View an RTSP camera in Unity¶

Media Blocks SDK .Net Video Capture SDK .Net

There are two ways to view a live RTSP / IP camera stream in Unity, and the package ships a ready scene for each. Both render into a Unity RawImage and run on Windows, Android, macOS Standalone, and iOS. This article assumes you have imported the Unity package and applied the two required project settings — see Using VisioForge in Unity first.

Two scenes, two engines¶

Pick RTSPViewer when you want to assemble the pipeline yourself; pick IPCameraX when you want a capture engine that can also record while it previews. Both feed the same bundled VisioForgeVideoView, so the texture upload, aspect handling, and vertical flip are identical.

RTSPViewer — the Media Blocks pipeline¶

The RTSPViewer scene displays a live RTSP / IP camera stream with the low-level Media Blocks SDK .NET, rendered into a RawImage.

Run the RTSPViewer scene¶

1. In the Project window open Assets/Scenes/RTSPViewer.unity (double-click it).
2. In the Hierarchy select the RawImage GameObject. The RTSPViewerPlayer component is attached to it.
3. In the Inspector, set Rtsp Url (and Login / Password if the camera requires authentication).
4. Press ▶ Play — the stream renders in the Game view.

Inspector fields (RTSPViewerPlayer)¶

The RTSPViewer pipeline¶

RTSPViewerPlayer builds this pipeline:

graph LR;
    src[RTSPSourceBlock] -->|video| sink["BufferSinkBlock (RGBA)"];
    sink --> view["VisioForgeVideoView (Texture2D)"];
    src -->|audio, optional| audio[AudioRendererBlock];

The core of PlayAsync:

_pipeline = new MediaBlocksPipeline();

// readInfo:false skips the media pre-probe (it can fail under the Unity runtime, and
// probing a live stream adds connect latency); the codec is negotiated when playback starts.
var settings = await RTSPSourceSettings.CreateAsync(
    new Uri(rtspUrl), login ?? string.Empty, password ?? string.Empty,
    audioEnabled: _renderAudio, readInfo: false);

_source = new RTSPSourceBlock(settings);

_videoSink = new BufferSinkBlock(VideoFormatX.RGBA);
_videoSink.OnVideoFrameBuffer += _videoView.OnFrameBuffer;
_pipeline.Connect(_source.VideoOutput, _videoSink.Input);

if (_renderAudio && _source.AudioOutput != null)
{
    _audioRenderer = new AudioRendererBlock();
    _pipeline.Connect(_source.AudioOutput, _audioRenderer.Input);
}

await _pipeline.StartAsync();

IPCameraX — the VideoCaptureCoreX engine¶

The IPCameraX scene views the same RTSP / IP camera with the high-level VideoCaptureCoreX engine. On top of the live preview it can record to MP4 and exposes snapshots, audio routing, and overlays — the capture-engine features the hand-built RTSPViewer pipeline does not provide out of the box.

The OnVideoFrameUnity event¶

VideoCaptureCoreX exposes the Unity-only OnVideoFrameUnity event: each frame arrives as tightly packed RGBA32 (Stride == Width * 4), ready for Texture2D.LoadRawTextureData with no conversion. Subscribe before StartAsync.

Run the IPCameraX scene¶

1. In the Project window open Assets/Scenes/SampleScene.unity.
2. In the Hierarchy select the RawImage GameObject — the IPCameraXViewer component is attached to it.
3. In the Inspector set Rtsp Url (and Login / Password if the camera needs them).
4. Press ▶ Play — the camera stream appears in the Game view.

Inspector fields (IPCameraXViewer)¶

The IPCameraX pipeline¶

graph LR;
    rtsp["VideoCaptureCoreX (RTSP source)"] -->|OnVideoFrameUnity, RGBA32| view["VisioForgeVideoView (Texture2D)"];
    rtsp -->|optional record| mp4["MP4Output (H264 + AAC)"];

The core of PlayAsync:

_capture = new VideoCaptureCoreX();

// readInfo:false skips the media pre-probe (it can fail under the Unity runtime and adds latency).
var rtspSettings = await RTSPSourceSettings.CreateAsync(
    new Uri(rtspUrl), login, password, audioEnabled: renderAudio, readInfo: false);
_capture.Video_Source = rtspSettings;

// Texture-ready RGBA32 frames straight into the view.
_capture.OnVideoFrameUnity += _videoView.OnFrameBuffer;

if (recordToFile)
    _capture.Outputs_Add(new MP4Output(outputPath), autostart: true);

await _capture.StartAsync();

Use it in your own scene¶

Add a Canvas → Raw Image (GameObject → UI → Raw Image), select it, Add Component → RTSPViewerPlayer (Media Blocks pipeline) or IPCameraXViewer (VideoCaptureCoreX engine), set Rtsp Url, and press ▶ Play. The RawImage layout, aspect handling, and vertical flip are handled by the bundled VisioForgeVideoView. For local file playback instead of RTSP, use MediaBlocksPlayer or MediaPlayerXPlayer (see Play a media file).

Per-platform Build Settings and network permissions¶

Both scenes run unchanged on every supported platform — but each target has its own network-permission and Build Profile requirements.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />

<key>NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app streams video from local IP cameras on your network.</string>

<key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key>
<dict>
    <key>NSAllowsArbitraryLoads</key>
    <true/>
</dict>

Auto-reconnect¶

Both engines reconnect automatically when the stream drops, with backoff between attempts — no manual state machine in your script. For RTSPViewer, raise the timeout on the underlying RTSPSourceSettings before passing them to RTSPSourceBlock if you need a longer window; IPCameraX (VideoCaptureCoreX) handles camera reboots and brief interruptions the same way.

Frequently Asked Questions¶

Which scene should I use — RTSPViewer or IPCameraX?¶

Use RTSPViewer (MediaBlocksPipeline) for a lean view-only pipeline you assemble yourself. Use IPCameraX (VideoCaptureCoreX) when you also want recording to MP4, snapshots, audio routing, or overlays on the same stream — they are ready-made on the capture engine.

How do I provide camera credentials?¶

Set the Login and Password fields on either component. Leave them empty for streams that need no authentication; the credentials are sent to the camera, not embedded in the URL.

What URL format should I use?¶

The standard rtsp://host:port/path form your camera exposes, e.g. rtsp://192.168.1.21:554/Streaming/Channels/101 (Hikvision) or rtsp://192.168.1.22:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0 (Dahua). Check your camera's manual for its exact stream path.

Does it record the camera?¶

IPCameraX does — enable Record To File to add an MP4Output alongside the preview. RTSPViewer is view-only; add a recording branch to its pipeline yourself if you need it.

What if the camera has no audio?¶

Both work as video-only. The audio branch is connected only when the stream actually carries audio, so a video-only camera needs no changes.

Can I display several cameras at once?¶

Yes. Add a RawImage with its own RTSPViewerPlayer or IPCameraXViewer for each camera; each builds an independent pipeline.

See Also¶

• Using VisioForge in Unity — package overview, setup, and how rendering works
• Play a media file in Unity — the local file / URL playback scenes
• Capture a webcam in Unity — local-camera capture (Windows / macOS)
• RTSP streaming guide — RTSP across the VisioForge .NET SDKs
• IP camera brands directory — tested camera URLs and settings
• Media Blocks RTSP player in C# — a non-Unity RTSP example