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Camera Kit Mobile

Landmarkers

The Landmarkers sample project, which provides an example for the Eiffel Tower location, is available on the Lens Studio Home Page. The US Capitol Building, TCL Chinese Theatre, Flatiron Building, and Buckingham Palace examples are available in the Lens Studio Asset Library. Import the asset to your project and follow the instructions in the asset.

The Landmarkers sample project allows you to create unique Lens experiences at selected locations around the world. Similar to Marker Tracking, Landmarker Tracking tracks the specified physical location's landmark. The sample project shows you how to utilize Landmarker tracking to create a 3D experience that is tightly tracked to the location's architecture. It also includes debugging features that allow you to test your Lenses without actually being at the location.

Landmarkers' tracking data integrates with Lens Cloud, a collection of backend services built on the same infrastructure that powers Snapchat.

To learn more about Lens Cloud and how to power a new generation of AR experiences that are more dynamic, useful, and interactive than ever before, please visit the Lens Cloud Overview.

Landmarkers are not offered for commercial use, including advertisements and other promotional purposes. You are responsible for obtaining any necessary rights and permissions before using a Landmarkers sample project commercially.

Tutorial​

This video tutorial contains project versions and visuals from an older version of Lens Studio. While some things may look a bit different, the main script logic and scene hierarchy remain the same.

Locations​

Lens Studio comes with several locations around the world, including:

  • Buckingham Palace in London, UK
  • Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
  • Flatiron Building in NYC, US
  • TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US
  • US Capitol in Washington, D.C., US

You can browse example projects for more locations around the world on this page. Please note that these are built for Lens Studio 4.55.1 and need to be exported and imported to Lens Studio 5.

The Landmarkers sample project provides an example for the Eiffel Tower location.

Preview Landmarker Lenses​

In the Preview panel, select the Location Tracking preview video for your chosen Landmarker. If you don't see the preview videos, switch the camera to 'Back Camera' mode in the Preview panel. These preview selections provide the tracking data needed to simulate the experience of being at the location.

The sample project also comes with debugging features that allow you to preview your Lenses with more control, which will be explained in detail later in this guide.

3D Reference Model​

Each Landmarker sample project comes with the 3D reference model of the Landmarker's architecture. You can download a reference model (FBX) for each Landmarker location below:

The reference 3D model is built to align with the real Landmarker’s physical features. For correct alignment, make sure not to scale or offset the mesh in your scene.

Adding Content​

You can create your unique Landmarker Lenses by adding your own 2D and 3D content.

Adding and Positioning Assets​

First, import your 2D or 3D assets into Lens Studio. Drag them under the Eiffel Tower [PLACE_CONTENT_HERE] and position them relative to the Landmarker reference model. The sample project comes with a few example assets to choose from.

You can download the Landmarker reference model and import it to your preferred 3D software for more precise content creation.

Graffiti and Custom Textures​

By default, the reference model is used as an Occluder for your content. You can also apply custom textures onto the building to create a graffiti design, coloring effect, or entirely new look for the Landmarker.

Reference Textures​

You can find the base textures of the reference models below.

You can also import the reference model to your preferred texturing software to create custom textures.

Importing Textures​

Import your textures into Lens Studio. If you are only updating the base texture, click on the LandmarkerController Scene Object. In the Inspector panel, under Building Mode, select Custom Textures and add your custom base textures.

If you want to use a different material or have more control over the material setting, you can modify or replace the material on the reference model MeshVisual directly. Make sure you still select the Custom Textures option for the Building Mode in the Inspector panel to ensure the LandmarkerController script does not overwrite that setting.

LandmarkerController​

The LandmarkerController is the main script that controls the Landmarker sample project. You can view its properties in the Inspector panel by selecting the LandmarkerController [EDIT_ME] scene object.

Building Mode​

The Building Mode controls how the Landmarker model looks.

  • Occluder: The reference model will not be visible and will occlude other visuals behind it.
  • Semi-transparent: The reference model will be colored in semi-transparent red.
  • Custom Textures: The reference model will keep its current material and use the custom texture as its base texture.
  • None: The reference model will be disabled.

Debug Mode​

Debug Mode can be used to preview Landmarker Lenses without having to be at the physical location. You can unlock Debug Mode by scanning the default Lens Studio Image Marker. In the Preview panel, select one of the Image Marker preview videos, and you will enter Debug Mode automatically.

The Building Mode property found in the LandmarkerController Debug Settings controls how the reference model looks in Debug Mode. It does not change how it will look in the actual Lens.

There are two types of Debug Mode: Full Size and Bird's Eye.

By default, the Debug Mode is set to use Gyro Camera Mode so that the Landmarker preview will work well on the phone. If you are previewing on your computer, select the LandmarkerController [EDIT_ME] object and set the Camera Mode to be Look at Distance Target so that you can change where your preview is looking by moving the Distance Target [MOVE_ME] object. See below for more information.

Full Size Mode​

Full Size mode teleports you into a first-person Debug Scene that simulates physical distance and scale. You can use the navigation UI to move around the Landmarker.

You can set the starting position of the camera by moving the Default Debug Camera Position [Move Me] scene object.

There are two types of Camera Mode in Full Size Debug Mode. Gyro is useful when you want to test the Lens on your device. You can look around the scene and check out different angles.

The Look At Distance Target Camera Mode is useful if you are testing your Lenses using the Preview panel. This will make the Camera always look at the Distance Target scene object. You can move the Distance Target in the 3D Scene panel to set up the desired camera angle. For example, in the Eiffel Tower sample project, it can be handy to move the Distance Target higher up to check out the top of the tower.

Bird's Eye Mode​

Bird's Eye mode places the entire 3D scene on the Image Marker. This creates the effect of having a miniature scene you can physically manipulate. You can toggle between Full Size Mode and Bird's Eye mode using the toggle button.

HintController​

The HintController script controls all the different hints that guide users when playing with Landmarker Lenses. You can view its properties by selecting the HintController Scene Object in the Inspector Panel.

Loading State​

When the Lens starts, a loading hint is displayed. You can change the Landmarker graphic to your own 2D image by first importing it to Lens Studio and selecting it in the Inspector Panel.

Go To Hint​

The Go To Hint is displayed if the user is too far away from the Landmarker. You can change the hint texture as well as the text hint in the Inspector Panel.

Point At Hint​

The Point At Hint is displayed when the user is close enough to see the Landmarker but is not looking at it. This hint texture and text can also be edited in the Inspector.

Selfie Mode​

The Landmarker sample project includes support for Selfie Mode, enabling users to view front-facing camera interactions where content remains aligned with the Landmarker’s architecture. This feature relies on the FrontCameraMirror script to dynamically adjust the scene when the camera switches between front and rear modes.

When the user activates the front-facing camera, the script flips the attached scene hierarchy along the X-axis. This mirrors the 3D content to match the natural preview reversal caused by front camera feeds. Mirroring geometry this way can cause single-sided materials to render incorrectly (e.g., appearing invisible) because their front or back faces become inverted. To resolve this, the script automatically adjusts the Cull Mode settings of all materials within its hierarchy, swapping CullFace.Front to CullFace.Back and vice versa.

To ensure proper functionality, attach the FrontCameraMirror script to the root object of the mirrored content. Materials outside this hierarchy will not undergo automatic Cull Mode adjustments, so designers should either use two-sided materials or avoid reusing materials across mirrored and non-mirrored objects. Testing the setup is straightforward: toggle between front and rear cameras in the Preview panel and verify that the mirrored content aligns correctly with the Landmarker’s reference model.

Materials shared between mirrored and non-mirrored hierarchies may render incorrectly due to conflicting Cull Mode settings. Use unique materials for mirrored content to prevent unintended visual artifacts.

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