SceneCapture

Scene Capture is an Actor which captures a fully dynamic image of the scene into a Texture. It captures the scene from its view frustum, stores that view as an image, which is then used within a Material.

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💂Authority

This class can only be spawned on 🟧 Client side.

👪Inheritance

This class shares methods and events from Base Entity, Base Actor.

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Examples

Client/Index.lua

local scene_capture = SceneCapture(
  Vector(0, 0, 200),
  Rotator(-15, 0, 0),
  256,
  256,
  0,
  5000,
  100
)

-- Paints the Prop with the SceneCapture output
local my_prop = Prop(Vector(200, 200, 100), Rotator(), "helix::SM_Cube")
my_prop:SetMaterialFromSceneCapture(scene_capture)

Client/Index.lua

local scene_capture = SceneCapture(
  Vector(0, 0, 200),
  Rotator(-15, 0, 0),
  256,
  256,
  0,
  5000,
  100
)

-- Make a SceneCapture to only render a specific actor
local my_prop = Prop(Vector(200, 200, 100), Rotator(), "helix::SM_Cube")
scene_capture:AddRenderActor(my_prop)
scene_capture:SetShowFlag("Atmosphere", false)

tip

You can use the output Texture from a SceneCapture with :SetMaterialFromSceneCapture() method!

Constructors

Default Constructor

local my_scenecapture = SceneCapture(location?, rotation?, width?, height?, render_rate?, view_distance?, fov_angle?, enable_distance_optimization?)

Type	Name	Default	Description
Vector	location	Vector(0, 0, 0)	Location
Rotator	rotation	Rotator(0, 0, 0)	Rotation
integer	width	128	Width of the generated Texture
integer	height	128	Height of the generated Texture
float	render_rate	0.033	Render Rate (how frequent is the capture)
float	view_distance	5000	Maximum distance of capturing
float	fov_angle	90	FOV
boolean	enable_distance_optimization	true	Reduces the rendering frequency if the entities with this Material are too far or not visible. Disable it to always render at the render_rate

note

Scene Captures capture a scene in real time, this means every tick it will re-render the scene from scratch. Please consider reducing the width/height and even the render_rate to improve it's performance.

We've worked hard to make SceneCapture as performatic as possible! Some techniques were applied for optimization and reducing the render_rate automatically when you are far and when the generated texture is out of the screen.

Static Functions

Inherited Entity Static Functions

Base Entityscripting-reference/classes/base-classes/Entity

	Returns	Name	Description
	table of Base Entity	GetAll	Returns a table containing all Entities of the class this is called on
	Base Entity	GetByIndex	Returns a specific Entity of this class at an index
	integer	GetCount	Returns how many Entities of this class exist
	iterator	GetPairs	Returns an iterator with all Entities of this class to be used with pairs()
	table	Inherit	Inherits this class with the Inheriting System
	table of table	GetInheritedClasses	Gets a list of all directly inherited classes from this Class created with the Inheriting System
	table or nil	GetParentClass	Gets the parent class if this Class was created with the Inheriting System
	boolean	IsChildOf	Gets if this Class is child of another class if this Class was created with the Inheriting System
	function	Subscribe	Subscribes to an Event for all entities of this Class
	function	SubscribeRemote	Subscribes to a custom event called from server
		Unsubscribe	Unsubscribes all callbacks from this Event in this Class within this Package, or only the callback passed

This entity doesn't have own static functions.

Functions

Inherited Entity Functions

Base Entityscripting-reference/classes/base-classes/Entity

	Returns	Name	Description
	integer	GetID	Gets the universal network ID of this Entity (same on both client and server)
	table	GetClass	Gets the class of this entity
	boolean	IsA	Recursively checks if this entity is inherited from a Class
	function	Subscribe	Subscribes to an Event on this specific entity
	function	SubscribeRemote	Subscribes to a custom event called from server on this specific entity
		Unsubscribe	Unsubscribes all callbacks from this Event in this Entity within this Package, or only the callback passed
		SetValue	Sets a Value in this Entity
	any	GetValue	Gets a Value stored on this Entity at the given key
		Destroy	Destroys this Entity
	boolean	IsValid	Returns true if this Entity is valid (i.e. wasn't destroyed and points to a valid Entity)
		CallRemoteEvent	Calls a custom remote event directly on this entity to a specific Player
		CallRemoteEvent	Calls a custom remote event directly on this entity
		BroadcastRemoteEvent	Calls a custom remote event directly on this entity to all Players

Inherited Actor Functions

Base Actorscripting-reference/classes/base-classes/Actor

	Returns	Name	Description
		AddImpulse	Applies a force in world world to this Actor
		AttachTo	Attaches this Actor to any other Actor, optionally at a specific bone
		Detach	Detaches this Actor from AttachedTo Actor
		SetCollision	Sets this Actor's collision type
		SetDimension	Sets this Actor's Dimension
		SetForce	Adds a permanent force to this Actor, set to Vector(0, 0, 0) to cancel
		SetGravityEnabled	Sets whether gravity is enabled on this Actor
		SetVisibility	Sets whether the actor is visible or not
		SetHighlightEnabled	Sets whether the highlight is enabled on this Actor, and which highlight index to use
		SetOutlineEnabled	Sets whether the outline is enabled on this Actor, and which outline index to use
		SetLifeSpan	Sets the time (in seconds) before this Actor is destroyed. After this time has passed, the actor will be automatically destroyed.
		SetLocation	Sets this Actor's location in the game world
		SetRotation	Sets this Actor's rotation in the game world
		SetRelativeLocation	Sets this Actor's relative location in local space (only if this actor is attached)
		SetRelativeRotation	Sets this Actor's relative rotation in local space (only if this actor is attached)
		SetScale	Sets this Actor's scale
		SetNetworkAuthority	Sets the Player to have network authority over this Actor
		SetNetworkAuthorityAutoDistributed	Sets if this Actor will auto distribute the network authority between players
		TranslateTo	Smoothly moves this actor to a location over a certain time
		RotateTo	Smoothly rotates this actor to an angle over a certain time
	boolean	IsBeingDestroyed	Returns true if this Actor is being destroyed
	boolean	IsVisible	Returns true if this Actor is visible
	boolean	IsGravityEnabled	Returns true if gravity is enabled on this Actor
	boolean	IsInWater	Returns true if this Actor is in water
	boolean	IsNetworkDistributed	Returns true if this Actor is currently network distributed
	table of Base Actor	GetAttachedEntities	Gets all Actors attached to this Actor
	Base Actor or nil	GetAttachedTo	Gets the Actor this Actor is attached to
	table	GetBounds	Gets this Actor's bounds
	CollisionType	GetCollision	Gets this Actor's collision type
	Vector	GetLocation	Gets this Actor's location in the game world
	Vector	GetRelativeLocation	Gets this Actor's Relative Location if it's attached
	Player or nil	GetNetworkAuthority	Gets this Actor's Network Authority Player
	Rotator	GetRotation	Gets this Actor's angle in the game world
	Rotator	GetRelativeRotation	Gets this Actor's Relative Rotation if it's attached
	Vector	GetForce	Gets this Actor's force (set by SetForce())
	integer	GetDimension	Gets this Actor's dimension
	boolean	HasNetworkAuthority	Returns true if the local Player is currently the Network Authority of this Actor
	boolean	HasAuthority	Gets if this Actor was spawned by the client side
	Vector	GetScale	Gets this Actor's scale
	Vector	GetVelocity	Gets this Actor's current velocity
		AddActorTag	Adds an Unreal Actor Tag to this Actor
		RemoveActorTag	Removes an Unreal Actor Tag from this Actor
	table of string	GetActorTags	Gets all Unreal Actor Tags on this Actor
	boolean	WasRecentlyRendered	Gets if this Actor was recently rendered on screen
	float	GetDistanceFromCamera	Gets the distance of this Actor from the Camera
	float	GetScreenPercentage	Gets the percentage of this Actor size in the screen

	Returns	Name	Description
		AddRenderActor	Adds an Actor to the Render Only list
		RemoveRenderActor	Removes an Actor from the Render Only list
		ClearRenderActors	Clears the Render Only list
		SetFreeze	Stops or Restore Capturing
	string	EncodeToBase64	Takes a snapshot of the SceneCapture and returns a Base64 of it
		EncodeToBase64Async	Takes a snapshot of the SceneCapture and returns a Base64 of it (asynchronously)
		SetFOVAngle	Sets the FOV
		SetShowFlag	Enables/Disables rendering features from being captured
		Resize	Change the output Texture size Note: too high texture will make the capture slower and will affect game performance
		SetRenderRate	Set how frequent is the capture Note: Setting to 0 will make it capture every frame
		SetDistanceOptimizationEnabled	Enables or not the rendering frequency optimization if the entities with this Material are too far

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AddRenderActor

Adds an Actor to the Render Only list

Note: adding one actor to this will make the SceneCapture only to render those Actors.

my_scenecapture:AddRenderActor(actor)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
Base Actor	actor

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RemoveRenderActor

Removes an Actor from the Render Only list

my_scenecapture:RemoveRenderActor(actor)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
Base Actor	actor

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ClearRenderActors

Clears the Render Only list

my_scenecapture:ClearRenderActors()

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SetFreeze

Stops or Restore Capturing

my_scenecapture:SetFreeze(freeze)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
boolean	freeze

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EncodeToBase64

Takes a snapshot of the SceneCapture and returns a Base64 of it

— Returns string.

local ret = my_scenecapture:EncodeToBase64(image_format?)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
ImageFormat	image_format?	ImageFormat.JPEG	Which format to generate - JPEG is fastest but discards Alpha channel

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EncodeToBase64Async

Takes a snapshot of the SceneCapture and returns a Base64 of it (asynchronously)

my_scenecapture:EncodeToBase64Async(image_format?, callback)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
ImageFormat	image_format?	ImageFormat.JPEG	Which format to generate - JPEG is fastest but discards Alpha channel
function	callback		Callback in the format (base_64: string)

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SetFOVAngle

Sets the FOV

my_scenecapture:SetFOVAngle(angle)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
float	angle

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SetShowFlag

Enables/Disables rendering features from being captured
A complete list of available flags can be found in the Official Unreal Documentation

my_scenecapture:SetShowFlag(flag, enable)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
string	flag
boolean	enable

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Resize

Change the output Texture size Note: too high texture will make the capture slower and will affect game performance

my_scenecapture:Resize(width, height)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
integer	width
integer	height

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SetRenderRate

Set how frequent is the capture Note: Setting to 0 will make it capture every frame

my_scenecapture:SetRenderRate(render_rate)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
float	render_rate

---

SetDistanceOptimizationEnabled

Enables or not the rendering frequency optimization if the entities with this Material are too far

my_scenecapture:SetDistanceOptimizationEnabled(enabled)

Type	Parameter	Default	Description
boolean	enabled

Events

Inherited Entity Events

Base Entityscripting-reference/classes/base-classes/Entity

	Name	Description
	Spawn	Triggered when an Entity is spawned/created
	Destroy	Triggered when an Entity is destroyed
	ValueChange	Triggered when an Entity has a value changed with :SetValue()
	ClassRegister	Triggered when a new Class is registered with the Inheriting System

Inherited Actor Events

Base Actorscripting-reference/classes/base-classes/Actor

	Name	Description
	Spawn	Triggered when an Entity is spawned/created
	Destroy	Triggered when an Entity is destroyed
	ValueChange	Triggered when an Entity has a value changed with :SetValue()
	ClassRegister	Triggered when a new Class is registered with the Inheriting System

	Name	Description
	Capture	Triggered when this SceneCapture does an update/renders a frame

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Capture

Triggered when this SceneCapture does an update/renders a frame

SceneCapture.Subscribe("Capture", function(self)
	-- Capture was called
end)

Type	Argument	Description
SceneCapture	self