All the 3D models in our project needs to be read / writeable, but the default import settings in Unity is to disable read / write. Is there a way to change the default option to ALWAYS enable read / write when someone drags a new model in? As our artists keep forgetting to set this flag, causing problems that can be hard to detect.
Take a look at the preset system.
You can set a default Preset for each importer type.
Could you be more specific? If the artists have to manually select a preset then they could just as well tick that read/write box
You can set a specific preset as the default preset for a specific importer.
That way you can have a preset with read/write box checked as the default for your models.
I found the best way to do this is by using the AssetPostprocessor, then set the necessary flags in OnPreprocessModel()