LoopLab is an editor-first Unity tool for generating short, seamless visual loops locally. The project is built for fast look development, deterministic iteration, and reusable exports that can be dropped into reels, portfolio case studies, motion backplates, or UI experiments without introducing any online dependency.

• Unity version: 6000.3.7f1
• Render pipeline: URP 17.3.0
• Main menu entry: Precondition/LoopLab
• Sandbox scene: Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/LoopLabSandbox.unity
• Built-in presets: Landscape, Fluid, Geometric
• Export formats: GIF, plus MP4 when ffmpeg is available
• Runtime model: fully local, deterministic, editor-first

These captures were generated from the current project using the graphics-backed showcase validation/export path, so they reflect the shipped presets rather than mocked-up marketing art.

• Landscape: layered horizon bands driven by tiled terrain-style noise.
• Fluid: soft cyan flow field built from curl-like motion.
• Geometric: hex-grid motion study with deterministic orbiting accents.

Typical export names include the preset, contrast mode, seed, frame count, FPS, resolution, and timestamp, for example:

looplab-landscape-high-seed1337-72f-24fps-512px-20260317-205153610.gif

• Unity 6000.3.7f1
• A machine that can open the Unity editor locally
• Optional for MP4 export: ffmpeg on PATH, LOOPLAB_FFMPEG_PATH, or FFMPEG_PATH

1. Clone the repository.
2. Open the project in Unity Hub with editor version 6000.3.7f1.
3. Let Unity restore packages and import the project.
4. Open Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/LoopLabSandbox.unity.
5. Open the main tool from Precondition/LoopLab.
6. If the scaffold or preview assets look missing, run Precondition/LoopLab/Rebuild Scaffold.

The scaffold step ensures the expected folder structure exists, assigns the project branding, provisions the URP assets under Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Resources/Materials, creates preview materials for each preset, and keeps the sandbox scene in build settings.

1. Open Precondition/LoopLab.
2. Choose a preset and adjust FPS, Duration, Resolution, and Seed.
3. Click Generate to freeze a validated loop state for preview, boundary QA, and export.
4. Use Play or Pause to scrub the loop in the window.
5. Switch between Single and Tiled2x2 preview mode to check the seam visually.
6. Save working configurations with Saved Presets when you want to reload them later.
7. Export to GIF or MP4 once the generated state is current.

Important behavior notes:

• Preview can show live settings before a new generation pass, but exports always use the last generated settings.
• After changing controls, generate again before exporting. The window will block export when settings are pending.
• The default export destination is Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Exports, but the window also accepts a custom folder.
• Validate All Presets writes boundary-check snapshots to log/boundary-validation in graphics-backed sessions.
• When Unity is running with -nographics, LoopLab now rejects placeholder-only visual captures and writes guidance to log/boundary-validation/VISUAL-VALIDATION-README.md instead.

• Use 256 or 512 resolution for fast iteration and 1024 when capturing a cleaner hero loop.
• Keep the seed visible in filenames or captions so a chosen look can be regenerated later.
• Use Tiled2x2 preview when you need to demonstrate that the loop closes cleanly at the seam.
• Treat the built-in presets as reusable visual directions:
  • Landscape for atmospheric horizon plates
  • Fluid for abstract motion backdrops
  • Geometric for graphic overlays and branded motion studies

• Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Editor/LoopLabWindow.cs
  • Main window, menu entries, preview state, saved presets, export controls, and boundary-QA presentation.
  • Keeps both live settings and frozen generatedSettings so editing does not silently change a generated export.
• Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Editor/LoopLabProjectBootstrap.cs
  • Rebuilds the scaffold, creates missing folders, provisions URP assets, refreshes preview materials, and ensures the sandbox scene exists.
• Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Editor/LoopBoundaryValidation.cs
  • Compares frame 0 against the restart boundary and writes diff snapshots for QA.

• Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Runtime/Core/LoopLabRenderSettings.cs
  • Normalizes generation inputs such as FPS, duration, resolution, and seed.
• Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Runtime/Core/LoopPhase.cs
  • Converts frame index or elapsed time into a periodic phase and loop vector.
• Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Runtime/Core/LoopRenderer.cs
  • Loads the preset material, pushes generation parameters into the shader, and renders a square preview/export frame.
• Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Runtime/Core/LoopLabPresetCatalog.cs
  • Maps preset kinds to display names, shaders, palette colors, and grid scale.
• Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Runtime/Shaders/*.shader
  • House the actual looping visual logic for landscape, fluid, and geometric motion.

• GIF export lives in Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Editor/Export/GifExporter.cs and GifEncoder.cs.
  • Frames are rendered through the same runtime renderer as preview.
  • GIF encoding supports configurable dithering.
• MP4 export lives in Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Editor/Export/Mp4Exporter.cs.
  • The exporter writes a PNG sequence, then invokes ffmpeg to encode H.264 output.
• Shared export session utilities live in Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Editor/Export/LoopLabExportSupport.cs.
  • Filenames encode the settings.
  • Temporary workspaces are staged and cleaned automatically.

LoopLab is designed so the same validated settings reproduce the same generated loop.

• LoopLabRenderSettings.GetValidated() is the normalization boundary for generation and export.
• Seed 0 is converted to the default seed 1337.
• Unsupported or out-of-range seeds are hashed into the stable range 1..16777215.
• RandomizeSeed() is deterministic for a given input seed, which makes seed stepping reproducible rather than time-based.
• LoopPhase is shared across preview and export, so both sample the same normalized timeline.
• Generate freezes a validated copy of the current settings, which prevents later UI edits from drifting the export or boundary-QA result.

• Landscape
  • Display name: Landscape - Dawn Ridge
  • Shader: LoopLab/Landscape
  • Best described as layered terrain silhouettes with a soft dawn palette.
• Fluid
  • Display name: Fluid - Azure Vortex
  • Shader: LoopLab/Fluid
  • Best described as an abstract cyan flow field.
• Geometric
  • Display name: Geometric - Brass Lattice
  • Shader: LoopLab/Geometric
  • Best described as a looping hex-cell motion pattern.

Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/
  Editor/        Editor window, scaffold bootstrap, validation, export tooling
  Runtime/       Render settings, phase math, renderer, presets, shaders
  Resources/     Preview materials and URP assets used by the renderer
  Exports/       Default export destination created by the tool
  LoopLabSandbox.unity
Assets/Precondition/LoopLab/Tests/EditMode/
  Render settings and GIF encoder tests
Packages/
  Unity dependencies, including URP
ProjectSettings/
  Unity project configuration and build settings
log/
  Batchmode validation logs and boundary-validation snapshots

Project import / compile check:

"/Applications/Unity/Hub/Editor/6000.3.7f1/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity" \
  -batchmode -nographics -projectPath "$PWD" -quit \
  -logFile "$PWD/log/unity-batchmode.log"

Boundary validation for all presets in graphics-backed batchmode:

"/Applications/Unity/Hub/Editor/6000.3.7f1/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity" \
  -batchmode -projectPath "$PWD" \
  -executeMethod Precondition.LoopLab.Editor.LoopBoundaryValidationBatch.RunAllPresets \
  -quit -logFile "$PWD/log/unity-boundary-validation.log"

If you accidentally run the boundary-validation command with -nographics, it now stops before writing placeholder PNGs and records the supported alternative in log/boundary-validation/VISUAL-VALIDATION-README.md.

Supported non-interactive visual validation, including showcase asset verification:

"/Applications/Unity/Hub/Editor/6000.3.7f1/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity" \
  -batchmode -projectPath "$PWD" \
  -executeMethod Precondition.LoopLab.Editor.Export.LoopLabShowcaseExporterBatchValidation.Run \
  -quit -logFile "$PWD/log/looplab-visual-validation.log"

Window workflow validation, including preset save/load, live preview behavior, and GIF export:

"/Applications/Unity/Hub/Editor/6000.3.7f1/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity" \
  -batchmode -projectPath "$PWD" \
  -executeMethod Precondition.LoopLab.Editor.LoopLabWindowBatchValidation.Run \
  -quit -logFile "$PWD/log/unity-window-validation.log"

MP4 validation when ffmpeg is available:

"/Applications/Unity/Hub/Editor/6000.3.7f1/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity" \
  -batchmode -projectPath "$PWD" \
  -executeMethod Precondition.LoopLab.Editor.LoopLabMp4ExporterBatchValidation.Run \
  -quit -logFile "$PWD/log/unity-mp4-validation.log"

• The tool is intentionally local and offline. There are no cloud services or remote generation dependencies.
• MP4 export depends on ffmpeg. If no executable is found, the window reports a clear error and does not write an output file.
• LoopLabPresetCatalog.SupportsContrastMode() currently returns false, so contrast mode is present in the data model but dormant in the shipped presets.
• Preset ScriptableObject types exist, but the current shipped look definitions are still driven primarily by LoopLabPresetCatalog plus the shaders.
• The repository now includes edit-mode tests, but it does not yet include a CI workflow.