The Asset Reference extension allows you to keep synchronized your models between your modeling application and Studio, even without a connection plugin
When working on a modeling platform for which Maxwell doesn't have connection plugin, you have to export your models to a geometry compatible format and import them into Studio for the materials assignment and scene setup. The problem of this approach is that if changes or adjustments are needed in the model, you would need to go back to the modeling application, adjust the geometry, export it and import the new object into Studio, loosing all the progresses you did during the scene stage.
The Asset Reference feature allows to import an object and keep it as a reference until the render step (just like texture files work), so any modifications in the model are automatically updated in Studio, keeping both applications synchronized.
This feature has been developed to provide a better support for modeling platforms without connection plugin, like Rhino for Mac, Blender and others.
To use it, simply export your models to any of the compatible formats and import them into Studio using the Asset Reference extension object. The supported formats are: OBJ, FBX, DAE, BLEND, 3DS, IFC, XGL, ZGL, PLY, DXF, LWO, LWS, LXO, STL, AC, MX3D, COB, SCN, BVH, CSM, XML, IRRMESH, MDL, MD2, MD3, PK3, MDC, MD5, SMD, VTA, M3, 3D, B3D, Q3D, Q3S, NFF, OFF, RAW, TER, 3DGS, MP and NDO.
The Asset Reference object panel
Parameters
File Name
General scale factor for the imported file. Adjust this setting if the Alembic file imports too small or too large compared to your scene in Studio. This can happen because the file was exported from an application with no particular real world scale in mind.
Axis System
Indicates the axis that will serve as the scene's up-axis, derived from the axis system with which the Alembic file were created. Some applications consider Z as the up-axis, while in others Y is the up-axis.
Display Type
Defines the shading mode for the referenced object in the display. You can choose between Bounding Box, Points or Meshes.