The Asset Manager utility lets you browse thumbnail displays of the bitmaps or .max files on your hard disk, and then either view them, or drag and drop them into valid map buttons or slots in 3DS MAX.
You can assign files represented by the thumbnail images by dragging the thumbnails and dropping them over various parts of the Asset Manager or the MAX UI. There are three basic methods of using drag-and-drop in the Asset Manager:
Local Drag and Drop: You can drag thumbnails to the directory tree. This lets you copy or move files from one directory to another. The dragging and dropping work in the same way as the Microsoft Explorer. As a default, if you drag to a folder within the same partition or device, a move is performed. If you drag beyond the current partition or device (to another drive, for example), a copy is performed. If you hold the CTRL key down, a copy is performed regardless of the destination. If you hold the SHIFT key down, a move is performed. Both bitmap thumbnails and .max scene thumbnails can be manipulated in this way.
Bitmap Drag and Drop: You can drag the thumbnails that represent bitmap files to any bitmap or map slot in the 3DS MAX interface.
Scene Drag and Drop: You can drag the thumbnails representing .max scene files directly over an active viewport to merge the scene with the current scene. When you drag the thumbnail over the active viewport and release the mouse, the merged objects appear attached to the mouse. Place them where you want them, and then click to complete the merge, or right-click to cancel.
When you select Asset Manager from the Utilities panel, a modeless dialog appears that’s the Asset Manager. There are no controls for the Asset Manager in the Utilities panel itself.
Provides buttons for tasks performed in the Asset Manager.
View Selected Image: Displays the currently selected thumbnail in a virtual frame buffer. You can achieve the same thing by double-clicking a thumbnail.
Properties: Displays information about the image. This is exactly the same information you see when you click the Info button in a file selector.
Cache Settings: Displays the Cache Settings dialog, which lets you specify the directory and size of the cache in which the thumbnail files are stored. The dialog contains the following settings:
Directory: Displays the path of the cache directory. This is where the thumbnail images are stored. You can change the path either by editing the field, or by clicking the button to the right of the field. This displays a file dialog in which you can specify a new path.
Button: Click this to display a file dialog in which you can specify the cache path.
Note: When you change directories, you’re asked if you want to clear the cache from the previous directory. If you choose to do so, all thumbnail files are erased from the cache directory you were previously using.
Maximum Size: Sets the maximum size of the cache directory. When you exit the Asset Manager, the size of the cache directory is checked. If it’s over the Maximum Size, the oldest thumbnail files are deleted until the total size is 50 percent of the Maximum Size setting.
Clear Cache: Click this to delete all thumbnail files in the cache directory.
Sort by Name: Click this to sort the thumbnails by their filenames.
Sort by Type: Click to sort by file extension.
Sort by Date: Click to sort by file date.
Sort by Size: Click to sort by file size.
Display Small Thumbnails: Click to set the size of the displayed thumbnails to small.
Display Medium Thumbnails: Set the thumbnail size to medium.
Display Large Thumbnails: Set the thumbnail size to large.
Filter: This lets you filter the displayed thumbnails by selecting a file extension you want displayed. Note that when All Images is chosen, all supported bitmap types are displayed, but not .max scene files. To display thumbnails of .max files, you must choose *.max from the list.
Automatic Thumbnail Update: When this is on (the default), thumbnails not already in the cache, or those with dates newer than those in the cache are generated each time you enter a directory. When this is off, only those thumbnails already in the cache are displayed when you enter a directory. Other images display a blank thumbnail. Since it can be time-consuming to navigate several levels of directories holding new images, you can turn this button off, quickly move to the directory you want, and then turn the button back on to display new images.
View All Images in Cache: Click to display thumbnails of all images stored in your cache directory. When this is on, the directory window goes away, and the thumbnails you see can be in various directories. Since the thumbnails point to the correct directories, you can still access the files via the thumbnails to either display them, or to drag and drop them into areas in MAX.
Important: If a file has been subsequently renamed, deleted, or moved from the directory it was in when its thumbnail was first created, the thumbnail will represent only the thumbnail bitmap itself, and if you assign that image to a map slot in MAX, you’ll be assigning the thumbnail bitmap rather than the original image.
Displays the available directories on your system. Here, you can navigate and select the directories in which you want to view images. When you select and enter a directory containing bitmaps that are valid in 3DS MAX, their thumbnails are displayed in the window at right.
Displays thumbnail images of the bitmaps or .max scenes in the selected directory. Double-click on any of the thumbnails to display the full-sized image. Right-click on a thumbnail to display a pop-up menu of the following items:
View: Displays the full image. Same as double-clicking the thumbnail.
Properties: Same as selecting Properties in the toolbar.
Preferences: Same as selecting Preferences in toolbar.