Gaussian splatting - PIX4Dmatic

What is Gaussian splatting?

Gaussian splatting is a novel technique for 3D scene reconstruction and rendering that represents a scene as a collection of 3D Gaussians rather than traditional meshes or point clouds. It allows for highly detailed 3D models with photorealistic rendering.

Minimum recommended hardware

The minimum recommended hardware for generating Gaussian splatting in PIX4Dmatic is the following:

• NVIDIA graphics card
• GPU with at least 16 GB of VRAM (can work with less)

For more information:  Recommended hardware - PIX4Dmatic

If the computer does not achieve the minimum recommended hardware, the Gaussian splatting processing option will be greyed out. Alternatively, a project can be uploaded to PIX4Dcloud for processing to get Gaussian splatting.

For more information: Process in PIX4Dcloud - PIX4Dmatic 

Gaussian splatting in PIX4Dmatic

Licenses

Gaussian splatting is only available with a PIX4Dmatic Pro license.

Supported datasets

Gaussian splatting models can be generated for projects captured with both aerial and terrestrial image datasets. This includes imagery acquired by drones (nadir and oblique flights) as well as ground-based capture, such as those collected with PIX4Dcatch. As long as the images have sufficient overlap, coverage, and consistent exposure, PIX4Dmatic can reconstruct the scene as a set of 3D Gaussians and produce a detailed, photorealistic Gaussian splatting representation from either aerial, terrestrial, or combined datasets.

Depending on the dataset, the appropriate template should be selected:

• Aerial. Template designed for aerial datasets, suitable for both nadir and oblique drone imagery.

• PIX4Dcatch. Template optimized for projects captured with PIX4Dcatch. It is highly recommended to enable the sky filter option to improve the quality of the results. 

• Mixed. Template intended for mixed datasets that combine aerial imagery and PIX4Dcatch acquisitions.
  

Recommended processing steps

The workflow for generating Gaussian splats differs slightly from the standard photogrammetry workflow.  
In a typical photogrammetry project, the pipeline progresses from image calibration and camera optimization to the generation of a dense point cloud, which is then used as the basis for meshes, digital surface models, and orthomosaics. 

With Gaussian Splatting, PIX4Dmatic can derive a photorealistic 3D representation directly from the calibrated images. When Gaussian Splatting is generated immediately after camera calibration, the dense point cloud resulting of this processing step will be the input for the next processing steps: mesh, digital surface model, and orthomosaic. The dense point cloud processing step of the standard photogrammetry workflow is no longer required and can be skipped.