ASSET MANAGER

You can think of an asset as a piece of data stored in a file, like image or audio data. The assets used to build a show in WATCHOUT are handled by the Asset Manager. The purpose of the Asset Manager is to:

  • Prepare assets for being used in WATCHOUT shows.
  • Organize assets.
  • Share assets between projects and users.

The Asset Manager does not need to be located on the machine running Producer, it can be on any node available on your network. Since preparing assets can be a time-consuming and CPU and GPU intensive task, it can be beneficial to share a powerful machine among creators.

NOTE: You may organize your assets into folders just like any other file system.

To make use of assets they need to be added to the show. This is done by either dropping them to a Timeline or to the Stage window which creates a cue. This can be used to configure how the data stored in the asset is visualized/played.

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  • Magnifying glass icon is used to open the search interface.
  • Name will show the name of the asset. This can be edited in the Asset Properties.
  • Image will show a thumbnail of the asset.
  • Dimensions shows the resolution for media and the size for 3D models.
  • Duration shows the time duration of the asset (available for videos and audio).
  • Date shows when the original file was created (this does not show when the asset was added to Producer).

NOTE: Not all assets have a thumbnail, dimension or duration.

ASSET TYPES

WATCHOUT supports the following asset types:

  • Image: .webp, .tiff, .jpg, .png, .psd, .gif, .tga
  • Video: .mp4, .mov, h262, h264, h265, ProRes, NotchLC, Hap.
  • Audio: .wav, .mp3, .mp4, .ogg
  • 3D Model: .obj, .gltf, .glb, .3ds
  • Display settings formats: .mpcdi
  • Composition:
    • A group of assets bundled together.

You can find more information about formats and codecs here.

ASSET MANAGER MENU

The Asset Manager menu looks like this:

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  • New Folder will open a dialog where you can set the name of the folder you want to create.
  • New Media File will open a dialog allowing you to add an asset.
  • New Image Sequence will open a dialog allowing you to add a sequence (.tiff or .tga).
  • Find Cues for Selection will search for cues referring to the selected assets. More information can be found here.
  • Collapse All Folders will close all open folders.
  • Expand All Folders will open all closed folders.
  • Delete will delete the selected assets.
  • Media Settings will open a dialog allowing you to define how different formats are converted during WATHOUT asset preparation.
  • Export All Assets will open a dialog allowing you bundle all assets in the Asset Manager to a package.
  • Export Selected Assets will open a dialog allowing you bundle the selected assets in the Asset Manager to a package.
  • Import Assets will import a package that was previously exported.  

ADDING ASSETS

To add an asset to the Asset Manager you can either:

  • Go to the menu and select New Media File (or New Image Sequence).
    OR
  • Drag and drop a file from your file system to the Asset Manager.

Once the asset has been added, the Asset Manager will begin to prepare the asset for use in WATCHOUT shows. The asset goes through four steps:

  1. Uploading (only necessary if you are using a remote Asset Manager).
  2. Pending which means it is waiting to be optimized for WATCHOUT usage.
  3. Optimizing which means it is being optimized for WATCHOUT usage.
  4. New which means it is ready to be used in WATCHOUT shows.

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SELECTING ASSETS

You select an asset by clicking on it. Producer also supports holding the Control/Shift-key to alter the select operation. You can also use Control+A to select all assets in the Asset Manager.

When an asset is selected, the Properties window is populated with asset information - Asset Properties.

REMOVING ASSETS

Select an asset(s) in the list and click the Delete key or select Delete in the Asset Manager menu.

FOLDERS

Producer supports importing complete folder structures which is very useful if you have already organized your assets in a specific way. To add a folder structure to the Asset Manager simply drag and drop it in the Asset Manager window.

You can also create or delete new folders from the Asset Manager menu. To move an asset to a specific folder you select and drag it to the folder of your choice.

Click on the magnifying glass icon at the top of the Asset Manager to open the asset search interface.

Enter text in the search field to start your search. You can further narrow down the search result by:

  • Selecting a specific asset type in the drop-down menu.
  • Showing newly created assets (assets marked with a star).
  • Showing assets based on which cues are currently selected on your Timeline(s).
  • Showing assets that are currently being prepared. Please see adding assets.

Hide the search functionality by clicking on the cross on the far right.

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FIND CUES FROM ASSETS

Sometimes it might be helpful to find cues that are using a specific asset. To do this you need to:

  1. Select the asset(s) of interest.
  2. Right-click in the Asset Manager window and select Find Cues for Selection.
  3. The search result is shown in the bottom part of the Asset Manager window.

The search result is interactive so you can click on the cue you want to inspect. Doing so will activate the Timeline, that owns the cue and scroll to it. You can also use the down/up button to jump to next/previous in the result. Next to these buttons is a "select all cues" button which is useful if you want to delete all cues referring to a specific asset.

NOTE: You can also use the arrow down/up keyboard keys to navigate the list.

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MEDIA SETTINGS

The Media Settings can be accessed from the Asset Manager menu. This opens a dialog allowing you to define how different formats are converted during WATCHOUT asset preparation. This is done by changing the Out format. You can find more information about formats and codecs here.

Media Settings