Unity 2017.1 - Cubemap is flipped? (Bug?)

Unity Engine
1

I strongly suspect that cubemap preview is flipped along z axis in unity 2017.1

Cubemap documentation here:

Suggests that in sphere view you should see Z+ plane by default:

However, when I attempt to actually load something like this as a cubemap:

I get this in preview:

3210755--245795--cubemap bug.png
3210755--245795--cubemap bug.png731×582 82 KB

As you can see the first visible face is -Z, and it is cubemap image is flipped.

I get similar issue when attempt to render the scene from cubemap position:

3210755--245796--unitycubemap2.jpg
3210755--245796--unitycubemap2.jpg1920×1080 255 KB

This is rendered using RenderToCubemap routine.

The red/blue/green cubes are placed on +x, +y, +z relative to camera.

However if you check the cubemap preview on the right, you’ll see that there’s no blue cube in the middle, but the green cube above is still present, and the red cube is to the right. Meaning, the cubemap is flipped along Z.

2

No, it doesn’t. This is a texture that represents a spherical environment map, which is not the same as cubemap.
What you see in the preview is an orthographic projection with camera set up to look at a sphere with a cubemap reflection from the outside.

3

Alright, I yield. Apparently it is a misunderstanding on my part coupled with my own glitch that actually flipped the other cubemap.

However, I think it would be great to add an alternative cubemap visualization to avoid similar confusion in the future.

I think visualizing it as a simple box - with each face corresponding to face of the cubemap (possibly with axes displayed) would be great. The “reflected sphere” visualization is extremely ambiguous, and it being shadeless and orthographic doesn’t help.