Author name: Jane Torres

YOLOv8 with BoT-SORT combines real-time object detection with multi-object tracking. YOLOv8 detects objects in each video frame, while BoT-SORT associates those detections across frames and assigns persistent tracking IDs. In the current Ultralytics tracking system, BoT-SORT is available as a built-in tracker and is the default tracker used by model.track() unless another tracker is selected. […]

The YOLOv8 data YAML file tells Ultralytics where a dataset is located and how its classes are organized. A typical data.yaml file contains the dataset root, training and validation image paths, optional test data, and a mapping between class IDs and class names. Pose datasets can include additional fields such as kpt_shape and flip_idx. The

YOLOv8 with StrongSORT combines YOLOv8 object detection with an appearance-aware multi-object tracker that can maintain identities across video frames. YOLOv8 detects objects and provides bounding boxes, classes, and confidence scores, while StrongSORT associates those detections over time using motion information and deep appearance features. StrongSORT was developed as an improved version of DeepSORT, with changes

YOLOv8 segmentation combines object detection with pixel-level instance masks, allowing the model to identify both where an object is located and which pixels belong to it. Its main advantages include fast inference, support for multiple classes, custom dataset training, and practical deployment options. However, segmentation also requires more computation, more detailed annotations, and more memory

YOLOv8 with DeepSORT combines fast object detection with multi-object tracking. YOLOv8 detects objects in each video frame, while DeepSORT links those detections across frames and assigns persistent tracking IDs. DeepSORT extends SORT by adding deep appearance features, which helps reduce identity switches and improves tracking through short occlusions. Ultralytics itself currently ships trackers such as

Training YOLOv8 OBB on a custom dataset allows the model to detect objects using rotated bounding boxes instead of standard horizontal rectangles. OBB stands for Oriented Bounding Box, and it is especially useful when objects can appear at different angles, such as ships, aircraft, vehicles, buildings, text regions, and objects in aerial or satellite images.

Training YOLOv8 segmentation on a custom dataset allows you to detect objects and generate pixel-level masks that describe their exact shapes. Unlike standard object detection, which predicts rectangular bounding boxes, YOLOv8 instance segmentation predicts a separate mask for each detected object. The YOLOv8 family includes dedicated segmentation checkpoints such as yolov8n-seg.pt, yolov8s-seg.pt, yolov8m-seg.pt, yolov8l-seg.pt, and

YOLOv8 segmentation masks describe the pixel-level shape of each detected object rather than representing it only with a rectangular bounding box. A YOLOv8 segmentation result can include bounding boxes, class IDs, confidence scores, binary or probability-based mask data, and polygon coordinates for each detected instance. In the Ultralytics Python API, segmentation information is exposed through

The YOLOv8 segmentation label format represents each object with a class ID followed by a sequence of normalized polygon coordinates. Unlike normal object detection labels, segmentation labels do not describe an object only with a rectangular bounding box. Instead, multiple (x, y) points trace the object’s shape, allowing YOLOv8 segmentation models to learn pixel-level object

YOLOv8 Pose keypoints represent important landmark positions on detected objects, such as the nose, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles in human pose estimation. A YOLOv8 Pose prediction can include bounding boxes, class information, detection confidence, keypoint coordinates, and keypoint confidence values. Understanding this output format is important when building pose tracking, sports analysis,