustrating aspect of the asset browser: if the origin of a collection (the 'set offset from cursor') is changed in the linked file, it doesn’t update when using the Reload button. It only updates after closing and reopening the main file. This is for me one of the most frustrating bugs!

[@digital0785]

the eye dropper is SUPER useful in 3d max theres not much i miss from max.. but edit poly modifier / instanced modifiers, ability to "open" / add to a group to make life easier are big pain points for me .. you literally answered the last part right after i posted this but it's BS it's not obvious

[@guilhermecampos8313]

The Xref system in Max is also much simpler and better than Blender's Linking and and Library Overrides

[@yellowcrescent]

You can open the referenced .blend file from the Asset Browser by clicking the tool icon in the Asset Details side panel (View > Asset Details or press 'N'), which will then launch the file in a new Blender instance. Not exactly a great workflow -- but at least it doesn't require manual hunting. Ideally there would be a way to do this *without* having to find the asset inside the browser (eg. context menu on the item or a little button on the toolbar for the specific editor, like Material Editor).

[@ajtatosmano2]

I like that you can't edit linked materials and object right away. I sometimes forget to make the material single user and later I realize, that all the other objects have changed. It would be a nightmare to deal with accidental edits. But I think it should have a big button to Enable Edits, which you can click, make your changes and then it reverts back to locked.

[@planefusionart]

Thanks! That synchronize workspace addon will be useful. I've been just battling on how to assign hotkeys for specific workspaces, but no luck. Instead I assigned a handy keymap of Alt+L Mouse/Alt+R Mouse to super easily hop between workspaces. :D

[@motion.igorrocha]

The instance collection add-on is awesome, thanks for sharing! By the way, Blender Octane version has an built-in Eye drop tool in the viewport and it works just fine with instanced collection.

[@axis3d]

I’ve been a long-time Lightwave user and when I decided to learn Blender a couple of years ago, I realized the material editing issues you describe. Lightwave uses “linked” objects by default. If I need to make material changes, I can easily do that and just save the object (linked file), right within my current project that is open. Plus, I’m able to just click on a surface in the viewport and it opens the material editor to that specific material. I feel your pain (and mine too as I continue to learn Blender), and I hope that the developers can improve the workflow without having to rely on an addon, should one be developed.

[@WCCOMPUTERGRAPHICS]

That is why I use Material Picker add on. I totally agree with you. I would be very happy If for one year Blender doesn't bring anything new to the equation, just polish what It has already, finishing things started a while ago and that are still missing funcionalities, like extrude "even" in extrude nodes, bevel node, library overrydes and linking issues, easier way to define place for saving render passes, exclude objects from material override, things like that. That is a positive critic, they are already doing a great job, just some things that are basic and that It seems they forgot about It during the update progress. It is awesome that Blender has lots of amazing tools, but is also a draw when missing the basics for so long.

[@christopher3d475]

Thanks for the tip, I'll look up Material Picker. And yes, they're definitely refining Blender. I just hope a few of these inefficient areas get some attention.

[@josephrussell1419]

Another thing about linking is that when I work on asset repository files, I often want to use Save Incremental, but then all the projects using the assets won't update to use the new version of the file. So far as I know there's not even anything in the Outliner I can click or select to tell Blender to look for the same assets in the updated file

[@kaizu4914]

Thank you, great summarize about Instances Collection. I use those add-on too!

[@kaizu4914]

There is 2 more add-ons I think very useful for edit Collection Instances: - Quick Groups (Instances) - GroupPro

[@philosoaper]

as a friend who has done work for multiple blockbuster movies spanning 30 years put it after I made hom try blender 4.2 : "I add a spline but can't draw in the viewport? Where is my quad view??" ...and then 20 minutes later "fuck this unintuitive garbage" and yes, the insistence on blender to do things differently is a huge turnoff...it goes down to a lot more basic stuff than asset management

[@adim101-b9l]

sure blender is lacking some features but that dont mean it should be a copy of another software, just like houdini isnt a copy of maya, just like unreal isnt copy of unity, if your "friend" cant wait to learn pipeline of new software then i am not sure if they even did work on "multiple blockbuster movies" and for 30 years, if they did work for some labour work like cleanup, roto then thats no way near actual work which goes to working in actual pipeline

[@philosoaper]

@@adim101-b9l it doesn't need to be a copy..it just needs developers that understand UX design

[@ronanducluzeau3416]

You are not forced to create an invisible object to edit a material from non selected objects. You can pin Material tab of properties editor. That will allow you to browse materials present in scene without reference to their context. Because that is a very old trick ; that does not allow you to modify shading node tree. In 2.8, Blender get rid of its old Blender Internal renderer, but there are rest of it ( modifiers/ brush textures and some part of material tab UI). So, the material workflow is not fully adapted to recent additions (shading nodes (Cycles in 2.6 /EEVEE in 2.8), geometry nodes and better outliner in 2.9, asset browser in 3, future dynamic overrides in 4). Asset Browser previews/refreshing was initially thought for a Pose Library creation. No distinction was made for material preview/each type of asset. During 3.x series, developers worked on the core ability to link/append assets correctly, for other data types than objects, mesh armature, to have a widget to preview bounding box of asset. During 4.x series, they worked on creation of brush assets. So, they did not improve material assets workflow by lack of manpower and time, and because there are other structural additions scheduled. And you are clearly showing that is dependent of a Library Overrides workflow started in 2.8, before creation of asset browser. A lot of bricks of 2.8 design were implemented progressively. They were developed in their own lane. And now, there is a need to articulate them properly.

[@3dvfxprofessor]

Besides the brilliant bug reporting system there's an official platform missing to address such issues to the Blender devs directly. Maybe you should try to file a bug report explaining such issues to get attention?

[@rajendrameena150]

It is right click select of blender community

[@3dvfxprofessor]

@@rajendrameena150 ⁠Yes, I know. But it is not aimed directly at the developers, like the bug reporting system.

[@breality7411]

The Edit Instanced Collection addon is earthshattering for my workflow. I always try and create objects or props as collections and use instances. This now cuts out all the time of having to go back and toggle those on to make quick edits.

[@TheLeonardProduction]

The way it handles appended collections is the reason why I just can't use the asset library for my main needs. I work with a big list of different characters that I import into scenes to pose and render, and being able to have them all in a clean library would be great, but these characters are complex and require multiple objects/sub-collections, and often require editing on a render-by-render basis. The work-around of going into the file tab of the outliner is just too cumbersome for something that should JUST BE THE DEFAULT BEHAVIOR OF THE APPEND FUNCTION. Until that's the case, I'll just stick with the usual File > Append, and just use the asset library for materials and simple props

[@christopher3d475]

Yes, I often just use Append or Link directly from the File menu also. Simpler. The Edit Linked Library addon also works with these.

[@lm3273]

I've had the same issue with the linked shaders happen to me about three days ago.

[@cyrkielnetwork]

Asset browser need to be redesigned from scratch to be good, but it's better than no asset browser at all. Edit linked and edit collection should just be another mode (like pose mode, vertex paint mode etc.)

[@olivermohr181]

This "not being able of editing materials without an object" is a main issue of blender in my opinion! I was working a lot with Cinema4D and there are objects and materials editable seperately .. so why not in blender?? I don't understand .. Why is there no possibility creating materials without giving them to objects? That should be improved! Blender should be able to edit materials independent from objects! Definitely!

[@Wa5Wei5Ich]

How do I create asset/material libs?

[@christopher3d475]

Bunches of videos on doing that in KZbin. You set up a file that has the materials or objects you want. Tag them as being assets, and put them in a directory that you link to from Preferences. Then they show up as assets.

[@Towik]

There is / shortcut that allows us to edit a single model without anything else... how about adding shift + / or ctrl + / \\ or whatever... that simply allows changes to the model or shader depending where you pointing at // or hovering over. Hopefully 5.0.0 or 5.1.0 will have such a thing, or maybe it's already in da work.

[@TjaMeu]

My main frustration is that you can't save a material to a material library. It would be so nice just to click on a material and save it to an external material library. Maintaning a Material library now is just so frustrating. Especially with the fact that materials need to be assigned to an object before you can edit. I would love to find a good solution for this. The object assets are a bit weird but managable. But the materials.. just frustrating.. I also would love to see some form of FBX linking this would really help on so many projects with clients who deliver external files.

[@christopher3d475]

Yes, I agree. You can save materials to files and append materials from them for sure. But there's an even worse problem I didn't cover in the video. If you're using assets for materials, moving the asset file breaks the link. You also can't rename it. It just creates havoc.

[@superkaboose1066]

It's like you took my minds thoughts and made a video about them aha, the addons will be helpful,,but there really should just be two way linking options for things. I've been avoiding any linking etc because of these issues

[@paxwort]

It would be nice to have better control over what an asset collection is *for*. For instance, if you have a project-level Assets.blend, you could mark it as editable, and mark it as the asset owner for other files. So when linking an asset into one of those files, you get it through a safe, editable instance in your project-level asset collection.

[@paxwort]

Also, like give me some way of marking intended overrides on an instanced collection. Maybe I don't want to override this whole character instance, I just want access to the rig, or to the shirt material. Let me put that information in the collection, so I can just get access as an option.

[@MalmqvistM]

Why are Appended library assets not the same as appended objects from a file? 🤨 Seems like a strange choice

[@christopher3d475]

They essentially are. It's just how you access them. I usually will just link or append something because it helps me bypass the asset browser altogether.

[@hermano8160]

Well, in addition to all of this the whole 'fake-user' system is weird and a legacy thing that needs to go. I know, it should help to not bloat a .blend with unused stuff but no other software I know just deletes stuff you aren't using right now on the next startup without notifying you about that - I mean, if you do that why not when saving it? Another thing that drives me mad is that texture files can have 2 different file names: the one in the texture node and the actual one on the hard drive - WHY? Blender needs an asset browser that is a full-on blend-file content management system that gives you all lists of used, unused, linked or appended assets - with previews, relations, count, etc. and the ability to edit them/go to the source file to edit!

[@christopher3d475]

Yeah, I agree. I've had things removed from a file before that I wanted because I forgot to set them with fake user tag.