it would be awesome if we could have a unified browser for various asset categories! Think 3d objects, blocks, materials, layout templates, dimension & text styles etc. All living in external libraries and available in any scene by drag & drop. Here is an example of how it works in Blender, but there are similar concepts in other packages: Asset Browser - Beginners Guide - Blender 3 - YouTube
Currently, developers have to create their own asset browsers, like this great example from Rhino Nature by @D-W.
Well… Showing RN library browser isn’t a good example. RN has its own preset format based on XML structure, different loading processes, etc. that’s why a “specialized” browser was a must in this case and even if someone will make it previewable externally (that’s pretty easy actually), Rhino don’t know what to do with it unless there will be special mechanism where the specific plugin can pull in the specified file - or support existing drag and drop routine.
This would be reasonable for files that are supported by vanilla Rhino but AFAIK this is already done with the Library panel (maybe I’m wrong I don’t use it on daily basis)…
Seems I’ve lost track of actual things. Would you mind giving ref link to learn what was done already in that matter?
Thanks @D-W!
didn’t know about the Libraries panel, it seems to cover most of the basic functionality. It would be awesome, however, if we had access to an API which would allow us to import custom objects as well.
I’m developing a plugin and want to add some geometry presets similar to what you did in RN. It’d be great if I could just add my custom objects to an existing asset browser and leverage its UI. Currently, all developers need to create their own library UIs to overcome the challenges you described above.
