My first asset packs are around the corner, and thus there will be a tutorial on how to correctly use the assets

Installation

First of all, you need to "Install" the asset packs. For that, you first download the zip file of the asset pack, which contains are a few Blend files named something like "ikea-ivar-cupboard.blend" as well as a "blender_assets.cats.txt". There will also be a materials file, in the case of ikea furniture, it's "ikea-materials.blend". That's the file including all Material assets, and it's very helpful when you quickly need to change the colour of some furniture.

To install the asset pack, first create a folder somewhere on your drive. This can also be on a cloud saved drive, which is handy to sync your assets between devices

Extract the files from the Zip file you downloaded (on Windows that's done by simply opening it and dragging the files into the folder)

Then you go into Blender and open the settings under Edit -> Preferences

Then, on the left side, go into Filepaths. There you can create a new asset library by pressing the + sign on the bottom right under Asset Libraries

It will prompt you to select a folder. Here you select the folder where you extracted the files from the zip file.

After creating an asset library, give it a memorable name like Ikea Furniture, and you're off to the races!

Usage

To use the assets, you need to select an asset browser in your workspace. I normally change my timeline or split it, but for this quick tutorial, we'll change the timeline. Click on the clock on the top left corner and select Asset Browser in the dropdown

This will open the asset browser and look something like this

The next step is to select the asset library in the dropdown where it now sais Current File. Select the one you just defined, in my case IKEA Assets. Now there will be all assets visible in the right part of the window.

You will have multiple catalogues, which are displayed under the dropdown

There might be (due to limitations on how this system works) catalogues that are empty, like Lagkapten in my case. Now you can select any catalogue, and you'll see all assets in there

Now you can simply drag and drop any assets into the 3D view, and everything should work perfectly fine :D

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