Asset previews

Asset previews are images that show the content of assets. You see them when you view an asset, browse assets, search for assets, or view assets in a collection.

P4 DAM uses P4 Search to generate asset previews. If a preview cannot be generated, P4 DAM shows a default icon for the file type. To use a different image for a preview, you can upload an image.

Interactive thumbnails

By default, thumbnails for videos and 3D models show an animation when you move your mouse across them. You can see these animations when browsing assets, searching for assets, or viewing assets in a collection.

Interactive thumbnails are generated by P4 Search and require P4 Search 2025.5 or later. To learn more, see Thumbnail/preview generation in the P4 Search Documentation.

Supported file types for generated asset previews

The file types that asset previews are generated for in P4 DAM depend on the version of P4 Search that P4 DAM uses.

For a list of supported file types, see Thumbnail/preview generation in the P4 Search Documentation.

If a preview cannot be generated, you can download the asset to view it or upload a preview image. Some file types have specific supported versions. If there is an asset version that is not supported, a Version not supported message is shown to indicate which version to use.

3D model asset previews

Automatically convert 3D asset formats, such as .blend, .usd, .obj, .x3d, and .dae, to GLB format to preview in P4 DAM. P4 Render converts these file types to the GLB format and shows them in P4 DAM.

If your system does not have P4 Render enabled, talk to your P4 DAM administrator.

To learn more about P4 Render, see Configure P4 Render service.

Converted original asset to GLB

If you see a message titled 'Converted original asset to GLB' in an asset preview, the model is a preview.

This means the quality might be lower than the original, and the 3D model file type is not directly supported by P4 DAM. The file is converted to GLB format so that P4 DAM can show it without the need to open it in your editor.