Profile the workload you intend to run
Performance depends on scene content, runtime settings, hardware and the task. A frame-rate number from a different setup is not a reliable target for yours.
NVIDIA's performance optimization handbook covers bottlenecks and tuning options in Isaac Sim. Begin by recording the simulator build, hardware, scene revision, enabled sensors and simulation configuration. Keep those fixed while comparing a change.
Separate startup from steady-state cost
A slow stage load is different from a slow physics step or camera render. Measure the phases separately so that you do not remove useful scene detail to solve a dependency-loading problem.
Our recommended baseline records load time, memory use, simulation throughput and the cost of the outputs required by the task. Include the representative robot interaction; an empty scene or stationary camera can hide the workload that matters.
Change one source of cost at a time
| Suspected cost | Experiment to run |
|---|---|
| Visible geometry or textures | Reduce detail in areas irrelevant to the sensor view |
| Collision complexity | Simplify noncritical contact geometry and repeat the task |
| Sensors or rendering | Compare required outputs and their update rates |
| Repeated content | Evaluate a reusable scene representation appropriate to the edits needed |
| Large dependency set | Measure a smaller task area and inspect which content must be loaded |
Avoid treating these as universal settings. The right tradeoff depends on which interactions and observations the experiment must preserve.
Retest quality after each optimization
Run the same acceptance checks on the optimized scene. Confirm that grasp regions, clearances, joint behavior and label outputs still work. A faster scene is not a useful improvement if it removes the part of the environment the robot needs to learn from.
Keep the baseline and optimized versions with a small comparison report. Include the measured improvement and any changed assumptions so another engineer can decide whether to adopt it.
Use the collision geometry guide and scene composition guide for focused follow-up. When commissioning a digital twin, include representative hardware and runtime budgets in the acceptance scope.