Implementation:CARLA simulator Carla Apply Texture Tool

Knowledge Sources	CARLA
Domains	Simulation, Texturing, Utility
Last Updated	2026-02-15 05:00 GMT

Overview

Command-line utility script that applies custom textures (diffuse, normal, AO/roughness/metallic/emissive) to objects in a running CARLA simulation.

Description

This script (apply_texture.py) enables runtime texture modification of scene objects in the CARLA simulator. It provides two helper functions: get_8bit_texture() converts image data into a carla.TextureColor object (8-bit RGBA), and get_float_texture() converts image data into a carla.TextureFloatColor object (normalized float RGBA with 5x brightness scaling). The script uses the imageio library to read texture image files and applies them via world.apply_textures_to_object(). It supports listing objects in the scene (filtered for 'Apartment' objects), applying diffuse textures, normal maps, and AO/roughness/metallic/emissive maps. Command-line arguments include --host, -p/--port, -l/--list, -d/--diffuse, -o/--object-name, -n/--normal, and --ao_roughness_metallic_emissive.

Usage

Use this tool to customize the visual appearance of simulation objects at runtime, such as changing building facades, road textures, or vehicle skins without modifying the map assets.

Code Reference

Source Location

Repository: CARLA
File: PythonAPI/util/apply_texture.py

Signature

def get_8bit_texture(image):
    """Convert image array to carla.TextureColor (8-bit RGBA)."""

def get_float_texture(image):
    """Convert image array to carla.TextureFloatColor (float RGBA)."""

def main():
    """Parse args and apply textures to named object."""

Import

# Run as a command-line tool:
python apply_texture.py --host 127.0.0.1 -p 2000 -o "ObjectName" -d diffuse.png -n normal.png

I/O Contract

Argument	Type	Default	Description
--host	str	127.0.0.1	CARLA server IP address
-p, --port	int	2000	CARLA server TCP port
-l, --list	flag	False	List all objects containing 'Apartment' in name
-d, --diffuse	str		Path to diffuse texture image
-o, --object-name	str	required	Name of the object to apply textures to
-n, --normal	str		Path to normal map image
--ao_roughness_metallic_emissive	str		Path to AO/roughness/metallic/emissive map

Usage Examples

# List available objects
python apply_texture.py -l

# Apply a diffuse texture to an object
python apply_texture.py -o "Apartment_01" -d /path/to/diffuse.png

# Apply all texture maps
python apply_texture.py -o "Apartment_01" \
    -d /path/to/diffuse.png \
    -n /path/to/normal.png \
    --ao_roughness_metallic_emissive /path/to/ao_r_m_e.png

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Principle

Implementation

Heuristic

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