Editing materials/making them transparent

Unity Engine
1

I’m trying to make transparent versions of a material (as a placement preview), but the code I’ve made doesn’t change the “Rendering Mode” in the editor or visually do anything aside from changing the color’s alpha.

Material mat;

void Start () {
    mat = GetComponent<Renderer>().material;
}

void Update () {
    if (Input.GetButtonDown("Fire1")) {//for testing/demonstration
        print("Down "+mat.renderQueue);
        mat.SetOverrideTag("RenderType", "Transparent");
        mat.color = new Color(1, 0, 0, .5f);
        mat.renderQueue = 3000;
    }
}

The documentation on materials isn’t really helpful, but I’ve managed to link that transparent materials have the “RenderType” tag set to “Transparent”, and renderQueue at 3000. (I also noticed fully opaque objects don’t cast shadows, which I’d like to avoid.)
Is there an easy way to do this, or is it just setting a bunch of values? Does Unity “support” materials changing render methods, and is it just easier to copy essential values (albedo, normal, etc)to an already transparent material?

2

You have to set a number of properties/keywords to switch the standard shader from opaque to other modes. Check this answer out: http://answers.unity.com/answers/1265884/view.html

3

Thanks! But with all the variables that changes, I might just stick with copying essential values to an already transparent material, unless it ends up creating more problems.

Edit: Ok, it’s causing more problems: the normals don’t update.

4

“Rise from the grave”
Commenting on this because this is one of the top results in the google search. There is now a “_Mode” int you can set to change between each mode. Very useful and easy! It works the same way as the drop down in the inspector.