Assets
An Asset is a term that generally stands for anything that goes into a video game – characters, objects, sound effects, maps, textures, materials, environments, etc. In MANU, the Assets tab is available on the left side of the screen and can be accessed in two modes - Edit, and Animation modes (link to Workspaces Modes). MANU Assets represent a list of all user-created prefabs.
Note: In the current version of MANU, the Assets tab can only display a list of created prefabs. The description below details a list of operations that can be performed with prefabs.
Prefab allows you to create, configure, and store an object complete with all its components, property values, and child objects as a reusable asset. To create a prefab, select <Create Prefab> from the drop-down menu using the RBM.
To rename a prefab, select one from the Scene tree, click the RMB and select <Rename prefab>. If you rename the prefab, all instances of the same prefab will be renamed as well.
Please note that each prefab’s name consists of two parts: <Prefab’s Name> - <Object Name>. Let’s say you created a box that has a default object name - “Box”, you then turned it into a prefab, so your new prefab’s name is “Box - Box”. If you want to rename the left “Box” to something else, use the <Rename prefab> option. If you want to change the object’s name, use the <Rename> option instead.
A duplicate of a prefab is called a prefab’s instance. To duplicate a prefab, select the prefab and choose the <Duplicate> option from the drop-down menu using the RBM.
After duplicating a prefab, the prefab’s name remains the same but with a count number added to it. For example, if the first instance of the prefab’s name is “Box - Box”, its duplicate’s name will be “Box - Box 2”.
If a prefab contains a group of other objects and animations, they will be duplicated into a new instance as well, including their materials, animations, and physics settings.
Prior to duplicating a prefab, we recommend that you set up the desired animations first inside this prefab group. The animations will be automatically retargeted to the objects that are inside the new prefab instance. This operation allows you to create multiple interactive objects in the game without having to manually edit each animation in every new prefab instance.
Note that the animations added to a prefab instance will NOT be automatically added to other instances of this prefab unless you completed the workaround steps outlined in the Edit Prefab Instances (link) section.
Detaching a prefab turns it back into an object and removes the prefab’s name from it. To detach a prefab, select one from the Scene, click RMB and select <Detach Prefab> from the drop-down menu.
You can also complete other operations with prefabs, such as copy, cut, paste, and delete, using the respective options in the drop-down menu called by the RMB.
In addition, you can copy and paste the prefabs into a new project in MANU. To do that, select a prefab in the Scene tab, click RMB and select <Copy> from the drop-down menu. Then, go to the main menu by clicking on the MANU icon, select File followed by either <New> or <Open> a different project you would like to paste a prefab to. After opening a different project, use RMB in the Scene tab and select <Paste>. Note that if you use these steps to copy and paste the same prefab multiple times into a new project, each time the system will treat it as a separate prefab group instead of one group of prefabs.
In MANU, you can edit objects and their parameters in prefab instances. All changes completed to material and physics settings will be automatically applied to all other instances of a prefab group. Note that with this operation all transform settings of the prefab’s root object will NOT be transferred into other instances. This allows you to freely place different prefabs instances around the game.
As noted earlier, if you would like to add a new animation to a prefab instance, the changes will not be synced with other instances. For a new animation to be synced with other instances, here are some workaround steps you may find helpful. After you completed adding and setting up a new animation, use the RMB to <Cut> and then <Paste> the prefab instance into the Scene tree. This way, you will be able to synchronize animation edits with other prefabs.
