Troubleshooting - Rounded Rectangle: Procedural Shape System for UI & 3D

Start from the symptom

What Do You See?

Nothing in Scene view

Check the world object, renderer, framing, and contrast.

Canvas SDF is invisible

Check the RectTransform, Canvas, and the correct shape owner.

The result is pink

Check material, shader, and render-pipeline match.

Edits look stale

Disable the cached display before judging the live SDF.

World fillet looks stretched

Check for non-uniform Transform XY scale.

Glow or shadow is clipped

Confirm whether a normal Unity mask is clipping the effect.

Selection PNG is unavailable

Check for text/icons, masks, cache-on state, nested Canvas, world objects, or non-normal blend settings.

World Mesh Is Missing Or Hard To Find

Select the object and confirm RoundedRectangleGenerator, MeshFilter, and MeshRenderer are present and enabled.
Press F in Scene view to frame the selection.
Set a solid, high-contrast fill and keep the package default material while isolating the problem.
Confirm parent objects are active and the renderer is not intentionally hidden.

Canvas SDF Is Invisible

Confirm the GameObject, parents, and Canvas are active and the RectTransform has a visible size.
For a generator-driven SDF, edit base shape/style on RoundedRectangleGenerator and effects on RoundedRectSDFGraphic.
For a standalone SDF, edit the shape fields on RoundedRectSDFGraphic itself.
Set a solid, high-contrast fill and temporarily disable cached rendering.

If the object is visible but pink, continue to Pink Or Missing Material.

Pink Or Missing Material

Confirm the project render pipeline before changing materials.
On RoundedRectSDFGraphic, open Material > Details and use Restore Automatic Material.
Confirm the package SDF template and referenced shader are present and compiled without errors.
If the object intentionally uses a Custom material, confirm that material matches the active render pipeline.
Do not use URP-only World Mesh material or shader content in a Built-in project.

Continue with Compatibility: Render Pipelines if the pipeline is uncertain.

Canvas Mesh UI Looks Wrong

Select the generator. From Unity's main menu, choose Tools > Rounded Rectangle > Rendering Path > Move Selected to Canvas Mesh UI. The Generator Inspector command is the contextual alias. Confirm RoundedRectangleGenerator, MeshFilter, RoundedRectCanvasGraphic, a Canvas-compatible package material, and the required Canvas shader channels. The world MeshRenderer is not the visible Canvas result.

Edits Do Not Affect The Visible Shape

Visible result

Drawing component

Edit first

Visible resultWorld mesh

Drawing componentMeshRenderer

Edit firstRoundedRectangleGenerator

Visible resultCanvas Mesh UI

Drawing componentRoundedRectCanvasGraphic

Edit firstGenerator for shape/style

Visible resultCanvas SDF

Drawing componentRoundedRectSDFGraphic

Edit firstGenerator for base shape/style; SDF graphic for effects

Scene View Flickers Near Gizmo Hitboxes

On affected Unity 6 Windows Editor versions, the Scene view can flicker with D3D11, Gamma colour space, Shaded Scene view, and simultaneous Scene/Game views. The Rounded Rectangle handles remain functional.

Switch Scene view to Unlit, show only one of Scene/Game view, or use Linear colour space / D3D12 when appropriate. Changing Classic/Refined handle style or disabling Scene Image Effects does not address this Unity Editor issue.

Cached Result Does Not Update

Select the SDF object.
Find the render-cache option on RoundedRectSDFGraphic.
Turn off Enable render cache (when content is stable).
Verify the live SDF result, then re-enable caching only after the live appearance is correct.

A cached display does not show live shader changes.

World Fillet Is Stretched After Transform Scaling

A non-uniform Unity Transform scale stretches the generator's local circular corner or bevel fillet into an ellipse.

Select the world Rounded Rectangle.
Open Size & Radius.
Use Bake XY Scale Into Size.
Continue aspect edits with Generator Width/Height or the Rounded Rectangle Scene size handles.

The action is unavailable when child transforms or a non-uniformly scaled parent would make the conversion unsafe. Use a uniformly scaled wrapper in those cases.

Mask Clips Glow Or Shadow

A normal Unity Mask clips the entire rendered graphic, including glow or shadow outside the mask boundary. Disable the Mask briefly to confirm the cause.

Keep The Outer Effect Visible

Select the target Canvas or a child under it.
Choose Tools > Rounded Rectangle > Examples > Add SDF Mask + Driver Demo to Current Canvas.
Replace Sample_Content, or add UI below PUT_MASKED_CONTENT_HERE. Use fixed or non-stretch anchors for content that must keep its size; enable Preserve Aspect on images that must not distort.
Resize the selected 01_EDIT_APPEARANCE object with RectTransform Width and Height. Leave local Scale at (1, 1, 1).

Success: Width/Height changes reveal or clip more child content without resizing it, while the panel's outer glow or shadow remains visible.

The same masked panel with the outer effect clipped by a normal Mask and preserved by the dedicated rounded-masking workflow. — The content remains clipped in both results; the dedicated workflow keeps the outer effect visible.

Inspect the generated setup

Rounded Mask With Outer Effect
          ├── 01_EDIT_APPEARANCE
          └── 02_AUTO_CLIP_AREA
              └── PUT_MASKED_CONTENT_HERE
                  └── Sample_Content

Keep 01_EDIT_APPEARANCE and 02_AUTO_CLIP_AREA as separate siblings. The appearance object needs RoundedRectangleGenerator; the clipping object must not have its own Generator. Unity Mask and RoundedRectSdfMaskDriver stay on 02_AUTO_CLIP_AREA; leave Configure Mask On Enable on.

The fixed, centre-anchored content root makes Width/Height reveal or clip content instead of stretching it. Normal Transform scaling still propagates to descendants, so both linked draws stay at local Scale (1, 1, 1). Do not assign one SDF graphic to both roles.

The link mirrors the local RectTransform, generator shape, and runtime border/radius overrides. Its hidden stencil stays a full opaque silhouette, independent of driver colour, texture alpha, gradients, dash, partial slider fill, or outer effects. The Inspector reports invalid parent, graphic, or Generator ownership.

On first use, Unity may compile the SDF UNITY_UI_ALPHACLIP shader variant. Check shader-compilation/import progress and the Editor log before treating that first pause as a hang.

RoundedRectSdfMaskDriver is the underlying component; use Component Map when you need to inspect or repair the link.

Export Does Not Include Child Text Or Icons

The SDF Inspector exporter captures one live RoundedRectSDFGraphic. Selected Canvas PNG can flatten several supported Rounded Rectangle SDF/mesh visuals, but it refuses active text/icons rather than silently omitting them. Export text/icons separately and composite them in the target image workflow. Selection PSD, editable text/vector layers, and live layer effects are not public workflows.

Other Checks

Unexpected batches: inspect the Frame Debugger, then use Performance.
3D collider in a 2D project: the generated collider is a MeshCollider; add a separate Collider2D setup.
Pipeline mismatch: identify Built-in or URP first, then use Compatibility.
Need exact component ownership: use Reference: Find A Control.