3 ms·

That's the thing with binary assets, there is no merge path due to them being binary by nature.

LukeShu 11y ago
No /automatic/ merge resolution. Obviously you have a tool that can open them (if you edited it in the first place), and you can use that to view the differences, and replay one set of changes. The fact that the SCM detected the conflict, and alerted you, allowing you to resolve it, is a solid improvement over not using an SCM. Further, automatic merge resolution isn't always possible with text-based assets either (and even when it is, it isn't always the correct option!).
- vvanders 11y ago
  I don't think you follow. Programs like Photoshop, Maya and 3DSM don't merge. Period. Your only option in this case is to throw away someone's work and force them to redo the work on the file that you decided to keep.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - LukeShu 11y ago
    Programs like gedit don't merge. Period. Yet I can still use it to resolve a merge conflict. In Photoshop you would do this by opening both images, and visually comparing them to see what's different, then copying the appropriate parts from one to another. Instead of just visually comparing them, you might combine them into one file as separate layers, and use a transform to see the difference. If the tool doesn't support that, use ImageMagick to generate a graphical diff (either the `compare` or `compose` commands), and then copy the relevant parts from one to another. We have fancy tools to help us, but fundamentally, merging is a /human/ operation, that requires human judgment to see how multiple sets of changes can be made to coexist. And that doesn't require a tool (though it can certainly help).
    - Xorlev 11y ago
      > In Photoshop you would do this by opening both images, and visually comparing them to see what's different, then copying the appropriate parts from one to another. Good luck. The point the parent was trying to make is that the lock operation of SVN was quite convenient for preventing a dual-edit scenario of assets that aren't easy to merge like 3D meshes, scenes, PSDs, etc.. It's easy to sit in the ivory tower of text merge resolution given how easy it is in comparison. The atom of change in other tools are quite a bit less obvious. Sure you can diff a mesh, but merging usually just means redoing it or picking one or the other.
    - vvanders 11y ago
      Cool, how do you merge After Effects, Autocad, Cinema 4D, Unreal 3 Packages, Illustrator, Sketch, Blender, XSi Lightwave or any other of the production packages that I've seen used in shipping actual products? What happens if no one used layers in your Photoshop file and collapsed history to save performance? There's a reason Pixar and most mid-large game dev studios use Perforce or a similar tech, it's because fundamentally you need locking if you're working with binary assets.
      - brazzledazzle 11y ago
        I can't imagine this is intended to compete head-to-head with something like Perforce. As you've pointed out it simply can't. But for a repo that's mostly code with binary assets that get updated occasionally it's probably a god-send.
      - drewm1980 11y ago
        Your intelligent merge tool has access to the file history. If one user modifies a layer, and the other one squashes them down, in the merge you probably want to apply the changes in that order, even if it's out-of-order chronologically. If the file format has a full edit history baked in, great; even more info for the intelligent merge. Maybe the in-file history can even be kept in sync with the repository level history. In the current ecosystem you probably need locking for your sanity, but some day software will suck less.
    - 11y ago
  - drewm1980 11y ago
    Is that really inherent to the data, or a case of useful merge plug-ins just not having been written yet for the proprietary file formats of big closed source apps? Source code doesn't ~really merge all that well either; there's just been a big community of software developers collaboratively fixing up their tools for collaboration. Of course we have it easy cause the tools we're using are ~made of the same stuff we work with daily. No amount of photoshop filter experience will enable you to write a program that intelligently merges two photoshop files.

No /automatic/ merge resolution. Obviously you have a tool that can open them (if you edited it in the first place), and you can use that to view the differences, and replay one set of changes. The fact that the SCM detected the conflict, and alerted you, allowing you to resolve it, is a solid improvement over not using an SCM. Further, automatic merge resolution isn't always possible with text-based assets either (and even when it is, it isn't always the correct option!).

vvanders 11y ago
I don't think you follow. Programs like Photoshop, Maya and 3DSM don't merge. Period. Your only option in this case is to throw away someone's work and force them to redo the work on the file that you decided to keep.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- LukeShu 11y ago
  Programs like gedit don't merge. Period. Yet I can still use it to resolve a merge conflict. In Photoshop you would do this by opening both images, and visually comparing them to see what's different, then copying the appropriate parts from one to another. Instead of just visually comparing them, you might combine them into one file as separate layers, and use a transform to see the difference. If the tool doesn't support that, use ImageMagick to generate a graphical diff (either the `compare` or `compose` commands), and then copy the relevant parts from one to another. We have fancy tools to help us, but fundamentally, merging is a /human/ operation, that requires human judgment to see how multiple sets of changes can be made to coexist. And that doesn't require a tool (though it can certainly help).
  - Xorlev 11y ago
    > In Photoshop you would do this by opening both images, and visually comparing them to see what's different, then copying the appropriate parts from one to another. Good luck. The point the parent was trying to make is that the lock operation of SVN was quite convenient for preventing a dual-edit scenario of assets that aren't easy to merge like 3D meshes, scenes, PSDs, etc.. It's easy to sit in the ivory tower of text merge resolution given how easy it is in comparison. The atom of change in other tools are quite a bit less obvious. Sure you can diff a mesh, but merging usually just means redoing it or picking one or the other.
  - vvanders 11y ago
    Cool, how do you merge After Effects, Autocad, Cinema 4D, Unreal 3 Packages, Illustrator, Sketch, Blender, XSi Lightwave or any other of the production packages that I've seen used in shipping actual products? What happens if no one used layers in your Photoshop file and collapsed history to save performance? There's a reason Pixar and most mid-large game dev studios use Perforce or a similar tech, it's because fundamentally you need locking if you're working with binary assets.
    - brazzledazzle 11y ago
      I can't imagine this is intended to compete head-to-head with something like Perforce. As you've pointed out it simply can't. But for a repo that's mostly code with binary assets that get updated occasionally it's probably a god-send.
    - drewm1980 11y ago
      Your intelligent merge tool has access to the file history. If one user modifies a layer, and the other one squashes them down, in the merge you probably want to apply the changes in that order, even if it's out-of-order chronologically. If the file format has a full edit history baked in, great; even more info for the intelligent merge. Maybe the in-file history can even be kept in sync with the repository level history. In the current ecosystem you probably need locking for your sanity, but some day software will suck less.
  - 11y ago
- drewm1980 11y ago
  Is that really inherent to the data, or a case of useful merge plug-ins just not having been written yet for the proprietary file formats of big closed source apps? Source code doesn't ~really merge all that well either; there's just been a big community of software developers collaboratively fixing up their tools for collaboration. Of course we have it easy cause the tools we're using are ~made of the same stuff we work with daily. No amount of photoshop filter experience will enable you to write a program that intelligently merges two photoshop files.