Gaussian splatting provides a new technique for representing real-life scenes in 3D, one that captures lighting and reflections as well as geometry. A company from Japan has now sprung to attention by showing the power of the technique when combined with Unreal Engine 5 to create explorable visualisations.
The video below shows an indoor scene is from Fuji Kyoiku, a model shop in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, while the outdoor scene is Yonezawa Castle Ruins and Matsugasaki Park in Yamagata Prefecture. Both cases show a a stunning level of detail and fidelity.
The environmental phototogrammertrist company Studio Duckbill says the footage was converted into 3D Gaussian splatting using the Postshot beta plugin and displayed in UE5. The results show great display quality. "As long as you clean the floater on the floor, it will be perfect," they say on X.
Some people asked how the company made the stairs usable, for which Duckbill recommends using some kind of mesh in UE5 to set up collision. You can explore a photogrammetric 3D model of the model shop on Sketchfab.
In other news, Epic Games Fab has just launched as the replacement for Sketchfab and the Unreal Engine Marketplace for the buying, selling and sharing digital assets. Meanwhile, Adobe has launched its new free tool Substance 3D Viewer, which supports the generation of 3D models as gaussian splats.
Get the Creative Bloq Newsletter
Daily design news, reviews, how-tos and more, as picked by the editors.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.