[Solved] Disappearing Smart Material Preview Window

[nwitchell]

Hi all,

I'm really enjoying the smart materials, but I keep running into a snag.  When I initially open 3DC and start working, selecting a smart material brings up the preview options at the top as well as a twirl down preview window to see the material applied to my model - sounds normal right?  This works great, but if I inadvertently close the preview options (which also closes the preview window) then select another smart material, the options pop back up, but I can't for the life of me get the preview window to come back!  I've looked at and clicked on everything I can think of to figure out the trick, but the best I could do was to get it to return when I open the smart material editor.  Better than nothing, but it only stays as long as the window is open, and I have to close/reopen the editor if I want to try another material, which can get pretty tedious.  Any ideas on how to call that preview window back permanently?

Thanks!

[nwitchell]

I figured out what my mistake was. When I would select a smart material to bring up the preview, I didn't always have the brush as the active tool.  If I had any tool but the brush selected, the preview wouldn't show.  As soon as I switched back to the brush, my preview window would instantly pop back on.

[Hammers]

This is still an issue as of 4.92. It really doesn't make sense that the preview doesn't work with say the fill tool selected at first. I had to hunt till i found this solution. So thank you.

[Carlosan]

Are you using MAC ow Win version ?

Version 4.9 reached its end of life and is surpassed by the version 2021.

[Hammers]

I'm on Mac, and 4.9 lives on! At least until I can afford to upgrade

[Carlosan]

To show the Smart Material Preview window again in 3DCoat, follow these steps: Go to the Edit menu at the top of the program.
In the drop-down list, find and click on "Preferences".
In the sub-menu "Viewport", click off "Hide material preview".
The Smart Material Preview window should now be visible on your screen.