The model preview

This page uses Transform, Mesh from Unity. The glossary says what each one is.

A model preview draws a 3D model, such as the player, inside a window. The player can drag to turn it and use the wheel to zoom.

ModelPreview a 3D view of a model

ModUi.ModelPreview builds one of these for a transform you pass in, with the framing you choose.

public sealed class ModelPreview : MonoBehaviour
{
    public PreviewFraming Framing { get; set; }
    public bool ShowFramingSwitch { get; set; }
    public RenderTexture Texture { get; }
    public int Renderers { get; }
    public void Refresh();
    public int Dispose();
}

Method	Returns	What it does
Refresh()	void	Picks up parts that appeared since the last call, and reframes.
Dispose()	int	Puts everything back and gives how many parts it had recorded. It is safe to call twice.

Property	Type	What it means
Framing	PreviewFraming	Whole body or face. Changing it reframes at once.
ShowFramingSwitch	bool	Shows or hides the Body and Face switch in the top right corner. It is true by default.
Texture	RenderTexture	The picture the preview draws into.
Renderers	int	How many parts of the model the preview is drawing.

Things to know

• A preview draws the model’s parts on a special layer while its window is open. This includes the player’s model, which is switched on for the window and switched back off when the window closes. Only parts that are switched on are used. (It draws the renderers on layer 31. The player’s renderers are those of PlayerLocator.playerRig and playerRigUnrigified. Only renderers on active GameObjects are claimed.)
• Only one preview can be open at a time. A second ModUi.ModelPreview makes the window it is in fault and close.
• Call Refresh() after the model changes. For example after a mesh swap, it picks up parts that were switched on since the last call.
• The preview’s camera and lights are turned off while the tab that holds the preview is hidden.
• Dispose() puts back every change the preview made. It then shows or hides the player model to match the view the game is in now, first person or third person. A window disposes its previews when it closes. (A skinned mesh’s bounds are restored only when its shared mesh is the one that was recorded.)
• The window logs one line starting with model preview: when the preview first settles. It tells the counts of parts recorded, active, visible and in the rig, and the first ten active parts that are not visible. Use it to find out why a part does not show.