Assets Panel
Manages all media assets and compositions in your project. Import, organize, preview, and filter images, videos, and audio files.
The Assets panel is the central hub for project media. It's divided into three sections from top to bottom: Asset Details (preview and metadata), Assets (file browser with folders, search, and filtering), and Compositions (comp list).
Layout
Asset Details
The top section shows a preview and metadata for the currently selected asset. It has a fixed height and stays anchored at the top regardless of what's selected.
Image / Video assets display:
- A thumbnail preview (left side) with a blurred ambient background
- Filename and type badge (IMG / VID / AUD)
- Dimensions (e.g.
1920 x 1080) - For video: frame rate and duration (e.g.
30fps · 4.2s) - Full file path (hover to see untruncated)
- "In Use" indicator if the asset is referenced by any ImageSource or VideoSource node
Folders show the folder name and a count of contained items.
No selection collapses to a minimal "No asset selected" label.
Thumbnails are cached in memory (up to 50) so re-selecting a previously viewed asset is instant.
Assets Section
A collapsible section containing:
Color filter dot -- a single dot to the left of the search bar. Click it to open a color picker popover. Select a color to filter the asset list to only show assets tagged with that color. Click the empty circle (or the same color again) to clear the filter.
Search bar -- full-width text input. Type to filter assets by name. The filter applies across all folders (flattening the hierarchy during search). Press Escape to clear.
Column header -- subtle labels for Type, Name columns.
Asset / folder list -- scrollable tree view. Folders can be expanded/collapsed. Assets show their color tag dot, type badge, name, dimensions, and usage status.
Compositions Section
A collapsible list of compositions at the bottom. Click a composition to switch to it. Hover to see settings, duplicate, and remove buttons.
Importing Assets
There are several ways to import media:
- Click the + button in the Assets section header
- Double-click empty space in the asset list
- Drag files from your OS file manager into the asset list
Supported formats:
- Images: PNG, JPEG, WebP, TIFF, BMP, GIF, EXR, HDR (EXR / 16-bit sources keep their full precision and high-dynamic-range values)
- Video: MP4, MOV, AVI, WebM, MKV
On import, Caddis reads image dimensions and video metadata (resolution, frame rate, duration, frame count) and stores them as asset metadata for display in the panel.
Importing image sequences
A folder of numbered image files — render_0001.exr, render_0002.exr, … — is footage, not a pile of stills. Caddis detects this on import:
- Import (or shift-select) any frames of a numbered run and they collapse into a single sequence asset, named for its range, e.g.
render_[0001-0240].exr. You only need to select one frame — the whole run in that folder is found automatically. - The asset shows its dimensions, frame count, and (when present) a yellow "missing N" badge if frames are absent from the run. Gaps hold the previous frame rather than going blank.
- To force a file to be treated as a sequence even when only one frame matches, use File > Import Image Sequence… and pick any frame.
Dragging a sequence asset onto the viewer or timeline creates a layer wired ImageSequenceSource → Output, trimmed to the sequence length. Because a sequence has no embedded frame rate, the ImageSequenceSource node's Frame Rate parameter sets how its frames are interpreted in time — it defaults to the composition's frame rate (one source frame per comp frame) and can be changed to match the rate the sequence was rendered for.
Organizing with Folders
Click the folder icon in the Assets section header to create a new folder. Drag assets onto folders to organize them.
- Folders can be nested (drag a folder onto another folder)
- Folders display a color-tinted icon matching their color tag (neutral gray when untagged)
- Rename a folder by double-clicking its name or selecting it and pressing Return
- Delete a folder with the red X button on hover (assets inside move to root)
Color Tags
Every asset and folder can be assigned a color tag for visual organization. The available colors are:
| Tag | Color |
|---|---|
| Blue | #3272BB |
| Green | #B1E457 |
| Orange | #E47C0C |
| Red | #FF2E2E |
| Pink | #FE75DA |
| Cyan | #6AF0FF |
| Purple | #B52FDA |
Assigning color tags
Click the small dot to the left of any asset or folder row to open the color picker. Select a color to tag it, or click the empty circle to remove the tag.
Filtering by color
Click the filter dot in the search bar to open a color picker. Select a color to show only assets with that tag. The filter works in combination with text search. Click the empty circle or the same color again to show all assets.
Automatic color inheritance
When you drag an untagged asset into a folder that has a color tag, the asset automatically inherits the folder's color. Assets that already have a tag keep their existing color -- the folder's color doesn't override it.
This makes it easy to set up a color-coded folder structure and have new assets automatically pick up the right color as you sort them.
Using Assets in Compositions
- Drag an image from the asset list onto the Viewer or Timeline to create a new layer with an ImageSource -> Transform2D -> Output chain
- Drag an image onto the node graph to create an ImageSource node
- Drag a video to create a VideoSource node/layer
- Double-click a composition in the Compositions section to switch to it
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Return | Rename selected asset or folder |
| Delete / Backspace | Remove selected asset or folder |
| Arrow Up / Down | Navigate the asset list |
| Arrow Right | Expand selected folder |
| Arrow Left | Collapse selected folder |
| Escape | Clear search |
Tips
- The "In Use" badge appears on assets that are currently referenced by at least one ImageSource or VideoSource node in any layer of any composition. Use this to identify unused assets you might want to clean up.
- Video thumbnails are generated from the first frame using ffmpeg. If ffmpeg isn't available, videos show a VID type badge without a preview.
- Asset details thumbnails are resized to fit within 256px on their longest edge, keeping memory usage low even with many large source files.
- Color tag filters persist while you navigate -- you can select different assets and the filter stays active until you clear it.