Camera Placement#

The Camera Placement Tool (isaacsim.sensors.rtx.placement extension) automatically optimizes camera placement in a stage according to user customized requirements.

Enable the Extension#

Follow the Omniverse Extension Manager guide to enable the isaacsim.sensors.rtx.placement extension.

Open the Camera Placement Tool Panel#

The Camera Placement Tool is accessible by Tools > Sensors > Camera Placement.

Input Fields#

Camera Placement Output Path: The folder path where the generated camera placement data will be saved. The file camera_info_payload.json will be output to this folder, containing information about all cameras relevant to the current camera placement task.

Cached data would include:

Camera Path
Camera Position
Focus Point Position

Example

Output: in camera_info_payload.json

{
    "X_Positive": [
        {
        "camera_path": "/World/Cameras/Camera",
        "camera_position": [
            -25.48988914489746,
            -14.219901084899902,
            3.319734811782837
        ],
        "focus_point": [
            -20.801025390625,
            -18.900035858154297,
            0.5
        ]
        }
    ]
}

Total Camera Number: The total number of cameras to be placed in the scene.

Camera Range Parameters:

Camera Height Range:

Define the allowable height range for camera placement above the ground.

Camera Distance Range:

Set the distance range within which a camera can be placed from any point P on the stage.

Ensures:

For any point P, there exists a camera C such that the distance between C and P is within this range.

Camera Look Down Angle Range:

Define the downward tilt angle range for the cameras.

Zero degrees means the camera is parallel to the ground (horizontal view).

90 degrees means the camera is pointing straight down (top-down view, perpendicular to the ground).

Stage Processing Parameters:

Patch Size:
The stage is divided into patches of this size for estimating coverage.

The smaller size means more detailed stage analysis when calculate camera coverage.

On the other hand, It also means more computation time.

Ground Height:
Height of the ground surface in the stage.

Stage Scope:
Defines the spatial boundaries of the stage for camera placement when navmesh is unavailable.

X Scope: Minimum and maximum X-axis boundaries.

Y Scope: Minimum and maximum Y-axis boundaries.

Warning

This parameter is not recommended for normal use. Only use it in edge cases when a valid navmesh cannot be built for the stage.

Other Tuning Parameters:

Random Seed:
Controls the random seed for the camera placement process. For a given random seed, the camera placement result will be deterministic.

Border Checking Index:
Controls how close cameras can be placed to the boundary of the stage. Prevents invalid placements that can result from proximity to obstacles or being outside the stage bounds.

Camera On Navmesh:
Whether cameras must be placed only on the navigation mesh.

Minimum Coverage Increase:
The minimum additional patch a camera must cover for it to be considered valid. If the new camera increases coverage less than this value, placement will stop.

Limit FOV by Distance:
Determines whether the camera’s field of view should be restricted based on its Camera Distance Range. - If enabled, the estimated camera coverage will be further limited according to the distance between each visible area and the target camera.

Coverage Density:
Specifies how many cameras must cover each patch at a minimum.

Target Coverage Ratio:
The desired overall ratio of the stage that must be covered by cameras according to the requirements. Placement stops if this target is not met.

Buttons and Functions#

Place Cameras:
Begin the automated camera placement process using the parameters defined above.
Note
- After clicking the Place Cameras button, the process can take some time to complete. The duration depends on the number of cameras to be placed and the complexity of the stage.
- At the end of the placement the number of the camera number of the camera in each direction would summarized and output in the console as a carb warning message.
Show Selected Camera Coverage:
Visualize the coverage area of the currently selected camera.
Note
- The Show Selected Camera Coverage button displays the coverage areas of all selected cameras.
- Points with different levels of coverage will be shown in distinct colors.
  
  If the required Coverage Density is set to N, then N distinct colors will be used to represent coverage levels.
- Example:
  
  Camera Coverage Visualization Example

Show all Camera Coverage:
Visualize the coverage area of all cameras in the scene, regardless of selection status.
Note
- This button displays the combined coverage areas of all generated cameras.
- Use this to quickly verify overall scene coverage without manually selecting individual cameras.
- Points with different levels of coverage will be shown in distinct colors based on the Coverage Density setting.
Hide Coverage:
Hide the camera coverage visualization from the stage view.

Camera Placement Tool Tutorial#

To use the Camera Placement Tool. Ensure the scene has valid navmesh baked before proceeding. The tutorial uses the Isaac Sim Full Warehouse for demonstration.

Note

Stage unit must be in meters.
A valid NavMesh is required.
Z axis is up.

Enable the Extension#

Enable the isaacsim.sensors.rtx.placement extension.
Open the camera placement tool panel.

Open the Target Stage#

Open the Isaac Sim Full Warehouse

Note

Verify that the navmesh is baked successfully

Access Window > Navigation > Navmesh and click on Bake button if you need to rebake the navmesh.

Before proceeding, ensure that the omni.anim.navigation.bundle extension is enabled according to instruction.

Configure Camera Placement#

In the Camera Placement section of the UI:

Set the Camera Placement Output Path, by entering your cache folder path.
Set the Total Camera Number. Use -1 to auto-compute the minimum number of cameras needed.

(Optional) Adjust Camera Range#

If needed, configure the Camera Range Parameters such as height, look-down angles, and target distance. Refer to the Camera Range Input Fields for more details. This example uses the default values.

(Optional) Adjust Stage Processing#

Stage Processing Parameters allows you to configure the camera placement method according to the stage’s size, height, and complexity. Tune Stage Processing Parameters to set patch size or ground height, if applicable. Refer to the Stage Processing Parameters Field for more details. This example uses the default values.

Fine-tune Placement#

Multiple configurable parameters have been added to help user check and refine the camera placement logic.

In this case, modify these two parameters:

Set Coverage Density to 2, which means for each patch in the stage, you need two cameras to cover it.

Set Target Coverage Ratio to 0.99, which means 99 percent of the patch needs to be covered according to the set requirements.

In this example, use the default values for other parameters.

You are free to modify more Other Tuning Parameters to adjust placement logic if finer control is needed.

Refer to the Fine Tuning Parameters Field for more details.

Run Camera Placement#

Click the Place Cameras button to begin automatic placement. Wait for the process to complete.

The process can take some time to complete. The duration depends on the number of cameras to be placed and the complexity of the stage.

Check Coverage#

Get a top view of the stage to make the camera coverage visualization more clear.
- Create Top View Camera With Camera Calibration Panel.
- Switch you view port camera to the created top view camera.
- Visualize Navmesh by clicking on Visibility Menu (eye icon on viewport) > Show By Type > Navmesh.
In the Camera Placement Tool panel, click Show all Camera Coverage to visualize the coverage of all generated cameras.
- How Camera Coverage Visualization Works

In this example, points covered once are shown in red, while points covered twice are shown in green.

From the visualization result, most points are covered as our expectation.

Hide Coverage#

Click the Hide Coverage button to remove the coverage overlay.

(Optional)Save Your Work#

Save or Save as the updated USD file to preserve camera placements for further SDG workflows.