The book is divided into three distinct areas:
* Construcutng robust and usable asset management systems
* Building systems necessary to implement an automated system for managing asset processing
The nuts and bolts of performing the most common tasks

Each of these areas will be of interest to various members of the production team. The beginning chapters cover both design and implementation details, including data formats, naming conventions, custom export tools, asset identification, broken data, synchronizing code and data, building a distribution package, and automated testing. From there the book moves into the specifics of the system, such as storage methods, transactions and locking, client/server architecture tools, managing the local repository, access controls and security, scripting support, and archiving and purging data. The remainder of the book covers low-level processing tasks, management of the pipeline, and the production of the final data. Some of the topics covered in these chapters include: texture and image processing, geometry processing, audio and video processing, and environment processing.

This is the one book that will guide the production team through the daunting task of managing the vast array of game assets in a structured, practical method.

Key Features!
* Provides detailed coverage of the entire asset building process, from source content through to final game disc files
* Details how to build and maintain an efficient asset management system, using either existing products or a custom solution
* Includes examples of commonly-needed asset processing tasks, with implementation details and strategies
* Covers the processes and tools tailored to the specialized needs of game development teams
* Teaches how to use dependence maintenance and smart build tools to ensure game assets are processed and integrated as efficiently as possible