The Model Inspector allows you to study details about a model's geometry, topology, materials, and textures. Activate it by clicking/tapping the button in the bottom right of the viewer or pressing the I key.
Inspector Demo
Single Sided
You can toggle "Single Sided" to view only the front face of meshes. This is the same as the single sided rendering option in material settings.
Wireframe
The wireframe view lets you see the mesh's topology (triangles, quads, n-Gons). The keyboard shortcut is 5. If you'd like, you can choose a color from the Model Inspector menu.
Viewport
You can choose between showing a 3D view of the model, a 2D view of the selected texture, or both side by side.
When viewing 3D+2D, there will be feedback on your cursor showing the position in both views.
Render
Final Render and No Post-Processing allow you to enable or disable Post-processing filters. The keyboard shortcut is 1.
Materials
You can inspect each material channel that's active on the model (base color, normal map, etc.). The keyboard shortcut is 2.
If you're using 3D+2D or 2D mode and the model has more than one material, you can choose a material in the scene by clicking/tapping it in the viewer or from the drop-down menu in the top-right. If a model has more than one UV set, you can also switch between them from the drop-down menu.
Geometry
You can enable MatCap mode and MatCap + Surface (if the material has a normap map), as well as show the blank Geometry to better inspect the wireframe, and display vertex normals. The keyboard shortcut to toggle through them is 3 but you can combine the views together with MatCap (3) and Wireframe (5).
UV
The UV Checker lets you inspect the model's UVs using a sample grid texture. The UV Checker is only available if the model uses a texture. The keyboard shortcut is 4.
If you would like to use this UV checker image in your own projects, you can download it here:
Animation
You can view Bones and Bone Weights in animated, rigged models. The keyboard shortcut is 6.
There are some caveats: First, of course, the model needs to contain some form of bone-driven armature. Remember that many animations on Sketchfab use simple scale, rotation, and translation, as well as morph target animations, which work without bones. Second, some bone placements are approximated. This is the nature of how common file formats such as FBX store animation data and is not a limitation of Sketchfab. If you need specific information, you can always leave a comment on a model you’re interested in to learn or see more from the contributor.
Comments
23 comments
sounds like a great improvement to the old inspector...
but i cant see the material selection? i am using chrome...
@atlantismemorials - Sorry about that. The material selector only appears in the 2D+3D and 2D views. I'll update this page to make that clearer.
Is the UV Checker image available for download?
@weirdy Sure! I just added it above. You can find some more here: https://blog.sketchfab.com/free-download-17-uv-checker-maps/
I don't have the option to view 2D. Is there a setting I need to use for this to work?
Thanks!
Never mind! I figured it out. Some of my meshes were importing with Allow Texture Inspection on and some off, randomly. Will turn it on in the future.
Cool, glad you figured it out :)
We did not automatically enable it for older models when we first launched the Inspector. Maybe that's what happened?
I loaded in a model today, and it was set to off by default. On immediate import we have the option to set it as private with or without password. After import, you have to go into the properties if you want to turn ON texture inspector or age restricted content.
Any reason that the texture inspector is off by default? I would think most would want that info visible when showing off their asset.
Thanks for your time!
Ah I see, you're using the upload feature in the Substance Painter uploader? We haven't implemented enabling the 2D inspector during the automatic export yet, but we're in contact with the Allegorithmic and we hope to get it done soon!
Awesome! Thank you James
Were do i put activation code at
@Carebear38 - Sorry, I'm not sure what you're asking. What activation code?
Hello James,
Thank you for the support on everything here. I am not sure if my issue has been handled or addressed in another article; but there seems to be a recent problem with Sketchfab only allowing you to view the UV checker on a model once, and then just showing white upon going back to it.
This seems to be happening on many models that I view and it can be frustrating to not be able to go back and forth in order to help artist see where the can correct errors in their UVs/ textures. Is this a limited option now or an error on the engine? Thank you for your support and hard work.
Thanks for the kind words :)
I also replied to your support ticket. We're looking into it! Thanks for the report.
Hi James,
Within the past week, when looking at Sketchfab uploads/embeds on ArtStation, the "i" key doesn't bring up the Model Inspector anymore. There's also not a menu option (that I can find) to open it. I have to click on the "View on Sketchfab" icon, and then, once on Sketchfab, I can view the Inspector.
Did something change on your end, or is this an issue with the ArtStation site?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Hi Kelly,
Sorry for the confusion. We've added a list of domains considered to be 3D asset marketplaces which compete with the Sketchfab Store. The Inspector is disabled on these domains because it is one of the best differentiating features of our own marketplace.
That said, ArtStation is a bit of a special case, so we'll discuss removing it from the list!
Hi James,
is it possible to add the 3d viewer to android app as an image or video?
(i mean only the simple rotate and zoom option not all the advanced options)
Do I need to be a premium plan to use it?
(only to show the 3d model in the app without editing it)
TIA,
Ziko.
Hi Ziko,
With a Premium account or above, you can embed the model in a website (or app) and hide most of the buttons, settings, etc. See:
https://help.sketchfab.com/hc/en-us/articles/203509907-Embed-Models#embed-options
Thank you very much sir.
so as an individual (PRO) plan i can not embed this viewer?
TIA
Hello, I can't understand why the display in different windows looks differently with Opacity?
hello i cant see model in 3d view .
Hi Ashutosh.Negi - I just created a support ticket for you to discuss this issue.
its fine now james
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