Saving compositing nodes in the Asset Browser vs appending

Is there a reason why to append the compositing nodes file vs saving it to the asset browser and having it on your catalog? Or is it just a matter of personal preference?
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  • Martin Bergwerf replied

    Both sound like viable options...using the Asset Browser is probably a lot faster..

    I can't speak for Kent, but me myself, still have get used to using the Asset Browser more; it is very powerful, but it's not just a 'new' feature, but a change in workflow...I am sometimes slow to adapt...

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  • Adrian Bellworthy replied

    I agree, more about changing a habit rather than any specific reason.

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  • Omar Domenech replied
    For the asset browser to feel very useful you'd have to work a lot in Blender and re-use assets a lot. Maybe you're an architect and you have to constantly decorate rooms and it's faster to get a chair or a sofa and any other asset you have there quickly at your disposal. But for normal Blender usage not so much, I've never used the asset browser, I don't need to look for the same stuff over and over, every time I do something in Blender is practically always something new.
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  • Kent Trammell replied
    I don't know how this eluded me, but I didn't realize node groups could be marked as assets. I guess it's kinda hidden in that I've only been able to do it by right clicking on the shield icon or right clicking on the node in the outliner's Blender File mode...

    For me it's preference. I've been sharing blender data between .blends for over a decade so it's what I'm most familiar with. I was very excited when the Asset Browser was introduced, thinking it would dramatically make data sharing more intuitive.

    The Cubicity course was my big venture into the AB and....it didn't leave a great impression if I'm honest. It was notably limited and quirky and I've been hesitant with it ever since. Perhaps it's better now but as of a couple months ago when I tested last, it was still very quirky.

    I think it just needs more time to develop. When I was recording Cubicity I reached out to Julian Kaspar at the Blender Studio who was working on Charged at that time. I asked if they used the AB in production and he said no which confirmed my hesitation.

    Anyway, that's a long story about why I hesitate with the AB but I still think a true asset interface / setup is a better method than rummaging through .blends. I'd make the comparison that rummaging through .blends is like using Linux and the AB is like windows / osx. I feel 100% in control with rummaging through .blends but it's clumsy. The AB experience is (or should be / will be one day) a much more user-friendly method.
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  • Dwayne Savage(dillenbata3) replied

    I personally use the asset browser. It's easier if you memorize the editor hot keys. For example asset browsers in a new area is shift+F1 twice. If I've used AB there before then it's just shift+F1 once. I hope they do the asset bar for all assets one day, but for now it's only used for pose library. 

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  • Nathi Tappan(nathitappan) replied

    Thank you guys for the input!

    I'm just starting with Blender so my Catalog is very small, but I do have reusable assets on my other apps workflow quite a bit, and also a long time using Lightrooms' Catalog.. the AB just makes sense to my brain. More than props and models, to me it makes sense to have the base "Node trees" for different compositing setups or the base of some shading setups (say, masking/isolating maps for roughness, edges, curvature, and so on). for So I'll give it a try. Just wanted to make sure that it was obviously the wrong way to go about it.

    The analogy between Linux and OXS also makes a lot sense!

    And thanks for the sharing these hotkeys Dwayne, I'll definitely test them out.

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