Search code examples
version-controlgraphicsversioning

Version Control for Graphics


Say a development team includes (or makes use of) graphic artists who create all the images that go into a product. Such things include icons, bitmaps, window backgrounds, button images, animations, etc.

Obviously, everything needed to build a piece of software should be under some form of version control. But most version control systems for developers are designed primarily for text-based information. Should the graphics people use the same version-control system and repository that the coders do? If not, what should they use, and what is the best way to keep everything synchronized?


Solution

  • Yes, having art assets in version control is very useful. You get the ability to track history, roll back changes, and you have a single source to do backups with. Keep in mind that art assets are MUCH larger so your server needs to have lots of disk space & network bandwidth.

    I've had success with using perforce on very large projects (+100 GB), however we had to wrap access to the version control server with something a little more artist friendly.

    I've heard some good things about Alienbrain as well, it does seem to have a very slick UI.