Gaussian Splats

Gaussian splatting is a technique for creating photorealistic 3D scenes by using millions of semi-transparent, 3D ellipses (gaussians).

Gaussian splats are generated by “training” from the images + camera poses + sparse points of a photogrammetry scene.

WebODM supports the generation of gaussian splatting scenes via OpenSplat and other software. Subsequently a splats model can be displayed in WebODM alongside point clouds and textured models.

Note

Gaussian splatting requires oblique and/or orbit shots in order to generate good results. You must capture the details of a scene from multiple viewpoints. A nadir-only flight, usually yields very poor results.

Workflow

1. Process a RGB dataset with WebODM
2. Click … next to a task and select Splats
3. Download the training data file (.zip)
4. Process the splats using one of the software below.
5. Upload the resulting splat model to WebODM.

Tip

If supported, export scenes to .RAD format. It will save time during upload. Every splats model gets converted to .RAD in WebODM anyway.

Software

This is a list of free and open source software that we tested, but others might work too.

Name	Hardware Support	Platforms	Notes
OpenSplat	CPU, NVIDIA, AMD, Metal	Windows, macOS, Linux	Developed by WebODM, CLI only
Brush	WebGPU, NVIDIA, AMD, Intel	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux	Also works in the browser (Chrome)
Lichtfeld Studio	NVIDIA	Windows	Paid binaries (support the project)
Spirula Studio	NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, and Apple (Vulkan)	Windows, macOS, Linux