Tutorial

Using Asset Tracking to Revise Asset Paths



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Although the majority of the Asset tracking features are designed to work in conjunction with Autodesk Vault or another ATS system, you can modify asset paths independently of external applications. This can be a useful feature.

  1. Create a new folder named Exercise at the root level of a drive.

  2. Copy the six files from the \tutorials\asset_management\ folder to your new Exercise folder; that is, Full House.max and the five JPG files.

  3. Open Full House.max.

    The file contains five playing cards, each of which uses a different material that references one of the five bitmaps.

    Next, you'll rearrange the files into folders and then use asset tracking to specify new paths for the bitmaps.

  4. Exit Autodesk VIZ.

  5. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to your Exercise folder.

  6. Create two new sub-folders: Bitmaps and Scene.

  7. Move the JPG files into the Bitmaps folder and Full House.max into the Scene folder.

  8. Restart Autodesk VIZ.

  9. Open Full House.max from the Scene folder.

    You receive a message indicating that the bitmap files were not located.

  10. Click Continue.

  11. From the file menu, choose Asset Tracking.

    The Asset Tracking dialog shows the external files used by Full House.max and indicates that they are missing.

  12. Highlight AC.jpg in the list.

  13. From the Paths menu, select Set Path.

  14. On the Specify Asset Path dialog, click the ellipsis button.

  15. Navigate to the \Exercise\Bitmaps folder and click Use Path.

    The new path appears in the dialog.

  16. Click OK to close the Specify Asset Path dialog.

  17. Press ~ to refresh your scene.

    The bitmap appears in the viewport.

  18. Close the Asset Tracking dialog.

  19. Press M to open the Material Editor.

  20. Click Get Material.

    The Material/Map Browser dialog opens.

  21. In the Browse From group, choose Scene.

  22. Double-click the Ace of Clubs material.

  23. On the Maps rollout, click the Diffuse Color map button.

    The Bitmap button on the Bitmap Parameters rollout indicates the correct new path.

    Note: The root drive might be different on your system.

  24. Close the Material Editor and Material/Map Browser dialogs.

  25. From the File menu, choose Asset Tracking.

  26. Highlight the remaining JPG files.

  27. From the Paths menu, choose Set Path.

  28. Specify the new bitmap location.

    The remaining images appear.

  29. Close the Asset Tracking dialog.

  30. Exit Autodesk VIZ without saving.

Next

Creating a New Vault

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