This article shows you how to get started with Unity Version Control and Unity Asset Manager. We'll also cover how Unity Cloud can help your teams work together smoothly.
This content is based on a webinar hosted by the Unity Professional Training team. If you're interested in professional training for yourself or your team, check out our course catalog and get in touch.
If you're new to version control make sure to check out the in-depth technical e-book Best practices for project organization and version control (Unity 6 edition). This guide explains the key concepts of version control, compares some of the different version control systems (VCS) available, and introduces you to Unity Version Control and additional tools like Unity Asset Manager and Build Automation.
If you’re ready to get started using Unity Version Control and Asset Manager, let’s dive in!
One way to set up Unity Version Control is to open your Unity project and go to the project settings. In the Project Settings window open Services.
As long as you’re logged in with the same account in the Unity Cloud and in the Unity Editor you can select the Organization from the dropdown list.
Or, if you’re creating a new project, make sure to click on Create new Cloud project and link to Unity project. Then your project will be linked successfully.
If you want to start a new project from scratch go to Unity Hub and click on New project. As you select the relevant template, you can also select to connect to Unity Cloud and use Unity Version Control.
Move over to Unity Cloud in your preferred browser.
First, check the Organization Settings and Organization members to ensure that everyone who needs access, or will be working on the project, is in the appropriate organization.
Next, you should set up Unity Version Control. You can find the Unity Version Control tab next to the Project and Console tabs in your Editor window. Follow the instructions in the Unity Version Control tab to create a version control workspace for your project. Fill out the repository name, workspace name, preferences, and the rest of the steps listed in the tab.
Go ahead and create the workspace.
Here’s what you can see in the UVC tab after creating your workspace:
Pending Changes: This allows you to view all pending changes in your workspace. These changes are not checked into the repository. In this tab, you can select which files you want to check in, add a comment, and check in the changes.
Incoming Changes: This tab allows you to view all incoming changes and conflicts and update your local project. Any changes made to your project prompts an "Incoming changes" notification at the top right of the version control window.
Changesets: When you check in your files, the Pending Changes tab refreshes and no longer lists the files you have checked in. The files that you check in compile into a changeset, which you can view in the Changesets tab.
Branches: This tab shows you a list of branches in the repository. Here, you can do the following tasks: search by branch name, changeset and author, view the latest changeset and time of creation for each branch, and more.
Go back to your Unity Cloud dashboard in your browser, navigate to the DevOps tab, and select your relevant project. Make sure all the relevant team members have assigned seats. You can also assign different roles to different people in your organization by going to the respective project’s settings and edit the roles of those users listed in the Project members list.
If you want to use the Asset Manager directly in the Editor, then go to your Unity Editor window and open the relevant scene in your project. Navigate to the official Unity Asset Manager page and follow the instructions to install the package.
Copy and paste the package name com.unity.asset-manager-for-unity into the Unity Package Manager, hit "Install," and wait for the installation to complete. It should then show in your project.
Or, if you’re logged in to the Unity Asset Manager’s browser-based interface, then you can navigate to Integrations > Editor and choose to install Asset Manager for Unity Editor. Unity Asset Manager will then open in the Editor.
If you’ve previously uploaded any assets to Unity Asset Manager, you should see them in that Asset Manager Editor window.
You can also bring in assets from different projects and, for models in formats that aren’t natively supported by the Unity Editor, you can use optimize and convert or the Asset Transformer Toolkit to convert them.
Now, let’s say you create an asset directly in the Editor and want to add it to the Asset Manager, so that you can reuse it across different projects. Navigate to the Asset Manager tab in the Editor and then click on Upload. You can drag and drop the asset into that Upload window.
If your asset has any materials or textures attached to it, the Asset Manager will create separate assets for them. Once you have added all the assets you want to upload, you can also add custom metadata fields to your assets to categorize them. Finally, select Upload and make sure to save your project.
If you’re working with a large model that contains multiple parts, you can upload entire folders that contain those files. For example, when uploading CAD files, find the assembly file among the files and you can generate a preview based on that.
You can also navigate to a specific asset, expand it to have a closer look at it, and you can change the settings (wireframe, lighting, rotation, etc.) as you wish.
The Unity Asset Manager also allows you to view the history of any asset. This feature enables you to check changes across the lifecycle of your assets, the asset's previous previews, and other relevant production information for your project.
Go to Branches in the Unity Version Control tab, right-click on the main branch and select “Create child branch…”. You’ll be prompted with a new Create Branch window where you have to specify the branch name, or add comments, and then make sure to select Switch workspace to this branch.
Start implementing your changes in this branch, preview your changes, and if you’re happy with how everything looks, then you can go ahead and merge this branch into the /main branch.
Return to the Unity Version Control tab and click on Branches. In the current open branch make sure to specify the changes you’ve made, so that your team is also aware of the specific changes, and then select Check in Changes.
In order to merge your branch to the /main branch, make sure to click on the branch icon in the upper-right part of the Unity Version Control tab.
Click on the Branch Explorer option. The UVC client will open and you’ll see a visual demonstration of all the branches in your project, including the one you’ve just been working on. If you don’t have the Unity Version Control client already installed, make sure to follow these instructions to install it.
Right-click on the branch you want to merge to /main and click on Merge this from changeset to… and then select /main. Then you can view all the files you’ll check in, as well as if there are any file conflicts. If there aren’t any file conflicts then select Check In merge!.
If you go back to the Editor, you’ll notice you’re still on the branch you’ve been working on. Go to the /main branch in the UVC tab and click on Switch workspace to this branch. All the changes will now be reflected on the /main branch.
If you want to do code review on a specific project, go to the Unity Cloud dashboard in your browser and navigate to the DevOps section.
In the Code reviews section, you can view all the pending code reviews.
However, if you want to kick off a code review process, navigate to Changesets in the same window in order to request a specific code review. You can also add comments and add different users as reviewers.
There’s also a way to automate this process. Navigate to Unity Cloud > DevOps. From there, go to Settings > Merge Rules. If you click on the New Merge Rule button, you can automate your code reviews. You can apply this to different repositories, specify the source and destination branches, add attributes if you want, and then create new merge rules.
- 3D Anywhere: Collaborative design review with Unity Asset Manager
- Introduction to Asset Manager transfer methods in Unity
- Get started with Asset Manager
- Mastering access in Unity Asset Manager
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