MeshSyncServer

A component to sync meshes/models editing in DCC tools into Unity in real time.
This sync process is done via TCP/IP, allowing developers to use DCC tools in different machines, and this connection can be configured in the server/port settings of the MeshSync DCC Plugin installed in the appropriate DCC tool.

Properties

• Auto Start

  Values	Description
  On	automatically start the server using the specified port.
  Off	start/stop the server manually by clicking the Start/Stop button.

  Caveat: in a public network, other users will have access to MeshSync as well when the server is running. For example: they may view our Unity screen.

• Asset Dir
  The local folder of the component where synced assets will be created.

• Root Object
  Designate a GameObject as the root for objects generated by the sync process.
  If empty, the objects will be created in the root.

• Instance Handling

  We can specify how Unity will create the instances of a geometry node (or its equivalent) using one of the following values:

  Values	Description
  Instance renderer	Create a MeshSync specific render component that batches the draw calls of each instance type. This is good for instances that do not need individual GameObjects.
  Copies	Create a GameObject for each instance. This is slower than the instance renderer but gives more control over each object.
  Prefabs	Create a prefab of the instanced object and places prefab instances in the scene. The prefab is saved in the Asset Dir property of the MeshSyncServer. Using prefabs for instances allows us to make changes to the instanced object, add custom components to it and apply that to all instances.

  Some caveats about the Prefabs mode:

  1. Setting the mode to Prefabs will create a reference between the prefabs and by their original names in the DCC tools. If the name in the DCC tool changes, then MeshSync will consider it as a new object and will create a new prefab.
  2. Changes in the source objects in the DCC tool will not be applied to the prefabs automatically. We can resync the prefabs by clicking the "Clear/resync prefabs" button if the DCC tool is open and and auto-sync has been enabled.

• DCC asset file

  We can assign a DCC asset file inside the Unity project to launch a new instance of the applicable DCC tool and turn on Auto-Sync in the plugin automatically, provided that MeshSyncDCCPlugins has been installed in the DCC tool.

  The Run mode property specifies how to launch the DCC tool, and can be set with one of the following values:

  Values	Description
  GUI	Run the DCC tool in normal window mode.
  Background	Run the DCC tool in headless mode without any window.
  Console	Runs the DCC tool with the console window only.

Please refer to common properties for details on the other properties.

Tips

When there is a MeshSyncServer object in the scene in Unity, we can:

• view Unity's Game view in the browser by typing MeshSyncServer's IP address and port in the URL box (the default is 127.0.0.1:8080).

  

• send a message from a message form in the browser to Unity's console.

Caveats

• Necessary MeshSync assets are automatically created in StreamingAssets/MeshSyncServerRoot. These files should be left as they are.

• Although this package is designed to be used in the Editor, model syncing will still work in runtime as well, except for the animations.
  For performance reasons, make sure that syncing is not executed in the final build, unless it is required.