This node can be used to capture the scene as viewed from a specific camera (see property CameraNode). The render-to-texture operation is usually performed by a SceneCaptureRenderer. The SceneCaptureRenderer will render the scene for each SceneCaptureNode where a valid render target (see property RenderToTexture) and a valid CameraNode is set.

2D and Cube Map Render Targets:
A valid render target must be set in the RenderToTexture property. The target texture can be a RenderTarget2D to capture a 2D image or a RenderTargetCube to capture an environment map. If the render target is a cube map, then the scene will be rendered 6 times, once for each cube map side.

Shared RenderToTexture instances:
Several SceneCaptureNodes can reference the same RenderToTexture instance. In this case, the scene is rendered only once. - See the example below.

Frustum Culling:
The SceneCaptureNode is a normal scene node which can be added to the scene graph. The default Shape is an infinite shape - which means that this node is always visible. However, it is recommended to set a smaller shape. Thus, the SceneCaptureNode can be used for frustum culling - if it is culled, then no image needs to be captured.

A prison level of a game has a surveillance camera. The recorded image should be displayed on several 3D models which represent security monitors. In this case, create one CameraNode for the surveillance camera. Create one RenderToTexture instance which is shared by several SceneCaptureNodes. Create a SceneCaptureNode for each monitor mesh node. Add the SceneCaptureNode to the children of the monitor mesh node. Set the shape of the SceneCaptureNode to the shape of the monitor mesh node. - This way, the SceneCaptureNode has the same pose and shape as the model which uses captured texture; and if no SceneCaptureNode is visible from the player camera, then the scene does not need to be captured in this frame (because the player does not look at any monitor). If a SceneCaptureNode is visible, then the scene is captured once per frame.

Note: How a captured texture is used, is not defined by the SceneCaptureNode. You can, for example, use an effect parameter binding to use the texture when rendering a mesh.

Reference