Camera Control#

Overview#

Isaacsim.Replicator.Agent (IRA) provides randomization for the cameras. By default, the cameras spawned by IRA will look at the characters in the stage. Additionally, IRA includes a camera calibration extension that provides the intrinsic and extrinsic matrices of the virtual fixed cameras in the simulation.

Camera Placement Randomization#

Introduction#

IRA can automate the camera layout adjustment progress by spawning cameras that look at the characters with certain attributes.
Before setting up the simulation with IRA, you can adjust the camera randomization settings, including the camera’s heights, viewing angles, and the distances to characters.

Note

  • The randomization feature can be turned off by setting aim_camera_to_character to False and the cameras will be looking at the world origin instead.

  • If there are no valid positions to place the camera due to no NavMesh or occlusions, all cameras will be looking at the world origin.

Attributes#

Illustration#

an illustration for what each attribute represent for the camera settings an illustration for what each attribute represent for the camera settings

Attributes#

aim_camera_to_character

  • Whether to enable the randomization features. If this is set to False, the cameras will be looking at the World origin.

  • Default Value: True

character_focus_height

  • This attribute determines where the camera looks. The camera’s focus point is character_focus_height + character_root_position

  • Default Value (meter): 0.7

max_camera_distance

  • Camera’s max distance from the character that it’s looking at.

  • Default Value (meter): 14

max_camera_focallength

  • Camera’s max focal length range

  • Default Value (meter): 23

max_camera_height

  • Camera’s max height value (translation’s z axis value) range

  • Default Value (meter): 3

Note

max_camera_height must be lower than max_camera_distance.

max_camera_look_down_angle

  • The Max angle between camera and the ground

  • Default Value (degree): 60

min_camera_distance

  • Camera’s min distance from the character that it’s looking at.

  • Default Value (meter): 6.5

min_camera_focallength

  • Camera’s min focal length range

  • Default Value (meter): 13

min_camera_height

  • Camera’s min height value (translation’s z axis value) range

  • Default Value (meter): 2

Note

  • min_camera_height must be higher than character_focus_height.

  • If min_camera_height == max_camera_height, all the cameras will be placed at the same height.

min_camera_look_down_angle

  • The Min angle between camera and the ground

  • Default Value (degree): 0

Note

  • If min_camera_look_down_angle == max_camera_look_down_angle, all the cameras will be placed at the same angle.

randomize_camera_info

  • Whether to randomize the camera’s focal length. It this is turned off, all cameras will have the same focal length.

  • Default Value: True

Setting Attributes#

The attributes mentioned above can be set based on your simulation requirement. You can either set it from the UI or using a script.

From the UI#

  1. Go to Window > Extension, and search “debug settings”

  2. Install and enable the extension omni.kit.debug.settings and a Debug Setting UI window will appear.

  3. Search isaacsim.replicator.agent, then go to “persistent” tab to find all the IRA settings.

an illustration for where to find the Settings

  1. Adjust the camera randomization settings as you like.

From the Script#

  1. Set target_[attribute name] to the value you want in the following script.

  2. Run the script from the Script Editor, which can be accessed from Window > Script Editor.

import carb

# activate the feature by setting aim_camera_to_character to true
my_setting = carb.settings.get_settings()

# please set your target value in here
target_aim_camera_to_character = True
target_character_focus_height = 0.7
target_max_camera_distance = 14
target_min_camera_distance = 6.5
target_max_camera_focallength = 23
target_min_camera_focallength = 13
target_max_camera_height = 3
target_min_camera_height = 2
target_max_camera_look_down_angle = 60
target_min_camera_look_down_angle = 0
target_randomize_camera_info = True

# set whether to turn on the "aim_camera_to_character" randomization
aim_camera_to_character = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/aim_camera_to_character"
my_setting.set(aim_camera_to_character, target_aim_camera_to_character)

# set camera focus height
character_focus_height = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/character_focus_height"
my_setting.set(character_focus_height, target_character_focus_height)

# set max camera distance
max_camera_distance = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/max_camera_distance"
my_setting.set(max_camera_distance, target_max_camera_distance)

# set min camera distance
min_camera_distance = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/min_camera_distance"
my_setting.set(min_camera_distance, target_min_camera_distance)

# set max camera focal length
max_camera_focallength = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/max_camera_focallength"
my_setting.set(max_camera_focallength, target_max_camera_focallength)

# set min camera focal length
min_camera_focallength = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/min_camera_focallength"
my_setting.set(min_camera_focallength, target_min_camera_focallength)

# set min camera height
min_camera_height = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/min_camera_height"
my_setting.set(min_camera_height , target_min_camera_height)

# set max camera height
max_camera_height = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/max_camera_height"
my_setting.set(max_camera_height , target_max_camera_height)

# set max camera look down angle
max_camera_look_down_angle = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/max_camera_look_down_angle"
my_setting.set(max_camera_look_down_angle, target_max_camera_look_down_angle)

# set min camera look down angle
min_camera_look_down_angle = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim.replicator.agent/min_camera_look_down_angle"
my_setting.set(min_camera_look_down_angle, target_min_camera_look_down_angle)

# set whether to randomize the camera focal length
randomize_camera_info = "/persistent/exts/isaacsim/replicator.agent/randomize_camera_info"
my_setting.set(randomize_camera_info, target_randomize_camera_info)

Camera Calibration#

IRA includes an extension called isaacsim.replicator.agent.camera_calibration. The camera calibration extension provides camera metadata for cameras generated by IRA. It can be used to generate the stage layout image with each camera’s FOV polygons. Camera calibration data such as the camera’s direction, location, and FOV polygon information can also be captured and saved to a JSON file.

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