Gaussian Splatting: online and local
Gaussian splatting offers an interesting alternative to photogrammetry for specific use cases, particularly where real-time rendering, photorealistic results, and the ability to capture reflective and transparent surfaces are necessary.
There are lots of online options for Gaussian splatting, paid and unpaid. Kiri Engine seems to be a very complete suite and now has the option to make meshes out of splats, for use in for instance Blender in the paid version.
For all online platforms, please be aware of your data and privacy!
If you don't want to be reliant on external systems, you can make Gaussian splats (and photogrammetry) locally with a somewhat beefy computer.
Running Gaussian Splatting locally
Workflow in Postshot:
- Install Postshot from https://www.jawset.com/
- Make a video of the object or space. You can import multiple videos in the software, taking all videos with the same camera will have better results.
- Drag the videos into Postshot
- Render. Postshot mainly runs on GPU. The render below (50 sec video) took about 20 minutes.
- After rendering you can crop the image to exclude all the fuzzy blobs. For this look under Paramters - Edit in the menu on the right
- After rendering you can export to .ply
- To import to different software you will need a plugin
There are plugins for
- After Effects
- Unreal (paid plugin)
- Blender (lower resolution, slightly more abstract results). Blender does not produce a Mesh!
- Unity
Hieronder: dezelfde stoel in Postshot en Blender
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Postshot |
Zelfde model in Blender |
Compared to local photogrammetry (RealityCapture)
We've used the same source video for a render in RealityCapture. This render took about three minutes and shows one of the problems with photogrammetry: shiny objects become invisible. You can fix this by using a polarizing filter over your lens.
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In RealityCapture |
.obj imported in Blender |
Render with lighting in Blender |
Various tutorials on Gaussian Splatting
importing .ply gaussian splat in Blender