RenderStream - Omniverse RTX Renderer Integration

A RenderStream integration for NVIDIA’s RTX Renderer

RenderStream RTX enables real-time rendering of USD scenes in NVIDIA Omniverse, streamed to Disguise media servers via the RenderStream protocol.

NVIDIA Omniverse RTX™ Renderer is a scalable photo-real renderer offering physically accurate rendering with real-time performance. Used in Omniverse Composer and Kit Apps, it offers high-quality ray-tracing capabilities for film, TV, commercials, and live visuals applications.

Scenes can be built in NVIDIA’s Omniverse Composer and Kit App for use within Designer and streamed vis LED.

This guide covers installation, scene setup, exposed parameters, and integration with Designer.

Demo video

Watch online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_dgIYRIiSE

Requirements

Hardware

Component	Minimum	Recommended
GPU	NVIDIA RTX series	RTX 4000+ series
VRAM	8 GB	16+ GB
RAM	32 GB	64 GB

Software

Software	Version
Windows	10/11 (64-bit)
NVIDIA Driver	537.70 or newer
Disguise Designer	With RenderStream support

Download the installer

To request the download, please contact the Product team at product-team@disguise.one.

Project setup

1. Install the RenderStream-RTX plugin

Extract the RenderStream-RTX.zip package into a folder under the RenderStream Projects folder on the Disguise server:

RenderStream Projects\
└── RenderStream-RTX\
    ├── open_usd.exe
    ├── edit_usd.exe
    ├── rs_open_usd.json
    ├── kit\
    ├── apps\
    ├── exts\
    └── scripts\

2. Open the scene in the Omniverse editor UI

Once extracted, open_usd will appear as an available asset in Designer.

3. Configure the file association

Set edit_usd.exe as the default application for .usd, .usda, and .usdc files. This allows you to double-click any USD file to open it in the editor for scene setup.

Supported USD formats

Extension	Description
`.usd`	Binary or ASCII USD
`.usda`	ASCII USD (human-readable)
`.usdc`	Binary USD (crate format)
`.usdz`	Zipped USD archive

4. Launch the scene

Launch it with edit_usd.exe scene.usd.

5. Set up the scene for RenderStream

Arrange the scene content in the USD.

6. Arranging the camera

The plugin creates a camera at /World/RS_Cam on startup.

Camera tracking data from Designer (position, rotation, focal length, focus distance, aperture) is applied each frame relative to the camera’s saved USD transform.

7. Expose any controllable parameters

Open your scene with edit_usd.exe.
Select a prim in the Stage panel (e.g. a mesh, light, or xform).
In the Property panel, find the RenderStream Exposed Parameters section.
Check the box next to any attribute you want to control from Designer.
Save the scene.

Checked attributes will appear as controllable parameters in Designer’s property panel when the scene is running.

8. Register the scene

Save the scene so it gets written into rs_open_usd.json.

Scenes must be registered before they appear in Designer’s scene dropdown.

Open a USD file with edit_usd.exe. This launches the Omniverse editor UI for scene preview and setup. No RenderStream connection is required.
Save the scene. The scene is automatically registered in rs_open_usd.json and will appear in Designer’s scene dropdown.

Note: You can also edit rs_open_usd.json directly to add or remove scenes. The file is located next to open_usd.exe.

Scene registry format

{
    "majorVersion": 2,
    "minorVersion": 0,
    "engineName": "RenderStreamRtx",
    "engineVersion": "107.3.0",
    "pluginVersion": "0.2.0",
    "channels": ["RS_Cam"],
    "schema": [
        {
            "name": "MyScene",
            "path": "C:\\Scenes\\my_scene.usd",
            "parameters": []
        }
    ]
}

Launch modes

RenderStream RTX supports three launch modes:

Command	Mode	Description
`open_usd.exe scene.usd`	Headless	Window hidden, for production use with Designer
`open_usd.exe scene.usd --gui`	Viewport	Borderless fullscreen viewport for preview
`edit_usd.exe scene.usd`	Editor	Full Omniverse UI for scene setup, no RenderStream

9. Designer project setup

Create a new RenderStream Layer in Designer.
Select open_usd as the asset.
Configure a mapping type - refer to the table below for recommended mapping types:

Type	Use case
Perspective	Standard camera projection
Spatial	LED walls, multi-tile displays using off-axis projection
Mesh	Curved surfaces and dome projection

Select a registered scene from the scene dropdown.
Press Start.

To use the viewport preview mode, add --gui as a custom argument in the Engine Settings of the RenderStream Layer.

10. Select the Renderer mode

Viewing the content

A built-in RenderMode dropdown is automatically exposed to Designer.

Scene: leave as Default
Render Mode: currently an integer from 0-3. We will adjust to an enum.
- We suggest using 0 (RTX - Real-Time) for interactive ICVFX use cases.

Value	Renderer	Description
`0`	RTX Realtime (default)	Sets the renderer to the Omniverse RTX Renderer’s RTX Real-Time 2.0 mode
`1`	RTX Path Tracing	Sets the renderer to the Omniverse RTX Renderer’s RTX Interactive (Path Tracing) mode
`2`	RTX Iray	Sets the renderer to RTX Accurate (Iray) mode
`3`	Pixar Storm	Sets the renderer to Pixar Storm mode

With the setup complete, you can now verify your connection by testing your output against the sample assets below.

Sample images

Sample assets can be downloaded from https://docs.omniverse.nvidia.com/usd/latest/usd_content_samples/downloadable_packs.html

From the Residential Lobby pack, available for download.

From the Sample Scenes Asset pack, available for download.

From the Sample Industrial Asset pack, available for download.

Car asset from the Sample Scenes Asset Pack, available for download.

Custom Car Scene

Changelog

Version 0.1.12

• Resolved framerate fraction timeout issue

Version 0.1.1

• Kit app now gracefully exits when RenderStream sends quit signal • Gizmos visibility preference now persists across sessions

Version 0.1

• First beta release of RenderStream-RTX