Blog
May 18, 2023
When Plastic SCM (now Unity Version Control) was acquired by Unity, as a Unity DevOps tool. In 2020, game dev and VFX studios already using the Unity Engine started considering Plastic SCM more seriously for version control.
Why? On the surface, Plastic SCM is an attractive solution. It offers a friendly UI for artists and handles the basics of version control at low scale. But what happens when your projects grow and get more complex? Does Plastic SCM still hold up?
Below, we'll cover topics like what is Plastic SCM, Plastic SCM vs Git, how a Plastic SCM repository compares to other version control systems repositories, and more. Read along or jump to the section that interests you the most.
Back to topWhat Is Plastic SCM (Unity Version Control)?
Plastic SCM (now named Unity Version Control) is a commercial version control tool. It is a full version control stack platform developed by Codice Software. Plastic SCM is now owned by Unity and is a part of Unity DevOps.
Plastic SCM offers a cloud-hosted option that removes most of the friction of getting started. Plastic SCM also offers an intuitive interface for artists and designers, as well as visual branching and merging features. Its integration with Unity is also an appealing benefit, and it will only get better over time, since Unity now controls both sides of the equation.
Unity started out by building their own versioning system, “Unity Collaborate,” but later shifted their focus on acquiring a Unity DevOps tool, Plastic SCM.
Is Plastic SCM Free?
Plastic offers a free cloud hosted option for up to 3 users and 5 GB of storage. This option is great for small teams working with small files. However, any users who work with large digital assets will quickly overrun that storage limit.
Who Uses Plastic SCM?
Teams who outgrow Git and use Unity as their preferred real-time development platform/game engine are likely to take a hard look at Plastic SCM. For some Unity users, it is convenient to have a game engine and version control system that is managed by the same vendor.
Plastic SCM vs. Git as a Version Control System
Git works well for versioning text-based assets. It is good for users who prefer a decentralized workflow that allows individual developers to download repositories to their PC and work offline from the central server. Git is also the system that most software developers learn first, so there is a ubiquitous nature to it.
Where Git starts to fall over is working with large assets (i.e., 2D/3D images, videos, and audio files). Git users experiencing scale issues usually attempt multiple strategies, such as breaking assets into multiple repositories or enabling Git Large File Storage (LFS).
Plastic SCM claims to speak the “Git network protocol,” which makes it “fully compatible” with Git. Plastic SCM does a better job managing large files than Git does because it doesn’t require a separate add-on like Git does. Plastic SCM also offers a UI for artists and designers called Glueon. Furthermore, Plastic SCM offers more granular authorization options than Git does.
📘 Related Resource: P4 vs. Git
Plastic SCM by Unity vs. Perforce P4 — Game Development & Beyond
If you are starting to build the next great game or immersive cinematic experience, you’re eventually going to need to push the bounds of scale and performance. And if you start with a tool that cannot scale with you, you’re eventually going to have a migration project on your hands. Just ask virtual production studio ICVR.
"In working with Unreal Engine, Perforce was the obvious choice for us over other solutions like Plastic SCM. We rely heavily on Perforce's file locking ability for team collaboration with binary files, integration with our Jetbrains Rider CI/CD pipeline, and use with Unreal Game Sync to make compiled custom engine builds available to all team members, especially artists and other less technical roles.”
— Ihar Heneralau, CEO/Co-Founder ICVR
It's important to have tools that can support your team both now and in the future. Start here and learn more about Plastic SCM vs. Perforce P4.
Back to topPlastic SCM vs. Perforce P4 Overview
The main difference between Plastic SCM and Perforce P4 is scalability. Plastic SCM can work for smaller teams and repos. But over time, performance declines, causing major issues. P4 is designed for scalability and offers teams of any size a single source of truth for all digital assets, from source code to binary files to IPs and more.
See the chart below to compare the main features of these two version control systems.
| Functionality | Plastic SCM | Perforce P4 |
| Centralized | Yes | Yes |
| Distributed | Yes | Yes — Work offline! DVCS is available for P4. |
| File Commit Restrictions | Yes – Plastic SCM uses a per-changeset model that requires the entire workspace be up to date before being allowed to commit. This introduces unnecessary delays and restrictions. | No – In P4, only modified files are required to be up to date before being allowed to commit. This allows game developers to quickly commit changes to an image without having to update the entire project every time they want to submit a change. |
| Time-Lapse Views | Nope. | Yes – Scroll through your history to understand how your code evolves. |
| “Workspace Types” for Different GUIs | Yes – “Regular” workspaces for non-Glueon vs. “partial” workspaces for Glueon are not compatible with each other. | Nope — Keep it simple! |
| Manages Large to Huge Repos | Not Really — Plastic SCM’s own performance tests conveniently top out with a repo that is less than 8 GB, which is tiny in the modern game development world. | Yes — P4 was built to scale and can manage 100s TBs and millions of files in a single repo (without the wait). |
| Stores Large Files (Binaries) | Kind of — But this severely impacts performance. | Yes — P4 can handle everything with the speed required for high-performing teams. |
| Locks to Avoid Merge Conflicts | Yes | Yes |
| GUIs for Developers & Designers | Yes —But they are completely disconnected. You can’t work on code and digital assets in the same workspace since they require different GUIs by persona. | Yes — Use P4 Visual Client (P4V) for code, binaries, and even Git files. Use P4 Sync for drop and drag version control, no matter your toolset. You can easily switch back and forth between them and work in the same workspace. |
| Task Branches | Yes | Yes — Using Perforce Streams, developers can make task streams. |
| Detecting Merges & Showing History | Yes | Yes — Stream and version browsers show all merge and version history, plus how files and streams have changed over time. |
| Merge Process and Automation | No | Yes — Streams light up red and green to show copy/merge events that are available, easily guiding the user through the merge process. |
| Graphical Model and Manage Stream/Branch Workflow | Yes — But there are limitations. | Yes – The Stream Graph allows you to create streams and determine the relationships between them. This helps automate the flow of your code and digital assets. You can even drag and drop to re-organize how you work. |
Back to topWant to Learn More?
Compare Perforce P4 vs. the competition. Or simply download our Plastic SCM Migration Toolkit.
Plastic SCM by Unity vs. Perforce P4 FAQs
Unity's Plastic SCM claims… a lot. But does it check out? Go in-depth on some of our FAQs to see how we compare in:
Does Plastic SCM Perform Better Than P4?
Unity's Plastic SCM lays out a performance scenario that they refer to as “medium.” It makes sense that it would avoid comparing “large” and “extra-large” scenarios since they cannot scale like P4.
Their “medium” test only involves a repo that is 7.16GB in total size. P4 would label this test “small” (if not “extra-small”). This test was run on a Windows environment. Our P4 install base is approximately 50% Linux, 50% Windows. It is known that P4 runs faster on Linux, in general. In addition, this performance comparison was run against P4 version 2018.2. Recent changes to P4 have resulted in material performance gains on both “sync” and “submit” operations on Windows servers, for example.
But performance is just one of the reasons that multiple customers try Plastic SCM (because they believed the hype) only to come back after it could not scale to their needs.
Does Plastic SCM Have a Better Artist GUI Than P4?
Plastic SCM has a GUI — Glueon. It is positioned as being highly user-friendly. But not everyone on a team, especially artists and designers, wants to learn a new tool. To avoid version control, some team members may even start using email or DropBox instead.
P4 has been serving teams of developers for years. But our tool P4 Sync — the free desktop client created just for non-coders — allows everyone to version their way. No more unsecure sharing methods.
How Does P4 Sync Work?
P4 Sync is an ideal solution. Creatives can simply drag and drop assets to version them in a secure P4 Server. It’s easy to get started.
- Connect to a P4 Visual Client (P4V) workspace.
- Create using the tools you love — Maya, 3ds Max, Photoshop, and more.
- Drag and drop assets into a local folder to version and simply “upload” your changes. Learn more >>
Artists get to keep their own workflow while still getting all the benefits of P4.
P4 Sync — Designed for Creatives
P4 Sync — a desktop client for P4 — was created just for non-coders. Designers and artists can use their preferred tools and simply drag and drop files to quickly version any type of asset.
No more unsecure email or DropBox. Studios can protect and reuse digital assets with the performance required to manage ever-increasing file size. With P4 Sync, teams get a single source of truth for all digital assets, leading to faster builds and seamless collaboration.
Add P4 Sync for free today.
Studios can protect and reuse digital assets with the performance required to manage ever-increasing file size. With P4 Sync, teams get a single source of truth for all digital assets, leading to faster builds and seamless collaboration.
Does The Plastic SCM Branching Mechanism Beat Perforce?
Plastic SCM does offer standard branching capabilities like task branching, diff, and 3-way merge tools. They claim to handle complex integration scenarios like move/rename + readd better than P4, but that is not true, and never has been. P4 gracefully handles merges for the world’s largest and most complex codebases. In continuing to deliver on its best-in-class capability, P4’s latest release delivered improvements to the namespace merge algorithm.
Because with Streams, developers’ lives are easier. It helps them code more instead of dealing with overhead. The structure is built in to support complex branching for development and releases (no matter your branching strategy). Plus, this foundation is flexible enough to adapt to how your team works.
📘 Related Resource: Complete Guide to Version Control Branching
How Perforce Streams Works
When a developer creates a branch, Streams sets up their workspace automatically. It knows what files are available, and developers can see which ones are being worked on (and by whom). Streams creates and shows the flow of change between branches.
Your team no longer needs to rely on naming conventions to determine how branches are related. And forget about documenting branching strategies on a whiteboard! Because with Streams, you always know where your code needs to go.
Using the Stream Graph, developers can visualize how code is propagated. They can quickly check to see if they have the most recent changes in the parent branch. If there are updates available, new code can be merged down. Then changes can be copied back up after testing in the child branch. This helps keep your branches stable.
Does Plastic SCM Work in The Cloud?
Plastic SCM offers a cloud hosting solution, which removes some of the ongoing maintenance requirements of a version control system. However, any customers that need to work at scale quickly find that they need to move from their cloud offering to their enterprise offering.
With P4, you can get everything you need in your preferred cloud. The Enhanced Studio Pack is available in the AWS and Azure marketplaces. We also have machine images available in the Google Cloud Platform and DigitalOcean marketplaces.
📘 Related Resource: Learn more about Perforce P4 Cloud options.
Perforce Invites Game Studios to Design Partner Program for P4 SaaS
Perforce has invited its game studio customers to partner in designing a future SaaS offering for its industry-leading version control software, P4. The first release of P4 SaaS will be hosted on Microsoft Azure.
What About Plastic SCM by Unity vs. Perforce Git Solutions?
Plastic SCM offers a two-way sync with Git because Plastic SCM “adheres to the Git protocol.” Developers can push and pull and to Git, it just looks like another client.
Perforce also offers solutions for Git users. Use our Perforce TeamHub Git code hosting & collaboration solution to take advantage of unique to-Perforce Git functionality like multi-repo code reviews and the new hth-cli command line offering. Licensed P4 users also have the option to continue using their preferred Git hosting and collaboration solution and simply mirror Git assets into P4 using the Git Connector. As an added bonus, Git clients can be configured to use a dual-remote strategy, where changes are pulled from P4 but pushed to the central Git server (and then mirrored back into P4).
Verdict: Plastic SCM vs. Perforce P4
Plastic SCM can’t compare with P4 because as studios scale and teams grow, Plastic SCM slows down. From scale to performance, it’s clear why 19 of the top 20 AAA game development studios trust P4.
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