To begin, you will need to connect your Unity ID to Plastic SCM and select or create an organization.

First, open Plastic SCM in Unity by clicking the Plastic SCM icon in the toolbar on the top right. You will see the Plastic SCM window prompting you to complete your setup. 

Click log in or sign up, and Plastic SCM will connect automatically to your Unity ID. Next, if your Unity ID isn’t already associated with an organization, you will be prompted to create one. If you already belong to an organization, you will be able to select one to join from a dropdown menu.  

Next, return to the Plastic SCM window and click Create workspace. 

Plastic SCM will suggest names for your repository (shared files and history) and workspace (your local copy). If you wish to use an existing Plastic SCM repository, click the three dots (:) next to the repo name, and select a repository from the list.

Next, select the type of workspace you prefer. Plastic SCM is a version control system optimized for game development and 3D projects, and as such, it supports separate workflows within the same repo. We designed the Plastic workspace for programmers and the Gluon workspace for artists.

Next, Plastic SCM will display the project files from the asset folder in the Pending changes tab. You can choose specific files to include or add all to the repository by selecting the files and clicking Checkin changes. 

Plastic SCM will automatically perform a check in for appropriate folders and files – such as package files and project settings – when it’s set up from the Unity Editor. You can view these in the Changesets tab.

Once your initial asset check in is complete, you’re set up with Plastic SCM for Unity and ready to create.

Additionally, there is a list that’s saved in the ignore.conf file at the root of the project, and this describes which files should be ignored by default. You can edit this to either add or exclude files from the ignore list. 

To invite team members working on your project, click on the Options menu (gear icon) in the Plastic SCM tab in Unity, then select Invite Members to Workspace. 

You will be brought to the Plastic SCM cloud dashboard. Here, you can add new users, resend invitations, or set permissions. 

Note: You may be prompted to log in with your Unity ID if you are not signed into the Plastic SCM cloud dashboard.

The Pending changes tab is where you will check in the changes you’ve saved to the project to send to your repository.

The Changesets tab shows you the project history of changes made to the repository and who made each change. Clicking on each changeset listed allows you to see which files were impacted by that changeset. 

You can also view the history of each file by right-clicking and selecting View file history, which shows you a list of changes made to the file. You have the option to right-click on an earlier version and select Revert file to this revision.

First, start by downloading Plastic SCM from the Plastic SCM website and following the instructions from the installation wizard. 

Once complete, you will be prompted to launch the type of workflow you prefer. In order to minimize conflicts between artists and programmers as they collaborate, Plastic provides separate GUIs to facilitate two different workflows within the same repo. 

We designed the Plastic option for programmers and the Gluon interface for artists. 

This choice is not permanent. You will be able to switch between the Gluon and Plastic interfaces using the top-right menu in the client.

Next, you will be asked to sign in or sign up for an account. Even if you will not be using Unity as the engine for your project, we recommend using a Unity ID.

You will be taken to the Plastic home screen, as shown above. If you have no organizations associated with the account, you will be asked to create one. Otherwise, you can select an existing organization that you want to work with. 

If there are existing repositories, a list will be shown on the left. By clicking one, you can browse repository content before grabbing a working copy of it.

Click (+) to create a new repository, or select one of the repositories and hit the blue download button to create a workspace and sync it with the repository.

For the on-disk path, make sure to select the directory that currently contains the files for your project.

The Plastic SCM client will now open your project.

If you are directed to an existing project in the previous step, you will need to navigate to the Pending changes tab (if using the developer interface, as shown above), select all packages and Project Settings files and folders, then click Checkin to commit them.

Note: This tab will be called Checkin changes if you’re using Gluon.

Next, select the asset folders and files you need to add to the repository to begin working, and click Checkin again. 

If these are set to private, you can navigate back to Workspace Explorer (called Explore workspace in Gluon), find the files, right-click on them, and select Add to source control, then complete the checkin in the Pending changes tab.

You are now set up with Unity Plastic SCM and ready to create.

Additionally, there is a list that’s saved in the ‘ignore.conf’ file at the root of the project that describes which files are ignored by default. You can edit this to either add or exclude files on the ignore list.

When using the standalone Plastic SCM client outside of the engine, you’ll need to Checkin changes you saved to the project using the client in a separate window.  

The Pending changes tab (or Checkin changes in Gluon) is where you will check in changes you’ve made to the project to send to your repository.

The Changesets tab shows you the project history of changes made to the repository and who made each change. Double-clicking on the changeset listed allows you to see which files were impacted by that changeset. 

You can also view the history of each file by right-clicking and selecting View file history, which shows you a list of the changes made to the file. You can also right-click on an earlier version and select Revert to this revision.

If you’re using Plastic SCM with Unreal Engine, you can use source control inside the editor without maintaining separate windows for most tasks. You can find more information on the Unreal Engine plug-in at the link below.