Component Inspector

After reading this guide, you will know what each of the five inspector cards and the two windows edits and validates, and you will be able to find the item you need.

What the Component Stores

The component holds the settings of this one avatar and nothing else. The notice at the top of the inspector states the scope outright.

This component stores settings for this avatar only. It does not modify authored FX, menus, parameters, or materials; actual MLC setup is created only on a Play Mode or upload build clone.

These are the values it stores.

Stored item	Where it is edited
Profile	Quick Start
Menu placement — folders, items, order, inclusion	Menu Layout
Per-feature overrides	Selected Item Settings
Material group registrations	Selected Item Settings
Attachment, advanced catalog, budget targets, Play Mode preview, allow build clone preparation	Advanced Options

Per-feature overrides save only the items you changed. A feature you never touched follows the catalog default, so when a new version of MLC changes a feature's range or default, that change reaches avatars you already configured.

Only one component is attached per object. With several avatars, attach one to each avatar root; each avatar can use a different configuration.

Card Order

The inspector runs top to bottom in this order.

1. Product name and the Language dropdown
2. The notice
3. Quick Start
4. Menu Layout
5. Selected Item Settings
6. Budget & Validation
7. Advanced Options

The Language dropdown offers 한국어, English, and 日本語. Studio Raming editor tools share this value, so changing it in one place makes the other tools display the same language.

Quick Start

It holds three things.

Field	What it does
Starting Preset	Picks the starting point. Recommended · Bit Saving · Photo Capture · Performance · Empty · Custom
Profile	Auto · Smooth · Compact. Auto accounts for the existing avatar budget, tries Smooth first, and uses Compact when that does not fit
Apply	Actually applies the chosen preset

Apply raises one confirmation dialog, and pressing through it erases every per-feature override and replaces the menu placement wholesale. It can be undone. What each preset contains is in Starting Presets.

Changing Profile alone is not applying a preset. The value is saved the moment you change the dropdown, with no need to press Apply.

Menu Layout

The tree where you edit the folders and the order of the final menu. The card's notice states the boundary of its role.

Set menu placement and feature inclusion here. Review synced bits and parameter cost in the budget card. Assets are created only on a Play Mode or upload clone.

There are two buttons at the top of the card.

Button	What it does
Apply Recommended Menu	Restores the menu placement only, to the recommended structure. Per-feature settings are kept
Start With Empty Menu	Clears the menu placement only. Feature settings and material-group registrations are kept

Below them, the Root line shows the current number of top-level items as Root (n / 8). The 8 is the number of slots on one page of the VRChat Expressions Menu.

What you can do on each row:

• Checkbox — drops this item from the final menu and its parameter cost, or puts it back. Unchecking a folder drops everything inside it as well.
• Name — edited in place. A name you typed yourself stays as it is when you change Language.
• The ≡ handle — drag to reorder an item or move it into another folder. Drop it on Move To Bottom Of Root at the bottom of the list to send it to the end of the top-level menu.
• + Item — adds a new Folder, Feature, Material Group, or Command.
• Delete — clears this menu placement only. Feature settings and authored materials are not deleted.

When the menu is empty, the tree shows this notice.

The menu is empty. Add items with '+ Item' or apply 'Recommended Menu'.

Selected Item Settings

Shows the details of the one item selected in the Menu Layout tree. With nothing selected it shows a hint only.

Select a feature or material group in the menu tree to edit its details here.

Select a folder or a command and it simply points you elsewhere, as in "Folders are edited in the menu tree for name, order, and inclusion." The only two kinds of item with anything to edit here are features and material groups.

When a Feature Is Selected

Field	What it does
Enabled	Includes this feature in the final menu and the build plan
Animated	Off applies one fixed value at install time and creates no menu, Animator layer, or parameter
Saved	On keeps the last value after the avatar is loaded again. Menu and bit cost do not change
Synced	Off makes the change local to your own client and drops the synced bit cost to zero
Restore Authored	Restores the value authored on the material when this feature is turned off
Pin To Value	Fixes the value without exposing it in the menu
Pinned Value	The value applied while Pin To Value is on. Not editable while it is off
Fixed Value	The value applied to every target while Animated is off. Not editable while it is on
Range	This feature's minimum and maximum, with the default in parentheses. Read-only

The Reset to Catalog Default button at the bottom appears only when this feature has a saved override. Pressing it erases the user override for that feature alone; other features and the authored materials are untouched.

Change a value and then put it back, and that feature's stored entry disappears on its own. Pressing a toggle once is not by itself enough to pin a value.

Features that cannot sync under Compact

Some Synced float features carry this warning.

This float has fewer than two compact bins and cannot sync in Compact. It becomes local-only at install time.

It means the feature becomes local-only automatically under the Compact profile. Under Smooth it syncs normally.

When a Material Group Is Selected

Field	What it does
Group Name	Changes the display name only. The registered materials and property binding are kept
Property	The property this group drives and its scope. Read-only
Members	The number of registered materials, or "All avatar MingToon materials". Read-only
Menu Control	Off means this group creates no menu or parameter and applies the Fixed Value below instead
Saved	Keeps the last menu value after the avatar is loaded again
Synced	Off means the value is not sent to other users, so the synced bit cost is zero
Fixed Value	The value applied to every target material while Menu Control is off
Auto Page	Splits generated items into child pages once they exceed eight slots
Remove Group	Removes this registration only. Authored materials are not changed

Saved and Synced are editable only while Menu Control is on; Fixed Value is the other way around.

Budget & Validation

Shows whether the current configuration fits in the VRChat parameter budget.

Line	How to read it
Synced Bits	The synced bits when built as Smooth and as Compact, plus the budget in parentheses
Avatar Total	The bits and entries the existing non-MLC parameters use, plus the targets you set
Selected	The profile actually selected and its cost. "Over budget / cannot generate" when it does not fit
Enabled Features	Enabled features / total features in the catalog

Both profiles over budget gives an error; Smooth alone over budget gives a warning. What to do about it is in Profiles and the Parameter Budget.

Inside this card there is one more box, holding the Validate Settings (No Source Changes) and Clean Up Previous Output buttons and the read-only Play Mode Preview line.

Advanced Options

Collapsed by default; folded, it shows only a hint.

Start with menu inclusion and the profile in the tree above.

Expanded, it shows the following.

Field	What it does
Attachment	How the compiled controller is attached to the avatar
Advanced Catalog	Includes advanced controls beyond the default features. Menu and parameter cost grow with each feature you enable
Target Synced Bits	0 automatically uses the remaining VRC budget. Anything else is a ceiling for the whole avatar
Target Parameter Entries	0 uses the VRC maximum. Anything else is an entry ceiling for the whole avatar
Force Install With Unknown Budget	Assumes the foreign budget is empty when the existing VRC parameters cannot be read
Allow Build Clone Preparation	Allows build-clone setup, which does not change the original
Play Mode Preview	Decides whether MLC controls are created on the Play Mode clone
Show Diagnostics	Shows internal development diagnostics

Force install is a last resort

Force Install With Unknown Budget assumes a foreign budget of zero, so it can push you past the VRC limit. Enable it only when you have checked the avatar yourself.

At the very bottom sit the Saved Overrides line and the Reset All Overrides button. With no overrides at all it reads "None (all catalog defaults)" and the button is disabled.

Turn Show Diagnostics on and, under Material Binding Diagnostics, the menu item count, feature override count, and material group count appear on one line.

Validate Settings

The Validate Settings (No Source Changes) button in the Budget & Validation card.

1. Press the button.
2. Read the result dialog and press OK.

This is correct. The result message comes up in a dialog and the avatar is left as it was. This button only checks whether the current settings can be generated on a Play Mode or upload build clone, and it does not modify the authored avatar or the VRC assets.

If Attachment is explicitly set to VRCFury while that integration is not installed, the button is disabled and a warning appears with it.

Clean Up Previous Output

The second button in the same box. Older MLC versions could leave a generated folder and an MLC-owned host on the authored avatar, and this button clears that residue only.

1. Press Clean Up Previous Output.
2. Read the confirmation dialog and press Clean Up Owned Output.

This is correct. The result message comes up in a dialog. With nothing to remove, you get "No MLC ownership manifest was found."

Cleanup cannot be undone

It removes only the hosts and generated assets whose ownership is confirmed, and preserves the authored FX, menus, parameters, and materials — but deleting a generated asset file cannot be restored with Unity Undo.

This cleanup does not run automatically when the component is enabled or disabled, when the Hierarchy changes, or when you enter Play Mode. It runs only when you press the button.

The Two Windows

Beyond the component inspector there are two more windows. Both are for validation, and per-feature settings are edited on the component.

Window	How to open it	What it does
Ming Light Controller	StudioRaming > Ming Light Controller > Open	Runs Calculate Budget / Select Profile, Validate Avatar Target / Standalone Plan, and Validate MLC Setup / Build Readiness, and shows Applied Catalog and Build Plan
Ming Light Controller · Build Setup	StudioRaming > Ming Light Controller > Avatar Attachment	Shows Expression Profile · Build Backend · Use Full Catalog and runs Validate Build Readiness (No Source Changes)

The notice in the first window states the boundary outright.

This window previews the MLC configuration and budget. It never creates Expression Parameters, menus, FX Animators, clips, or attachment hosts on the authored avatar. The actual setup is applied only to a Play Mode or upload build clone.

Both windows follow the avatar's component. On an avatar without the component you get the Add Ming Light Controller Component button along with the notice below, and the values you pick in the window are not saved.

This avatar has no MLC component. The values above are not saved yet. Add the component, then configure features in its Inspector.

Reverting Saved Overrides

What you want	How to do it
Undo the edit you just made	Undo (Ctrl+Z)
Revert one feature only	Reset to Catalog Default in Selected Item Settings
Delete every per-feature override	Reset All Overrides in Advanced Options — menu placement and authored materials are kept
Return the menu placement alone to the recommended structure	Apply Recommended Menu in Menu Layout — per-feature settings are kept
Clear the menu placement alone	Start With Empty Menu in Menu Layout — feature settings and material-group registrations are kept
Go all the way back to a starting point	Apply in Quick Start — erases per-feature overrides and replaces the menu placement too

Touch anything in Selected Item Settings, Menu Layout, or Advanced Options and the Starting Preset value changes to Custom. That only changes the display; nothing about the behavior changes.

Related Pages

Page	When to read it
Your First Menu	Attaching the component and going through to an upload once
Starting Presets	Deciding what to choose in Quick Start
Profiles and the Parameter Budget	When the numbers in Budget & Validation turn red