The Inspector window is a crucial part of the Unity Editor. It allows you to view and change the properties and settings of almost everything you work with in Unity. This includes GameObjects, components, Assets, Materials, and even the Editor’s settings and preferences. Think of it as your control panel for everything in your Unity projects.
Alt text: Unity Editor interface showing the Inspector window docked on the right side, highlighting its role in displaying object properties.
Opening the Inspector Window
You can open the Inspector window in a couple of ways:
- From the Menu: Go to Window > General > Inspector. This will open the Inspector as a floating window, which you can move and dock as needed.
- As a Tab: In any window’s menu (the three vertical dots – ⋮), select Add Tab > Inspector. This adds the Inspector as a new tab within that window.
You’re not limited to just one Inspector window. You can open multiple Inspectors and arrange them to fit your workflow by repositioning, docking, and resizing them, just like any other Unity window. This flexibility is key to efficient scene and project management within Unity.
Focusing the Inspector Window
By default, the Inspector is dynamic. It automatically shows the properties of whatever you currently have selected in Unity. This means if you select a different GameObject or Asset, the Inspector’s contents will update to reflect your new selection.
However, sometimes you need to keep the Inspector focused on a specific item, even when you select something else. To “lock” the Inspector to its current content, click the small lock icon at the top right of the Inspector window. When locked, the Inspector will continue to display the properties of the originally selected item until you unlock it, regardless of what else you select in the Editor. This is particularly useful when comparing different objects or when you need to constantly refer to the properties of one object while working with others.
Inspecting Different Items
The Inspector window is versatile because it adapts to what you’re inspecting. Here’s what you’ll see when you select different types of items in Unity:
GameObjects Inspection
When you select a GameObject, whether in the Hierarchy window or directly in the Scene view, the Inspector becomes incredibly useful. It displays all the components attached to that GameObject. Components are the building blocks of GameObjects, defining their behavior and appearance.
In the Inspector, you can:
- View and Edit Properties: Modify the values of each component’s properties, directly affecting how the GameObject behaves in your scene.
- Reorder Components: Change the order of components attached to a GameObject. While less common, component order can sometimes influence behavior, especially in custom scripts.
Alt text: Inspector window displaying the Transform, Mesh Filter, Mesh Renderer, and custom script components of a selected GameObject, showcasing editable properties.
Custom Script Components Inspection
Scripts are how you add custom logic and functionality to your GameObjects in Unity. When a GameObject has a custom script attached as a component, the Inspector will display the public variables that you’ve defined in your script.
This is a powerful feature because it allows you to:
- Adjust Parameters: Change the values of script variables directly in the Inspector, without needing to modify the script code itself.
- Set Default Values: Define initial values for your script variables, making it easy to configure and fine-tune your game logic through the Inspector.
This direct access to script variables in the Inspector is essential for rapid iteration and tweaking of game mechanics and behaviors.
Assets Inspection
Assets are the files you import into your Unity project, such as textures, 3D models, audio files, and more. When you select an Asset in the Project window, the Inspector shows you the import settings for that Asset.
These settings control how Unity processes and uses the Asset when building your game. The import settings are specific to each type of Asset. For example:
- Texture Assets: Settings for texture type, compression, mipmaps, etc.
- Model Assets: Settings for scale factor, mesh import options, material generation, etc.
- Audio Assets: Settings for compression format, sample rate, load type, etc.
By adjusting these import settings in the Inspector, you can optimize your Assets for performance and visual quality within your Unity project.
Prefabs Inspection
Prefabs are reusable GameObjects that act as templates. They are incredibly useful for creating multiple instances of objects with consistent properties. When you select a Prefab Asset, the Inspector provides additional options and information specific to Prefabs.
For example, when inspecting a Prefab in the Inspector, you’ll see options to:
- Edit Prefab: Enter prefab edit mode to make changes directly to the Prefab Asset.
- Open Prefab: Open the prefab in isolation for focused editing.
For instances of Prefabs already placed in your scene, the Inspector will also show options to:
- Select Prefab: Select the original Prefab Asset in the Project window.
- Revert: Discard any modifications made to the instance and revert it back to the original Prefab settings.
- Apply: Push any changes made to the instance back to the original Prefab Asset, updating all other instances as well.
The Inspector is central to managing and working with Prefabs effectively.
Inspecting Multiple Items Simultaneously
The Inspector’s capabilities extend to when you select multiple items at once. This is a powerful way to make bulk edits to properties that are shared across multiple GameObjects or Assets.
When you select two or more items, the Inspector changes to a multi-object editing mode.
Multiple GameObjects Inspection
When you select multiple GameObjects, the Inspector will:
- Show Common Components: Display only the components that are present on all of the selected GameObjects.
- Indicate Mixed Values: If a property has different values across the selected GameObjects, the Inspector will show a dash (–) instead of a specific value.
- Show Consistent Values: If a property has the same value across all selected GameObjects, the Inspector will display that value.
- Set Value to All: You can change a property value, and that new value will be applied to that property on all selected GameObjects.
- Context Menu for Specific Value Setting: Right-clicking on a property name provides an option to “Set to Value of [GameObject Name]”. This lets you quickly copy a property value from one of the selected GameObjects to all others.
- Hidden Components Message: If some selected GameObjects have components that others don’t, the Inspector will display a message indicating that some components are hidden because they are not common to all selections.
Alt text: Inspector window in multi-object editing mode, displaying dashes for properties with differing values across selected GameObjects and actual values for common properties.
Multiple Assets Inspection
Inspecting multiple Assets of the same type is similar to inspecting multiple GameObjects:
- Show Common Properties: The Inspector displays properties that are common to all selected Assets.
- Indicate Mixed Values: A dash (–) is shown for properties with different values.
- Show Consistent Values: Actual values are shown for properties that are the same across all selected Assets.
- Grayed Out Properties: Some properties might be grayed out, indicating that they cannot be edited simultaneously for all selected Assets.
Alt text: Inspector displaying import settings for multiple selected texture assets, showing dashes for properties with varying values and actual values for consistent settings.
When you select multiple Assets of different types, the Inspector presents a list showing the number of Assets of each type selected. Clicking on an item in this list will then inspect all Assets of that specific type together.
Alt text: Inspector window when multiple asset types are selected, displaying a list of asset types and their respective counts instead of property details.
Multiple Prefab Instances Inspection
You can inspect multiple instances of the same Prefab in a similar way to multiple GameObjects. However, when inspecting multiple Prefab instances, the Inspector hides the Select, Revert, and Apply buttons that are relevant when inspecting a single Prefab instance or the Prefab Asset itself. This is because operations like Revert and Apply are typically performed on individual instances or the main Prefab Asset, not on selections of multiple instances.
Locating an Inspector Source Item
Sometimes you might want to quickly find the source of the item you’re currently inspecting in the Inspector, whether it’s a GameObject in the Scene view or an Asset in the Project window. The Ping command in the Inspector makes this easy.
To use it:
- Open the More Items menu (⋮) in the top right corner of the Inspector window.
- Select Ping.
Unity will then highlight the item in either the Hierarchy window (for GameObjects) or the Project window (for Assets), making it easy to locate its source within your project structure.
Alt text: Inspector window’s “More Items” menu expanded, highlighting the “Ping” option, with an arrow indicating that selecting it will locate the inspected item in the Project or Hierarchy window.
The Inspector window is an indispensable tool in Unity. Mastering its features and functionalities is crucial for efficient Unity development, allowing you to control and fine-tune every aspect of your game projects. And while you’re exploring tools, if you ever find yourself wondering “Cara Memunculkan Paint Bucket Tool Sketchup” for your 3D modeling tasks outside of Unity, remember that different software have their own interfaces and toolsets!
Based on Unity Editor version 2020.1 and incorporating updates up to Unity 5.6.
