Asset Browser - Previews for objects are affected by the last selected shader #94682

New Issue

Hologram · 2022-01-06T10:49:27+01:00

Hologram commented

2022-01-06 10:49:27 +01:00

System Information
Operating system: Windows 10

Blender Version
Broken: Blender 3.0

Short description of error
Any object with a material consisting of multiple nodes, preferably one with various texture slots, suffers from this bug. The last selected shader node influences the way the preview image is rendered.
For instance, with a normal map node selected, the object looks blueish when marked as asset afterwards, whereas it takes on the diffuse colour when the albedo texture node is selected last. This not only pertains to having the shader node selected, but also to the last selected shader, even if it was deselected prior to marking the object as asset.

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error

Select a particular texture in the shader editor
Mark the object as asset
Notice that depending on the last selected node, the preview is rendered differently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzI20KIFK_k&t=24s

**System Information** Operating system: Windows 10 **Blender Version** Broken: Blender 3.0 **Short description of error** Any object with a material consisting of multiple nodes, preferably one with various texture slots, suffers from this bug. The last selected shader node influences the way the preview image is rendered. For instance, with a normal map node selected, the object looks blueish when marked as asset afterwards, whereas it takes on the diffuse colour when the albedo texture node is selected last. This not only pertains to having the shader node selected, but also to the last selected shader, even if it was deselected prior to marking the object as asset. **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** 1. Select a particular texture in the shader editor 2. Mark the object as asset 3. Notice that depending on the last selected node, the preview is rendered differently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzI20KIFK_k&t=24s

Hologram commented

2022-01-06 10:49:27 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Hologram

blender-admin commented

2022-01-06 10:49:27 +01:00

#94743 was marked as duplicate of this issue

Demeter Dzadik commented

2022-01-06 11:19:54 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Mets

Demeter Dzadik commented

2022-01-06 11:19:54 +01:00

I don't think this is a bug, although maybe a design improvement could be made here - not related to Asset Browser. But, just to explain:

What's going on is that the Asset Preview Generation uses the Textured View of the Workbench engine. Since the beginning of shader nodes, this view displays the "active texture" of each material. And this texture is simply whichever texture's node was last clicked. This makes sense and is very useful sometimes (checking you have the correct textures and UVs without entering rendered view and using Node Wrangler), and not so useful in other cases (like when trying to generate asset previews, or working on actual shading in rendered Eevee/Cycles view).

I think we could get the best of both worlds if the Active Texture was determined not by what texture node was last clicked, but rather an explicit button, for example an eye or screen icon that exists on all Texture nodes but can only be enabled on one of them at a time.

I don't think this is a bug, although maybe a design improvement could be made here - not related to Asset Browser. But, just to explain: What's going on is that the Asset Preview Generation uses the Textured View of the Workbench engine. Since the beginning of shader nodes, this view displays the "active texture" of each material. And this texture is simply whichever texture's node was last clicked. This makes sense and is very useful sometimes (checking you have the correct textures and UVs without entering rendered view and using Node Wrangler), and not so useful in other cases (like when trying to generate asset previews, or working on actual shading in rendered Eevee/Cycles view). I think we could get the best of both worlds if the Active Texture was determined not by what texture node was last clicked, but rather an explicit button, for example an eye or screen icon that exists on all Texture nodes but can only be enabled on one of them at a time.

Germano Cavalcante commented

2022-01-06 19:33:36 +01:00

Added subscriber: @mano-wii

Germano Cavalcante commented

2022-01-06 19:33:36 +01:00

Changed status from 'Needs Triage' to: 'Archived'

Germano Cavalcante closed this issue

2022-01-06 19:33:36 +01:00

Germano Cavalcante commented

2022-01-06 19:33:36 +01:00

It's not a bug.
Objects in asset browser icons are always rendered with the workbench engine not Eevee.
Workbench is a simple engine that, in favor of performance, doesn't do operations with the material's nodes, but only displays the active texture.

You can make the workbench display textures by clicking on this option:

More details in the manual: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/render/workbench/color.html

It's not a bug. Objects in asset browser icons are always rendered with the workbench engine not Eevee. Workbench is a simple engine that, in favor of performance, doesn't do operations with the material's nodes, but only displays the active texture. You can make the workbench display textures by clicking on this option: ![workbench.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F12791932/workbench.png) More details in the manual: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/render/workbench/color.html

Hologram commented

2022-01-08 10:12:58 +01:00

In #94682#1283757, @Mets wrote:
I don't think this is a bug, although maybe a design improvement could be made here - not related to Asset Browser. But, just to explain:

What's going on is that the Asset Preview Generation uses the Textured View of the Workbench engine. Since the beginning of shader nodes, this view displays the "active texture" of each material. And this texture is simply whichever texture's node was last clicked. This makes sense and is very useful sometimes (checking you have the correct textures and UVs without entering rendered view and using Node Wrangler), and not so useful in other cases (like when trying to generate asset previews, or working on actual shading in rendered Eevee/Cycles view).

I think we could get the best of both worlds if the Active Texture was determined not by what texture node was last clicked, but rather an explicit button, for example an eye or screen icon that exists on all Texture nodes but can only be enabled on one of them at a time.

Yes, @Demeter Dzadik there should be an explicit user input to change the rendered preview for assets. For instance, in my case I was using third-party asset files and I wouldn't want to be checking some 300 files to see whether the person who made the files selected the correct texture when marking the assets. If left undocumented and implicit, as is currently the case, it will be very confusing for people.

E: Shouldn't this report be left open or at least, shouldn't there be a task created for this? Otherwise it will be left untouched.

> In #94682#1283757, @Mets wrote: > I don't think this is a bug, although maybe a design improvement could be made here - not related to Asset Browser. But, just to explain: > > What's going on is that the Asset Preview Generation uses the Textured View of the Workbench engine. Since the beginning of shader nodes, this view displays the "active texture" of each material. And this texture is simply whichever texture's node was last clicked. This makes sense and is very useful sometimes (checking you have the correct textures and UVs without entering rendered view and using Node Wrangler), and not so useful in other cases (like when trying to generate asset previews, or working on actual shading in rendered Eevee/Cycles view). > > I think we could get the best of both worlds if the Active Texture was determined not by what texture node was last clicked, but rather an explicit button, for example an eye or screen icon that exists on all Texture nodes but can only be enabled on one of them at a time. Yes, @Demeter Dzadik there should be an explicit user input to change the rendered preview for assets. For instance, in my case I was using third-party asset files and I wouldn't want to be checking some 300 files to see whether the person who made the files selected the correct texture when marking the assets. If left undocumented and implicit, as is currently the case, it will be very confusing for people. E: Shouldn't this report be left open or at least, shouldn't there be a task created for this? Otherwise it will be left untouched.

Germano Cavalcante commented

2022-01-11 15:40:05 +01:00

In #94682#1284877, @Hologram wrote:
E: Shouldn't this report be left open or at least, shouldn't there be a task created for this? Otherwise it will be left untouched.

It seems like a good suggestion, but the task should be configured according to the requirements of a Design task.

It is also important to define a priority for change (there are many items still being analyzed to be implemented in the asset browser).
So, for this, we have channels for user feedback and feature requests: https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Communication/Contact#User_Feedback_and_Requests

> In #94682#1284877, @Hologram wrote: > E: Shouldn't this report be left open or at least, shouldn't there be a task created for this? Otherwise it will be left untouched. It seems like a good suggestion, but the task should be configured according to the requirements of a Design task. It is also important to define a priority for change (there are many items still being analyzed to be implemented in the asset browser). So, for this, we have channels for user feedback and feature requests: https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Communication/Contact#User_Feedback_and_Requests

Germano Cavalcante commented

2022-01-11 15:41:20 +01:00

Added subscriber: @JE_ty

Hologram commented

2022-01-11 22:31:44 +01:00

@mano-wii If I understand you correctly, you are asking me to create a feature request over at right-click select? Or will someone from the Asset Browser module create this task, since we also discussed this over on Blender.chat?

Joshua Ellison commented

2022-01-13 05:20:05 +01:00

Many addons within Blender, such as Kit Ops, simply specify a folder and use images with the same name as a given asset as the thumbnail for that asset. This gives users the ability to generate their own thumbnails however they wish. Perhaps some development on that direction would be better.

Hologram commented

2022-01-13 13:22:30 +01:00

@JE_ty check out the discussion here: https://blenderartists.org/t/asset-browser-utilities-batch-mark-unmark-export-manage-tags/1343899/29, there are ideas about generating custom previews through an addon, the approach hereof may to a certain extent be added to Blender, except for editing of other Blender files within the current instance of Blender.

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Asset Browser - Previews for objects are affected by the last selected shader #94682