SceneCapture2D causes random frame spikes even with a 64x64 Render Target

Hi everyone,

I’m investigating a performance issue related to SceneCapture2D.

I have two completely different SceneCapture2D actors in my project (one is from a plugin and one is my own implementation), and both exhibit the exact same behavior.

The Render Target resolution is only 64x64, yet I get random frame spikes.

The important part is that the cost is not constant. Most frames are fine, but occasionally the SceneCapture causes a large spike.

In Unreal Insights, the spike appears under:

  • SceneCapture → RenderScene
  • RHIThread Lock Wait (sometimes around 40–50 ms)

Current setup:

  • Unreal Engine 5.5.4
  • Render Target: 64x64
  • Capture Every Frame = Enabled
  • Capture on Movement = Enabled
  • Always Persist Rendering State = Disabled
  • No Lumen
  • No Nanite
  • No Virtual Shadow Maps (using Cascaded Shadow Maps)

Since two unrelated SceneCaptures behave the same way, I don’t think this is plugin-specific.

Has anyone seen intermittent SceneCapture spikes like this?

I’m particularly interested in knowing whether this could be caused by:

  • RHI synchronization or GPU stalls
  • SceneCapture2D recreating rendering resources
  • Texture streaming
  • Shadow rendering
  • Some known SceneCapture2D limitation in UE 5.5

Any suggestions on what to profile next would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!