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Instant Preview
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Use Instant Preview to test VR apps that you are building in Unreal
Engine instantly on your phone. Instant Preview lets you skip the build process
and improve iteration time.
Overview
Instant Preview is compatible with:
- Unreal Engine version 4.15 or later
Instant Preview consists of an Android app for your Daydream-ready phone
and a plugin for Unity or Unreal Engine.
In Instant Preview, you can:
- Preview your app's full VR experience in the editor or use just the
physical Daydream controller in the editor
- Configure streaming to optimize for resolution or for latency
Developer considerations
- Rendering happens on your development machine, meaning that Instant Preview is
not suitable for performance testing or for calling Android APIs directly.
Use Instant Preview
The Instant Preview plugin and Android app are bundled with the Google VR Unreal
branch.
This guide assumes that you have already created a Google VR project in
Unreal Engine. If you are new to using the Google VR SDK in Unreal Engine, see
the Google VR Unreal Quickstart guide.
Get started
Install the Instant Preview app from the command line:
adb install -r UnrealGithub/Engine/Source/ThirdParty/GoogleInstantPreview/InstantPreview.apk
Launch Instant Preview.
Connect your phone to your computer via USB.
Launch the Unreal Editor and open your Google VR project. The
Instant Preview app indicates that it is ready to stream.
In the Unreal Editor, start your project in VR Preview mode.
To change the resolution, select advanced settings in the Play dropdown
menu, and adjust the play-in-editor window resolution.
(Optional)See the following section for details on switching preview modes.
Switch preview modes
In Instant Preview, you can opt to stream your app's full VR experience or
controller interactions only.
| Mode |
Description |
Use for |
| Full VR preview
|
- Changes you make in the editor are visible immediately on your
phone in VR.
- Instant Preview streams head pose and
controller data to your development machine, where the game engine renders
the scene in stereo and streams video back to your phone.
- Provides an instant preview of your app with low enough latency
to make longer usage sessions comfortable
|
Longer usage sessions iterating on multiple aspects of your app.
|
| Controller only
|
- Streams only controller data to the editor.
- No stereo preview shown on the phone.
|
Iterating only on controller interactions
|
To switch preview modes:
- If your app is running, click Pause in the Unreal Editor.
- In the Instant Preview app on your phone, use the Preview via...
dropdown to select Full VR preview or Controller only mode.
- Click Play in the Unreal Editor to begin streaming.
Troubleshooting
Make sure that:
Your phone is connected to your computer via USB
Your phone is unlocked and developer options
are enabled
You completed the Instant Preview setup steps in this guide.
The ANDROID_HOME environmental variable is set to the
Android SDK Path (for example, %LocalAppData%\Android\sdk\)
The Google VR Plugin is enabled in your project
Check that the .dll and .dylib files under:
Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\GoogleInstantPreview\<your_platform>\Release\
are the same as those in:
Engine\Source\ThirdParty\GoogleInstantPreview\<your_platform>\Release\
All rights reserved. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2024-10-09 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2024-10-09 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eInstant Preview lets you test VR apps built in Unreal Engine instantly on your phone, skipping the build process and improving iteration time.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt's compatible with Unreal Engine 4.15 or later and requires a Daydream-ready phone and the Instant Preview plugin.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can preview the full VR experience or just controller interactions, configuring streaming for resolution or latency.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eRendering occurs on the development machine, making it unsuitable for performance testing or direct Android API calls.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eInstant Preview is bundled with the Google VR Unreal branch and requires a Google VR project set up in Unreal Engine.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Instant Preview enables real-time testing of VR apps built in Unreal Engine on a Daydream-ready phone. Key actions include installing the Instant Preview Android app via `adb`, connecting the phone via USB, and launching the Unreal Editor. Developers can initiate \"VR Preview\" mode to stream the full VR experience or \"Controller only\" mode for focused interaction testing. Streaming resolution can be adjusted. Troubleshooting steps include verifying phone connection, developer options, environment variables, and plugin setup.\n"],null,["# Instant Preview\n\nUse Instant Preview to test VR apps that you are building in Unreal\nEngine instantly on your phone. Instant Preview lets you skip the build process\nand improve iteration time.\n\nOverview\n--------\n\nInstant Preview is compatible with:\n\n- Unreal Engine version 4.15 or later\n\nInstant Preview consists of an Android app for your [Daydream-ready phone](https://vr.google.com/daydream/smartphonevr/phones/)\nand a plugin for Unity or Unreal Engine.\n\nIn Instant Preview, you can:\n\n- Preview your app's **full VR experience** in the editor **or use just the\n physical Daydream controller** in the editor\n- **Configure streaming** to optimize for resolution or for latency\n\n### Developer considerations\n\n- Rendering happens on your development machine, meaning that Instant Preview is not suitable for performance testing or for calling Android APIs directly.\n\nUse Instant Preview\n-------------------\n\nThe Instant Preview plugin and Android app are bundled with the Google VR Unreal\nbranch.\n\nThis guide assumes that you have already created a Google VR project in\nUnreal Engine. If you are new to using the Google VR SDK in Unreal Engine, see\nthe [Google VR Unreal Quickstart guide](/vr/develop/unreal/get-started).\n\n### Get started\n\n1. Install the Instant Preview app from the command line:\n\n ```\n adb install -r UnrealGithub/Engine/Source/ThirdParty/GoogleInstantPreview/InstantPreview.apk\n ```\n2. Launch Instant Preview.\n\n3. Connect your phone to your computer via USB.\n\n4. Launch the Unreal Editor and open your Google VR project. The\n Instant Preview app indicates that it is ready to stream.\n\n5. In the Unreal Editor, start your project in **VR Preview** mode.\n\n6. To change the resolution, select advanced settings in the **Play** dropdown\n menu, and adjust the play-in-editor window resolution.\n\n7. (Optional)See the following section for details on switching [preview modes](#switch_preview_modes).\n\n### Switch preview modes\n\nIn Instant Preview, you can opt to stream your app's full VR experience or\ncontroller interactions only.\n\n| Mode | Description | Use for |\n|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| **Full VR preview** | - Changes you make in the editor are visible immediately on your phone in VR. - Instant Preview streams head pose and controller data to your development machine, where the game engine renders the scene in stereo and streams video back to your phone. - Provides an instant preview of your app with low enough latency to make longer usage sessions comfortable | Longer usage sessions iterating on multiple aspects of your app. |\n| **Controller only** | - Streams only controller data to the editor. - No stereo preview shown on the phone. | Iterating only on controller interactions |\n\nTo switch preview modes:\n\n1. If your app is running, click **Pause** in the Unreal Editor.\n2. In the Instant Preview app on your phone, use the **Preview via...** dropdown to select **Full VR preview** or **Controller only** mode.\n3. Click **Play** in the Unreal Editor to begin streaming.\n\n### Troubleshooting\n\nMake sure that:\n\n- Your phone is connected to your computer via USB\n\n- Your phone is unlocked and [developer options](//developer.android.com/studio/debug/dev-options.html)\n are enabled\n\n- You completed the [Instant Preview setup steps](#get_started) in this guide.\n\n- The `ANDROID_HOME` environmental variable is set to the\n Android SDK Path (for example, `%LocalAppData%\\Android\\sdk\\`)\n\n- The Google VR Plugin is enabled in your project\n\n- Check that the `.dll` and `.dylib` files under:\n\n `Engine\\Binaries\\ThirdParty\\GoogleInstantPreview\\\u003cyour_platform\u003e\\Release\\`\n\n are the same as those in:\n\n `Engine\\Source\\ThirdParty\\GoogleInstantPreview\\\u003cyour_platform\u003e\\Release\\`"]]