The Avatar Preview tool, accessible from the Avatar tab, previews animations, clothing, accessories, and body constructs on avatar rigs, directly in Studio.
This feature is currently in beta and changes/upgrades should be anticipated. To use it, go to Beta Features and enable UGC Bodies & Heads.
Selecting Avatar Rigs
To select an existing avatar rig inside the place, such as one created through the Rig Builder tool:
Open the Avatar Preview tool.
Choose a rig in either of the following ways:
Select an existing avatar rig in the 3D workspace or Explorer hierarchy.
Click the Current Place button inside the tool's window to view a selection panel of all rigs in the place.
Rig selection panel in Avatar Preview tool
Interface Summary
Once an avatar is selected, four tabs appear on the left side of the window: Check Body, Check Face, Test in Experience, and Publish.
Check Body
The Check Body interface contains tabs for testing Animations, Clothing, Accessories, and Body.¹ Clicking a subtab like Shirts or Waist reveals a selection column along the left side of the window for equipping items.
From this interface, you can right‑click anywhere over the rig preview and select Revert to Default to revert all changes to a blank state, or deselect Textured to view a completely grayscale character.
Equipping Items
Selected items are equipped on the avatar and are added to the "equipped" column on the right side. Selected animations begin playing as a preview of how they'll look in a running experience.
To unequip any item, click it again in the selection column along the left side of the window, or right‑click it in the "equipped" column on the right side and select Unequip Item. You can also right‑click an item in the "equipped" column and select Open [Category] to jump to the item's category and see related items in the selection column.
Layering Clothing
For layered clothing items such as Shirts or Jackets, dragging them up or down in the "equipped" column changes their layering order. Layered clothing items are sorted to the top of the column.
Check Face
The Check Face interface zooms into the face and allows you to animate between various facial poses. This interface only works for character heads which support facial animation.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Expressions | A range of basic expressions like "happy," "annoyed," and "surprised." |
| Dialogue | Simulated mouth animation of the character speaking. |
| Mouth ROM | ROM (Range of Movement) for the character's mouth. |
| Brows ROM | ROM for the character's eyebrows. |
| Eyes ROM | ROM for the character's eyes. |
| FACS | FACS (Facial Action Coding System) poses for describing visually discernible facial movement. |
From this interface, you can right‑click anywhere over the head preview and select Revert to Default to revert all changes to a blank state, or deselect Textured to view a completely grayscale head.
Test in Experience
The Test in Experience button starts playtesting the experience with the previewed avatar. It currently does not have any of the clothing you applied onto it, but eventually will.
Publish
The Publish button opens the publish asset dialog, with an option to distribute the avatar to the Creator Marketplace.
Adding Items
The add item button allows you to add custom assets to the tool's palette. For example, you can select a hair accessory in the Explorer or 3D workspace, click the button, and the accessory will be added to the Hair subsection of Accessories, as well as be equipped on the avatar.
If all you have is a standalone head Model, you can add it as a custom item to any R15 character rig, such as those generated from the Rig Builder.
Currently, only accessories are supported for adding to the palette, with limited or no support for animations, shoes, accessories without preexisting categories, and non‑head body parts. Increased support for these items will come in the future.
To add an item to the palette:
Select a valid instance from the Explorer or 3D workspace.
Click the add item button at the bottom of the selection column along the left side of the window.
The item appears in the appropriate section and subsection of the Check Body interface, for example Accessories → Hair, and is equipped on the avatar.
