A method comprising: sorting, in size, image fragments that are occluded in one or more reference images depicting a visual scene from one or more reference views and that become at least partly disoccluded in non-reference views adjacent to the one or more reference views, the image fragments including a first image fragment that is no less in size than any other image fragment in the image fragments; generating a layout mask for a disocclusion atlas used to store the image fragments, the layout mask being covered with a quadtree that includes a first best fit node sized for covering the first image fragment, the disocclusion atlas being a combined image of minimal total area that contains multiple non-overlapping image fragments; storing the sorted image fragments in a descending order into best fit nodes identified in the layout mask, wherein each of the best fit nodes is identified as a quadtree node of a minimum size for completely covering each of the respective image fragments, each image fragment in the sorted image fragments being stored in the respective best fit node, the best fit nodes including at least one best fit node that is obtained by iteratively dividing at least one node in the quadtree that covers the layout mask; generating a volumetric video signal encoded with the one or more reference images, the volumetric video signal being further encoded with the image fragments in the disocclusion atlas, the one or more reference images for use by a recipient device of the volumetric video signal to synthesize a display image in a non-represented view for rendering on an image display, the image fragments in the disocclusion atlas for use by the recipient device to fill disoccluded image data in disoccluded spatial regions in the display image, wherein each of the image fragments includes, for a spatial region formed by contiguous pixels occluded in the one or more reference views, texture image values and depth image values. sorting, in size, image fragments that are occluded in one or more reference images depicting a visual scene from one or more reference views and that become at least partly disoccluded in non-reference views adjacent to the one or more reference views, the image fragments including a first image fragment that is no less in size than any other image fragment in the image fragments; generating a layout mask for a disocclusion atlas used to store the image fragments, the layout mask being covered with a quadtree that includes a first best fit node sized for covering the first image fragment, the disocclusion atlas being a combined image of minimal total area that contains multiple non-overlapping image fragments; storing the sorted image fragments in a descending order into best fit nodes identified in the layout mask, wherein each of the best fit nodes is identified as a quadtree node of a minimum size for completely covering each of the respective image fragments, each image fragment in the sorted image fragments being stored in the respective best fit node, the best fit nodes including at least one best fit node that is obtained by iteratively dividing at least one node in the quadtree that covers the layout mask; generating a volumetric video signal encoded with the one or more reference images, the volumetric video signal being further encoded with the image fragments in the disocclusion atlas, the one or more reference images for use by a recipient device of the volumetric video signal to synthesize a display image in a non-represented view for rendering on an image display, the image fragments in the disocclusion atlas for use by the recipient device to fill disoccluded image data in disoccluded spatial regions in the display image, wherein each of the image fragments includes, for a spatial region formed by contiguous pixels occluded in the one or more reference views, texture image values and depth image values.