The Asset Library is available for all CADs that Enscape is provided for.

There are in essence two variations of the Asset Library. One is accessed via the CAD toolbar and can be opened when Enscape is not running when using an Enscape Fixed Seat License. Although, a free seat must be available if you are using an Enscape Floating License. The other variation can be accessed via the Enscape Viewport User Interface (UI) toolbar, and therefore only when the Enscape Viewport is running.

Whichever variation you opt to use, the assets selected can only be placed via the respective UI. That means, the Asset Library opened from the CAD toolbar will only allow placement of assets within the CAD UI and the Asset Library opened via the Enscape Viewport UI will only allow placement of assets in the Enscape Viewport.

Both variations also contain the Custom Asset Library.

To understand how to place assets either via the respective CAD or via the Enscape Viewport, please refer to this article.

NOTE: If you find the Asset Library window, or the Enscape Viewport is blocked by a notification stating that no seats are available on the current License Key, or that the License has expired, then please refer to this article.

Once that is checked, a dialog will appear requesting that you define the location you would like the Offline Assets to be stored.

CAUTION: please observe the warning that any contents of the directory you select as the location of the Offline Assets will be deleted. So, make sure to choose a dedicated folder that will only contain these downloaded Offline Assets, otherwise you may lose some files that you may otherwise have wanted to keep.

Once a folder is specified, the dialog will re-appear asking if you want to download the latest versions of all the Enscape Assets, or use the existing cached Assets, those being the Assets that have already been placed in the host application and rendered once in the Enscape viewport.

Selecting ‘Download’ may result in you having to wait for all assets to download (depending on internet speed, but on a good cable connection this should take approx. 5 minutes) and a progress bar will be displayed at the bottom of the Asset Library dialog to indicate the process.

To revert to the online Asset Library again, just uncheck the ‘Offline Asset Library‘ checkbox option.

Adjustable Assets are assets that allow the user to make adjustments to them. Once placed inside the project, you can select the asset to make the customization options visible. Not all assets are adjustable. You can quickly identify and filter Adjustable Assets under the tag ‘Adjustable’ within the Enscape Asset Library. There are two types of Adjustable Assets: assets with variants and assets that allow color and/or material customization. Some Adjustable Assets have both options available to them.

Variants

If an asset has multiple variants, you will be able to see that information in the form of small thumbnails, as well as the number of variants available for it, when you hover your pointer over that asset. You can switch between these variants by clicking on the small variant thumbnails.

When you select previously placed assets in Enscape, you will see a list of your selected assets grouped by their variants. You can click on these to replace them with their variants.

Customization

If an asset can be customized, you will be able to see a customization icon , a circle with two hatches, indicating that the currently selected asset variant can be customized. Once you place an asset inside the project, you have to select it in Enscape to make the customization options visible. The customization panel can be found on the left sidebar. You can make changes to the color and/or material of the selected asset here. You are able to preview these changes in your visualization before you decide to apply them. If the selected asset has variants, they will also become visible in the customization panel.

Again, notice a tab for Custom Assets is available which allows you to upload and use your own assets in your projects and this is covered in depth here.

Only the tree assets are animated (although the Enscape special Grass material and the Enscape sky are also animated).  The degree of animation of these assets is affected by the Wind Settings in the Visual Setting’s Atmosphere tab, so you will need Enscape running to change these settings. The Intensity will affect how strongly the assets animate and the Direction Angle will affect the direction, in degrees, that the wind is blowing from.

It’s worth mentioning that this feature does not affect any Custom Assets.

It’s also worth noting that some assets animate by default, such as vegetation, but only when moving around and for approximately another 2 seconds  after coming to rest. You can allow the assets to animate all the time by disabling Restmode. This option can be found via the CAD toolbar by clicking its associated button  which will open Enscape’s General Settings dialog, where the option is found under Rendering.

You can collapse and expand the Category and Tags Area, as well as add and remove an asset as a Favorite by clicking the small blue heart available in each asset thumbnail.

Once you have selected the asset you want, by clicking in your CAD’s active window or viewport, you can place the asset in your scene, after which it will appear in the Enscape window.

To exit the placement of assets, close Enscape’s Asset Library window.

For more detailed information about placing assets via the Enscape Viewport as well as via the supported CADs please refer to this article.