Assets workflow
Importing assets
There are three ways to import assets:
- Create a new file through the Assets panel in Cocos Creator. Use the Create button to start the importing process.
- By copying files, in the file manager of the operating system, to the project asset folder, and then open the editor or activate the editor window to automatically refresh the asset list of the Assets panel to finish importing assets.
- Drag and drop asset files from the file manager of the operating system to a folder location on the Assets panel. This will trigger an import of the selected assets.
Syncing Assets
The assets in the Assets panel are synchronized with the project asset files seen in the file manager of the operating system. Assets are moved, renamed, and deleted in the Assets panel.
- If deleted in Cocos Creator, it will be deleted in the file manager of the operating system.
- If deleted in the file manager of the operating system, it will be deleted in Cocos Creator.
Asset Configuration Information .meta
File
All asset files will generate a .meta
configuration file with the same name when imported. This configuration file provides the unique identification (UUID) of the asset in the project, small image references, cropping data of texture assets, as well as other configuration information. This data is a necessary factor in identifying a legitimate asset that Cocos Creator is using.
The .meta
file is not visible in the Assets panel. When operating in the Assets panel, the renaming, moving, and deleting of an asset will automatically synchronize the .meta
file that corresponds to the asset by the Editor. To ensure that configuration information such as the UUID remains unchanged, that is, it does not affect existing references.
It is not recommended to operate the asset file directly in the file manager of the operating system. If there is such an operation, please manually operate the corresponding .meta
file along with the asset file. The following suggestions are recommended:
- Close the editor you are using to avoid update failures due to file locks or identical asset names.
- When deleting, renaming, or moving assets, please delete, rename, and move the
.meta
file as needed. - When copying assets together with
.meta
files, the copied.meta
files will be used directly instead of generating new.meta
files; if only the asset files are copied, a new.meta
file with the corresponding name will be generated when you re-open the editor. This asset will become a new asset to the editor.
Assets in Library
After the asset is imported, new data will be generated and stored in the project's Library folder. The structure and assets of the files in Library are engine-oriented and the format required for the final game, that is, machine-friendly, but not human-friendly.
When a library is lost or damaged, just delete the entire library folder and open the project, and the asset library will be rebuilt.
How to locate assets
A asset has a unique UUID, used to locate the asset, but this method is not intuitive enough. There is another intuitive way: Database URL format, such as an asset-db
. The corresponding protocol header is db://assets
, the protocol header for internal-db
is db://internal
.
There are folder-level asset formats, such as db://assets/prefabs/fire.prefab
SVN or GIT syncing of assets
Note: there are line breaks in the
.meta
file. It is recommended to unify the line break styles and rules of the team members' computers to avoid opening the project after synchronizing the project assets.