Dousen + Perforce
Dousen opens one Perforce changelist per Jira task, runs p4 under your own user and workspace, and shows file locks, checkout, sync and revert inside Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, Substance Painter and Substance Designer. It detects streams automatically and can create your workspace from a project’s depot path.
- DousenDesktop runs
p4on your workstation; DousenCore doesn’t need access to your Perforce server for current DousenDesktop builds. - One changelist per task. Submit needs a message of at least 5 characters.
- DCC panels refresh lock status about every 30 seconds with
p4 fstat. Houdini uses shelf tools on demand instead. - Streams are detected from
p4 info; nothing to configure. - Projects can bind a second Perforce server for DCC source art.
How does Dousen use changelists?
Select a Jira task in DousenDesktop and click Open changelist. Desktop creates a numbered changelist in your workspace and reports the number to DousenCore, which keys it to the issue. If the task already has an open changelist, Desktop reuses it. Exports from any DCC addon go to that changelist. To finish, click Submit changes, enter a message in the Submit Changelist dialog and submit. The submit fails if the changelist has no opened files, because Desktop never moves files out of the default changelist.
What does the DCC panel show about locks?
Each addon shows the Perforce status of the current scene and lets you check it out (p4 edit), sync and revert. New files are marked for add automatically by New Asset and by a publish. Houdini has no refreshing panel. Its Dousen: File Status (P4) shelf tool shows the state on demand. Checkout and add use the active task’s changelist. A publish stops before it exports if another user has locked a file the export would write.
| Status line | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Locked by <user> (CL n) | Someone else has the file checked out exclusively. |
| Opened by <user(s)> | One or more people have it open without an exclusive lock. |
| Locked by you | You hold the Perforce lock. |
| Not at latest (have r<n>, head r<m>) | Your local copy is behind the depot. |
| Available | Nobody else has the file open, and your copy is current. |
Does Dousen support Perforce streams?
Yes. Dousen reads the clientStream field of p4 info. The DousenDesktop status bar shows P4: <stream name> for a stream workspace or P4: <client> (classic) for a classic depot, and the DCC panel shows Stream: <name> or Classic depot.
Can Dousen create my workspace?
If your admin has set a depot_path on the project, the Workspace step of the setup wizard can do it. Click Check. If a workspace already maps the path, Dousen fills in its root and name. Otherwise choose a local root and workspace name and click Create Workspace. Dousen checks with p4 streams whether the path is a stream root and writes a stream workspace or a classic client spec to match. It doesn’t sync anything, so run your first sync from P4V or UnrealGameSync before you open a DCC.
What if source art lives in a separate repository?
A project admin can bind a second Perforce repository, possibly on another server, for DCC source files. Each artist creates a source workspace once in the setup wizard. Narrow client views map only the folders an artist opens, and Dousen syncs files on demand. The task then gets one changelist per repository: Desktop submits the source changelist first, deletes empty ones, and the Jira transition runs after the last submit. A pending changelist on the other server defers the transition. Submits to two servers aren’t atomic, so check both changelists afterward. Texture dependencies aren’t synced automatically.
Related
- Perforce in the documentation
- Source repositories
- Dousen + Jira Cloud
Dousen is free during the studio beta, with access by request, and free forever for teams of up to 5 users. Request early access.