When running the sample code below, every 3 seconds the middle sprite is replaced by a new one. When this happens, most of the time a flicker is noticeable. When recording the screen and stepping through the recording frame by frame, I noticed that the flicker is caused by a temporary reordering of the nodes’. Below you find two screenshots of two consecutive frames where the reordering is clearly visible.
This only happens for a SpriteKit scene used as an overlay for a SceneKit scene. Commenting out
buttons.zPosition = 1
or avoiding the fade in/out animations solves the issue.
I have created FB15945016.
import SceneKit
import SpriteKit
class GameViewController: NSViewController {
let overlay = SKScene()
var buttons: SKNode!
var previousButton: SKSpriteNode!
var nextButton: SKSpriteNode!
var pageContainer: SKNode!
var pageViews = [SKNode]()
var page = 0
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
let scene = SCNScene(named: "art.scnassets/ship.scn")!
let scnView = self.view as! SCNView
scnView.scene = scene
overlay.anchorPoint = CGPoint(x: 0.5, y: 0.5)
scnView.overlaySKScene = overlay
buttons = SKNode()
buttons.zPosition = 1
overlay.addChild(buttons)
previousButton = SKSpriteNode(systemImage: "arrow.uturn.backward.circle")
previousButton.position = CGPoint(x: -100, y: 0)
buttons.addChild(previousButton)
nextButton = SKSpriteNode(systemImage: "arrow.uturn.forward.circle")
nextButton.position = CGPoint(x: 100, y: 0)
buttons.addChild(nextButton)
pageContainer = SKNode()
pageViews = [SKSpriteNode(systemImage: "square.and.arrow.up"), SKSpriteNode(systemImage: "eraser")]
overlay.addChild(pageContainer)
setPage(0)
Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 3, repeats: true) { [self] _ in
setPage((page + 1) % 2)
}
}
func setPage(_ page: Int) {
pageViews[self.page].run(.sequence([
.fadeOut(withDuration: 0.2),
.removeFromParent()
]), withKey: "fade")
self.page = page
let pageView = pageViews[page]
pageView.alpha = 0
pageView.run(.fadeIn(withDuration: 0.2), withKey: "fade")
pageContainer.addChild(pageView)
}
override func viewDidLayout() {
overlay.size = view.frame.size
}
}
extension SKSpriteNode {
public convenience init(systemImage: String) {
self.init()
let width = 100.0
let image = NSImage(systemSymbolName: systemImage, accessibilityDescription: nil)!.withSymbolConfiguration(.init(hierarchicalColor: NSColor.black))!
let scale = NSScreen.main!.backingScaleFactor
image.size = CGSize(width: width * scale, height: width / image.size.width * image.size.height * scale)
texture = SKTexture(image: image)
size = CGSize(width: width, height: width / image.size.width * image.size.height)
}
}
SceneKit
RSS for tagCreate 3D games and add 3D content to apps using high-level scene descriptions using SceneKit.
Posts under SceneKit tag
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I am trying to port SceneKit projects to Swift 6, and I just can't figure out how that's possible. I even start thinking SceneKit and Swift 6 concurrency just don't match together, and SceneKit projects should - hopefully for the time being only - stick to Swift 5.
The SCNSceneRendererDelegate methods are called in the SceneKit Thread.
If the delegate is a ViewController:
class GameViewController: UIViewController {
let aNode = SCNNode()
func renderer(_ renderer: any SCNSceneRenderer, updateAtTime time: TimeInterval) {
aNode.position.x = 10
}
}
Then the compiler generates the error "Main actor-isolated instance method 'renderer(_:updateAtTime:)' cannot be used to satisfy nonisolated protocol requirement"
Which is fully understandable.
The compiler even tells you those methods can't be used for protocol conformance, unless:
Conformance is declare as @preconcurrency SCNSceneRendererDelegate like this:
class GameViewController: UIViewController, @preconcurrency SCNSceneRendererDelegate {
But that just delays the check to runtime, and therefore, crash in the SceneKit Thread happens at runtime...
Again, fully understandable.
or the delegate method is declared nonisolated like this:
nonisolated func renderer(_ renderer: any SCNSceneRenderer, updateAtTime time: TimeInterval) {
aNode.position.x = 10
}
Which generates the compiler error: "Main actor-isolated property 'position' can not be mutated from a nonisolated context".
Again fully understandable.
If the delegate is not a ViewController but a nonisolated class, we also have the problem that SCNNode can't be used.
Nearly 100% of the SCNSceneRendererDelegate I've seen do use SCNNode or similar MainActor bound types, because they are meant for that.
So, where am I wrong ? What is the solution to use SceneKit SCNSceneRendererDelegate methods with full Swift 6 compilation ? Is that even possible for now ?
I am working on a SceneKit project where I use a CAShapeLayer as the content for SCNMaterial's diffuse.contents to display a progress bar. Here's my initial code:
func setupProgressWithCAShapeLayer() {
let progressLayer = createProgressLayer()
progressBarPlane?.firstMaterial?.diffuse.contents = progressLayer
DispatchQueue.main.async {
var progress: CGFloat = 0.0
Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 0.1, repeats: true) { timer in
progress += 0.01
if progress > 1.0 {
progress = 0.0
}
progressLayer.strokeEnd = progress // Update progress
}
}
}
// MARK: - ARSCNViewDelegate
func renderer(_ renderer: SCNSceneRenderer, didAdd node: SCNNode, for anchor: ARAnchor) {
progressBarPlane = SCNPlane(width: 0.2, height: 0.2)
setupProgressWithCAShapeLayer()
let planeNode = SCNNode(geometry: progressBarPlane)
planeNode.position = SCNVector3(x: 0, y: 0.2, z: 0)
node.addChildNode(planeNode)
}
This works fine, and the progress bar updates smoothly. However, when I change the code to use a class property (self.progressLayer) instead of a local variable, the rendering starts flickering on the screen:
func setupProgressWithCAShapeLayer() {
self.progressLayer = createProgressLayer()
progressBarPlane?.firstMaterial?.diffuse.contents = progressLayer
DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in
var progress: CGFloat = 0.0
Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 0.1, repeats: true) { [weak self] timer in
progress += 0.01
if progress > 1.0 {
progress = 0.0
}
self?.progressLayer?.strokeEnd = progress // Update progress
}
}
}
After this change, the progressBarPlane in SceneKit starts flickering while being rendered on the screen.
My Question:
Why does switching from a local variable (progressLayer) to a class property (self.progressLayer) cause the flickering issue in SceneKit rendering?
I want to apply a SCNTechnique pipeline to the camera feed. To achieve this, I want to bring the camera input into the SceneKit world.
The perfects API seems to be:
let captureDevice = …
scnScene.background.contents = captureDevice
This is demonstrated in "SceneKit: What's New" (WWDC17) (at 44m19s) and is mentioned in the documentation of SCNMaterialProperty's contents.
Instead of showing camera feed, it crashes with these messages:
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** -[AVCaptureVideoDataOutput setVideoSettings:] Unsupported pixel format type - use -availableVideoCVPixelFormatTypes'
*** First throw call stack:
(0x18993c7cc <REDACTED> 0x211e18488)
libc++abi: terminating due to uncaught exception of type NSException
Please advise.
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
Create a new Xcode project, starting from the SceneKit game template.
Add Info.plist entry for NSCameraUsageDescription.
Add a capture device property to GameViewController:
class GameViewController: UIViewController {
let captureDevice = AVCaptureDevice.default(for: .video)
Set the background contents:
scene.background.contents = captureDevice
Run the app on device.
PLATFORM AND VERSION
iOS
Development environment: Xcode 16.1, macOS 15.0.1. Run-time configuration: iOS 18.1
Every now and then my SceneKit game app crashes and I have no idea why. The SCNView has a overlaySKScene, so it might also be SpriteKit's fault.
The stack trace is
#0 0x0000000241c1470c in jet_context::set_fragment_texture(std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char>> const&, jet_texture*) ()
#27 0x000000010572fd40 in _pthread_wqthread ()
Does anyone have an idea where I could start debugging this, without being able to consistently reproduce it?
Even when the action is run on the main thread, the following code causes a crash on iOS, but not on macOS. The game launches with a simple yellow rectangle, and when it finishes fading out and should be removed from the overlay scene, the app crashes.
The code can be pasted into the file GameController.swift of Xcode's default project for Multiplatform macOS and iOS game.
import SceneKit
import SpriteKit
@MainActor
class GameController: NSObject {
let scene: SCNScene
let sceneRenderer: SCNSceneRenderer
init(sceneRenderer renderer: SCNSceneRenderer) {
sceneRenderer = renderer
scene = SCNScene(named: "Art.scnassets/ship.scn")!
super.init()
sceneRenderer.scene = scene
renderer.overlaySKScene = SKScene(size: CGSize(width: 500, height: 500))
DispatchQueue.main.async {
let node = SKShapeNode(rect: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 100))
node.fillColor = .yellow
node.run(.sequence([
.fadeOut(withDuration: 1),
.removeFromParent()
]))
renderer.overlaySKScene!.addChild(node)
}
}
}
The Xcode console shows this stacktrace:
*** Assertion failure in -[UIApplication _performAfterCATransactionCommitsWithLegacyRunloopObserverBasedTiming:block:], UIApplication.m:3246
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'Call must be made on main thread'
*** First throw call stack:
(
0 CoreFoundation 0x00000001804ae0f8 __exceptionPreprocess + 172
1 libobjc.A.dylib 0x0000000180087db4 objc_exception_throw + 56
2 Foundation 0x0000000180d17058 _userInfoForFileAndLine + 0
3 UIKitCore 0x00000001853cf678 -[UIApplication _performAfterCATransactionCommitsWithLegacyRunloopObserverBasedTiming:block:] + 376
4 UIKitCore 0x000000018553f7a0 -[_UIFocusUpdateThrottle scheduleProgrammaticFocusUpdate] + 300
5 UIKitCore 0x0000000184e2e22c -[UIFocusSystem _requestFocusUpdate:] + 548
6 UIKitCore 0x0000000184e2dfa4 -[UIFocusSystem requestFocusUpdateToEnvironment:] + 76
7 UIKitCore 0x0000000184e2e864 -[UIFocusSystem _focusEnvironmentWillDisappear:] + 408
8 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3d472f4 _ZL12_removeChildP6SKNodeS0_P7SKScene + 240
9 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3d473b0 -[SKNode removeChild:] + 80
10 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3d466b8 -[SKNode removeFromParent] + 128
11 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3d1678c -[SKRemove updateWithTarget:forTime:] + 64
12 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3d1b740 _ZN11SKCSequence27cpp_updateWithTargetForTimeEP7SKCNoded + 84
13 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3d20e3c _ZN7SKCNode6updateEdf + 156
14 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3d20f20 _ZN7SKCNode6updateEdf + 384
15 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3d26fb8 -[SKScene _update:] + 464
16 SpriteKit 0x00000001a3cf3168 -[SKSCNRenderer _update:] + 80
17 SceneKit 0x000000019c932bf0 -[SCNMTLRenderContext renderSKSceneWithRenderer:overlay:atTime:] + 60
18 SceneKit 0x000000019c9ebd98 -[SCNRenderer _drawOverlaySceneAtTime:] + 204
19 SceneKit 0x000000019cb1a1c0 _ZN3C3D11OverlayPass7executeERKNS_10RenderArgsE + 60
20 SceneKit 0x000000019c8e05ec _ZN3C3D13__renderSliceEPNS_11RenderGraphEPNS_10RenderPassERtRKNS0_9GraphNodeERPNS0_5StageENS_10RenderArgsEbRPU27objcproto16MTLCommandBuffer11objc_object + 2660
21 SceneKit 0x000000019c8e18ac _ZN3C3D11RenderGraph7executeEv + 3808
22 SceneKit 0x000000019c9ed26c -[SCNRenderer _renderSceneWithEngineContext:sceneTime:] + 756
23 SceneKit 0x000000019c9ed544 -[SCNRenderer _drawSceneWithNewRenderer:] + 208
24 SceneKit 0x000000019c9ed9fc -[SCNRenderer _drawScene:] + 40
25 SceneKit 0x000000019c9edce4 -[SCNRenderer _drawAtTime:] + 500
26 SceneKit 0x000000019ca87950 -[SCNView _drawAtTime:] + 368
27 SceneKit 0x000000019c943b74 __83-[NSObject(SCN_DisplayLinkExtensions) SCN_setupDisplayLinkWithQueue:screen:policy:]_block_invoke + 44
28 SceneKit 0x000000019ca50600 -[SCNDisplayLink _displayLinkCallbackReturningImmediately] + 132
29 libdispatch.dylib 0x000000010239173c _dispatch_client_callout + 16
30 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000102394c14 _dispatch_continuation_pop + 756
31 libdispatch.dylib 0x00000001023aa4e0 _dispatch_source_invoke + 1736
32 libdispatch.dylib 0x00000001023997f0 _dispatch_lane_serial_drain + 340
33 libdispatch.dylib 0x000000010239a774 _dispatch_lane_invoke + 420
34 libdispatch.dylib 0x00000001023a71a8 _dispatch_root_queue_drain_deferred_wlh + 324
35 libdispatch.dylib 0x00000001023a6604 _dispatch_workloop_worker_thread + 488
36 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x000000010242bb74 _pthread_wqthread + 284
37 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x000000010242a934 start_wqthread + 8
)
libc++abi: terminating due to uncaught exception of type NSException
Am I doing something wrong?
In the simplest case I can come up with, I create a scene (either fully or partially in code) with a single dynamic body, located slightly away from the origin.
I give the body a charge as well as adding an electric field to the node. Body does nothing (as to be expected, since it's the source of the field).
However if I replace that field with a custom field (does nothing except reports back the passed in position value) the position shown is the location of the body in the local space of its parent (in this case, the root node) rather than the node the field is attached to (i.e. itself).
I've attached the code customising the SwiftUI app template. Hopefully someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong?
ContentView customisation…
struct ContentView: View
{
var body: some View
{
SceneView(scene: ElectricScene(), options: [.allowsCameraControl, .autoenablesDefaultLighting])
}
}
And the code to create the scene…
import Foundation
import SceneKit
class ElectricScene: SCNScene
{
override init()
{
super.init()
physicsWorld.gravity = SCNVector3(0, 0, 0)
let cameraNode = SCNNode()
cameraNode.camera = SCNCamera()
cameraNode.position = SCNVector3(0, 0, 10)
rootNode.addChildNode(cameraNode)
let ballNode = SCNNode(geometry: SCNSphere(radius: 0.5))
ballNode.position = SCNVector3(2, 0, 0)
ballNode.physicsBody = SCNPhysicsBody(type: .dynamic, shape: nil)
ballNode.physicsBody?.charge = -1
rootNode.addChildNode(ballNode)
// ballNode.physicsField = SCNPhysicsField.electric()
ballNode.physicsField = SCNPhysicsField
.customField {position, _, _, _, _ in
print(position)
return SCNVector3Zero
}
}
@available(*, unavailable)
required init?(coder: NSCoder)
{
fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
}
}
This (repeatedly) prints out the following…
SCNVector3(x: 2.0, y: 0.0, z: 0.0)
…which is the position of the node relative to the root node, rather than relative to the source of the field (itself).
I would like to preload and use some images for both SpriteKit and SceneKit models (my game uses SceneKit with a SpriteKit overlay), and as far as I can see the only efficient way would be to create and preload SKTexture objects which can be supplied to SKSpriteNode(texture:) and SCNMaterial.diffuse.contents.
The problem is that SKTexture are rendered too bright in SceneKit, for some unknown reason. Here a comparison between rendering an image (from URL) and a SKTexture:
And the code that produces it:
let url = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "art.scnassets/texture.png", withExtension: nil)!
let plane1 = SCNPlane(width: 10, height: 10)
plane1.firstMaterial!.diffuse.contents = url.path
let node1 = SCNNode(geometry: plane1)
node1.position.x = -5
scene.rootNode.addChildNode(node1)
let plane2 = SCNPlane(width: 10, height: 10)
plane2.firstMaterial!.diffuse.contents = SKTexture(image: NSImage(byReferencing: url))
let node2 = SCNNode(geometry: plane2)
node2.position.x = 5
scene.rootNode.addChildNode(node2)
This issue was already mentioned in this other post, but since I wasn't notified of the reply from Quinn asking about the feedback number I created at the time, it didn't make any progress.
Hello dear forum,
I need to emit an exact amount of particles from a SCNParticleSystem in a burst (this is for an UI effect). This worked for me perfectly in the scene editor by setting the birthrate to the amount and emission duration to 0.
Sadly when I either load such a particle system from a scene or creating it by code, the emitted particles are sometimes one less, or one more.
The first time I run it in the simulator, it seems to work fine but then amount of particles varies as described.
video: https://youtube.com/shorts/MRzqWBy2ypA?feature=share
Does anybody know how to make this predictable?
Thanks so much in advance,
Seb