A few months ago I wrote about the trickiness of relighting Gaussian splats and touched on a few of the challenges faced in making it work. 3D models created from photos and video already have to deal with the real world lighting conditions of those images being baked into them, Gaussian splatting has the added issue of being something other than the mesh-based geometry 3D software is designed to work with.

This is why developers are working hard to get Gaussian splatting supported in industry standard software; it’s a really important new technology with loads of potential, but started out incompatible with established pipelines and the best tools for making VFX. Last time we looked at work being done to improve integration with Unreal, and today I want to look at OctaneRender.

As its name suggests, OctaneRender is a render solution that can be used with other software or by itself. You might compose your scene in software such as Houdini, Maya, or Blender and then use Octane to render out your shots. I’ve been experimenting with bringing Gaussian splats into OctaneRender’s standalone software, and it’s been encouraging to see how well it handles relighting them and just working with them generally.

I’ve imported these great models (generously provided by Andrii Shramko) into OctaneRender, and the results speak for themselves even when just looking at the viewport render:

Here are some examples of relighting:

It’s also possible to bring in regular 3D models and place them alongside the splats. By matching the lighting to the splat model, the cones and sign feel really embedded in the scene:

There are two other interesting things I’ve noticed while working with splats in OctaneRender; one is how the simple introduction of depth of field and other lens effects elevate Gaussian splats, taking them to yet another level of realism. It really feels like you’re looking at a photograph in your viewport.

The other is that the speed of Octane’s GPU rendering, combined with the efficiency of Gaussian splatting, means that working with splats in this way is quite a fluid experience. I can see the effect of a different lens setup or changing the lighting in realtime.

Whilst there’s still a way to go, this level of support within industry-standard software is making Gaussian splatting a very viable alternative to photogrammetry in many instances, and is opening up new creative possibilities.

OctaneRender + Gaussian Splatting

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