Working with Assets:
Creating, Editing, and Using Assets

Terms & Concepts

• Asset - any entry in Asset Explorer (excluding folders and components attached to an Asset)
• Component ("Asset Instance") - refers to what is created when an Asset is "attached" to another Asset (or Asset Instance), or "added to the scene"
• Smart Copy ("Instance") - an Asset Instance which is linked to the Base Asset from which it was created, and which will therefore (in future versions of Visual3D) inherit changes made to the Base Asset, if that change does not conflict with a change made to the Smart Copy.  Eg. Properties on the Smart Copy which have the same value as properties on the Base Asset will be changed when the Base Asset is changed, but properties which have been explicitly set (ie. "changed" or "overriden") for that Smart Copy
• Base Asset - refers to the Asset (in Asset Explorer) from which another Asset (in Asset Explorer) or Asset Instance (in World Explorer) was created.  These "Instances" or "Derived Assets"a Base Asset will, in future versions of Visual3D,
• Placeable (or "Scene Object")- an Asset which can be added (ie. "attached") to the Scene (eg. via drag-dropping onto Scene Editor or World Explorer), and which can then be moved, rotated, and resized (in most cases) in that Scene
• Actor (or "Smart Object") - a Placeable asset (or Scene Object) which has scripted Actions (or "Commands") representing "what it can do" or "what can be done to it" - which can be "Triggered" - often by an Action, Behavior, or Event on another Smart Object (such as an Actor, Avatar, Trigger Area)
• Avatar (or "Entity") - an Actor which has Behaviors and Triggered Sequences defined for it, which allow it to be "Controlled" by a User (or Player), as well as by AI (for "Bots", "Enemies", "Characters" or "NPCs").
• Triggered ("Action") Sequence (or "Composite Behavior") - a sequence of one or more "Triggers" (or "Actions") which can be "Executed" In Sequence (waiting for first complete before executing the next) and/or In Parallel
• Action (or "Command" / "Trigger") - usually refers to what an Actor "can do" or "what can be done to it" - which is defined by what named Slots on an Actor have Behaviors attached (or defined for them).
• Behavior (or Activity) - represents a component (such as Behavior, Action, or Event) attached to a "named slot" of an Actor (or Smart Object) which can be Activated (or Started, or Enabled), and Deactivated (or Stopped, or Disabled). Different types of Behaviors include those defined via a Script (eg. written in C# or Python), an "Action Sequence" (or "Composite Behavior"), or a Visual Script diagram.
• Event - a "named action slot" on an Actor which can have a Triggered (Action) Sequence attached to it (as well as Behaviors / Scripts monitoring it) - similar to a Behavior, except that it is stateless (does not have an "Activate" / "Enabled" / "Started" state) and therefore can be triggered multiple times, even if its Triggered Sequence is still executing from a previous time it was triggered.
• Actor (or Component) Slot - (sometimes referred to as a Named Command or Action).

Creating Assets:
Creating Instances (or Smart Copies) of Assets
Create an Asset from a Base Asset

• Right-click on any existing asset in Asset Explorer and choose "Create Derived Copy". New instance of selected asset will be created. You can rename it and move to another group/category folder by drag-drop.
• Right-click on any group/category folder where you want to create new instance then choose "Add Instance". Existing assets of type that allowed for creation in selected group will be shown in drop-down menus. Choose one of them, new instance of the asset will be created.

Create an Asset from a Base Type

There is the group named "Base Types" at the top of Asset Explorer, which contains templates for creation new instances.
You can create your own templates from any asset in Asset Explorer just by drag-drop the asset into Base Types group. Then you can rename it and move to another category folder. Also you can specify custom parameters for template using Object Editor.
For using templates, right-click on any group/category folder where you want to create new instance then choose "Add New". Base Type assets of type that allowed for creation in selected group will be shown in drop-down menus. Choose one of them, new instance of the asset will be created:

Also you can use

button in the toolbar at the top of Asset Explorer. In this case, context menu with all Base Type items will be shown. You can choose any of them, then asset instance will be created in the predefined group.
 
Using Assets
Placing Objects and Actors (in a Scene)
(Coming Soon)

Attaching Assets to Objects
(Coming Soon)

Creating Prefabs & Presets: Saving Objects (and Asset Instances) as Assets
Purpose: This section covers how to save Scene Objects (aka. "Smart Objects", "Objects", "Actors") and Asset Instances (or Components) as "Prefab" or "Preset" Assets in Asset Explorer.  Doing this makes the original Instance into a "Smart Copy" of the newly created Asset, and to save the asset's configuration (property settings and attachments) so it can be reused in more places (in multiple areas, scenes, or even different world applications).

You can drag-drop asset from World Explorer into Asset Explorer. In this case, new instance of dropped asset will be created and added to Asset Database (and thus, shown in Asset Explorer).
Also, you can right-click on asset in World Explorer or in Scene View (in Design mode) and choose "Add To Asset Database"-> then select group/category folder where you want to add this asset. This feature may be unavailable if no groups that can contain asset of this type are present.