This utility, internally called the "Asset Librarian", organizes any asset that is passed to it according to a very simple interface. The version below is the product of a small team of technical artists, but the core concept, functionality, and vision are mine.
The tool utilizes a series of sub-classes of Editor that all implement an interface that contains functions for importing assets into a Unity project or submodule. A developer is able to quickly create a new "Asset Type" by inheriting from the abstract parent "librarian asset" type and implementing the interface.
The tool automatically adds necessary components to allow the new asset to function in the development environment. It also gives the option to combine meshes down to a single mesh, atlas multiple textures together, and rename the created assets at will.
As you can see here, this asset is not ready for integration--it has some UV/texture issues. The artist is able to see how the asset will look in Unity and fix issues before it is added to the project.
Users receive a simple interface to help them add their assets to the Unity project in a way that conforms to the project's naming conventions and the directory structure policy.
This is the first step in a pipeline that facilitates artists, animators, and other non-developers to work inside of the game engine environment comfortably. The next stages of the toolkit include a character creator, an animation and game-ready rig/skinning tester, and a visual material customizer.
