> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.stereolabs.com/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.stereolabs.com/_mcp/server.

# Setting up ZED Camera in Isaac Sim

> **Warning**
>
> This is documentation for previous versions of the **Isaac Sim ZED Extension \< 4.0.0**.
>
> For the most recent version, please refer to [this page](/docs/integrations/isaac-sim/)

This tutorial guides you through setting up the ZED X camera in NVIDIA® Isaac Sim and connecting to the ZED SDK. If you're not familiar with Isaac Sim, make sure to go through the [Isaac Sim Official documentation](https://docs.isaacsim.omniverse.nvidia.com/latest/index.html).

## Setting up your virtual camera

### Add the model to the stage

The ZED X model is available in the **Isaac Assets** tab on the bottom panel.

If you cannot find the ZED X Model, then you can manually add it by cloning the [GitHub repository](https://github.com/stereolabs/zed-isaac-sim):

```bash
cd <your_workspace>
git clone git@github.com:stereolabs/zed-isaac-sim.git
```

![image](/_fern-img/f8a0f9b1d25380cf7370ebd98f791d94fde196db8b01744653c260a08d72259e.webp)

Select the model **ZED\_X.usd** and drag it in the *Viewport* or in the *Stage* view.

![image](/_fern-img/613cbf1f7b4cbd8224bae0b2f2aafd98644681309219f45f20b7c91123cbd4f0.webp)

You will notice the prim has a *base\_link* XForm; this is the reference frame of the mounting point on the bottom of the camera.

### Activate the ZED Camera extension

The virtual camera takes advantage of the [ZED SDK streaming input](https://www.stereolabs.com/docs/api/classsl_1_1InputType.html#a29ca7c0e2e9246890929a00d74e10c39) to stream its data into the ZED SDK.\
The first step is to enable the ZED Camera extension to get access to the ZED Camera Streamer Omnigraph node.\
In the top menu bar, navigate to **Window -> Extension** to show the extension manager.

![image](/_fern-img/f78fa67561f42655405591451952ec11d9f1ed03b31ea54f429fad7185b318a3.webp)

If you cannot find the ZED X Extension, then you can manually add it by cloning the [GitHub repository](https://github.com/stereolabs/zed-isaac-sim), *if you have not yet done this before*:

```bash
cd <your_workspace>
git clone git@github.com:stereolabs/zed-isaac-sim.git
```

Click on the menu button (three horizontal bars), select `Settings`, and create a new entry in the right list with the path to the root folder of the cloned repository.

Now search for *zed* in the search bar on the left column, and hit `INSTALL` to install the ZED Extension.

Finally, toggle the *DISABLED* switch to activate the extension and flag the *AUTOLOAD* option if you want the extension to be loaded when the simulator starts.

### Build the action graph

To initiate the virtual ZED camera streaming, we will be using the **ZED Camera streamer** Omnigraph node. To stream data at each simulation tick, drag and drop this node into the graph (you can type *zed* in the search panel to quickly find it), add its *ZED Camera prim* target to the camera in the scene, and connect its *ExecIn* input to the *Tick* output of the *On Playback Tick* node.

![image](/_fern-img/44a46c5cf7e294ee625b0d5780512b5255d08694e75d8c73c680d4ab42707e99.webp)

You can also configure the streamer properties in the *Property* panel on the right:

* **Serial number**: this field allows you to identify the virtual camera you are using. It has no functional effect and can be left to its default value. This field can be useful when using multiple cameras to differentiate them.
* **Streaming port**: Defines which port is used for streaming. It must be an even number.
* **Use system time**: when set to true, the streamer assigns the latest system time to the images that are sent to the SDK. If set to false, the streamer only sets the first timestamp to system time and then increments the next timestamps by simulation time.
* **ZED Camera prim**: this parameter should be set to the ZED X camera prim in the stage as shown in the picture above.

And that's it, you can now start the simulation to stream your stage into the ZED SDK!

## Test it in ZED Depth Viewer

Once streaming is started, you can test it by connecting ZED Depth Viewer to the virtual camera. Simply launch the tool, click on the streaming input button, set the IP Address (the streaming computer) and the port (set in **Streaming port**), and you should see the depth data coming from the virtual environment.

![image](/_fern-img/ca3f04013e97e9cf64e2f0773d585ac345e5f3d8a4929c8e88819a000a2950e5.webp)