Imagine stepping onto a photorealistic 3D set that looks exactly like the real location you scouted except you’re standing inside a studio surrounded by an LED Wall. No heavy photogrammetry cleanup, no long render times, and no costly reshoots. That’s the power of 3D Gaussian Splats (3DGS), an innovative approach to 3D reconstruction that’s transforming the way filmmakers, VFX artists, and virtual production teams capture and visualize environments.
At their core, Gaussian Splats are millions of tiny 3D points that store position, color, opacity, and depth information. Instead of building a dense polygon mesh like traditional photogrammetry, or using complex neural rendering pipelines like NeRFs, Gaussian Splatting represents scenes as smooth, continuous fields of overlapping points.
The result is a lightweight, high-fidelity 3D model that renders in real time, even on consumer GPUs. When combined with a media renderer such as Unreal Engine, Disguise, or Aximmetry, 3DGS scenes can be displayed instantly within a virtual production stage for realistic previews and live shoots.
In virtual production, time and flexibility are everything. Directors need fast environment capture, realistic playback, and seamless integration with the production pipeline. Gaussian Splats deliver on all three fronts.
1. Save Time
Traditional 3D reconstruction can take days of scanning and cleanup. With 3DGS, you can capture a location with a camera, drone, or LiDAR and generate a usable, viewable 3D scene within hours.
2. Save Costs
Because splats require less data and compute power, productions can reduce hardware requirements and minimize on-set delays. Real-time playback means fewer render passes and less post-production compositing.
3. Creative Freedom
Directors and DPs can walk through a virtual set and adjust lighting, angles, or camera moves instantly. Combined with 3DGS relighting and an ACES color pipeline, teams can make artistic decisions with accurate HDR lighting and color reference before rolling a single frame.
Whether you’re building a digital twin of a location or prepping for a virtual production shoot, the Gaussian Splat workflow follows four key stages:
Step 1: Capture
Use a camera, drone, or LiDAR to record smooth video or photo passes of the location. Move in a zig-zag or circular pattern to maximize parallax. This helps the reconstruction algorithm understand spatial depth.
Pro Tip: Consistent lighting and exposure improve the splat’s color fidelity, especially for HDR workflows. Check out THIS video from Pixel Reconstruct on tips of how to capture.
Step 2: Processing
Process your footage through a Gaussian Splatting pipeline, such as Volinga Suite. The software automatically reconstructs the environment into a dense point cloud and optimizes it for playback. You can adjust splat density, exposure, and HDR tonemapping to balance quality and performance.
Step 3: Integration
Import your 3DGS file into your chosen virtual production platform, such as Unreal Engine, Disguise, Pixera or Aximmetry. These tools read the splat’s depth and color data, allowing you to composite actors and CG assets seamlessly.
Pro Tip: Align your 3DGS scenes with your ACES color pipeline to ensure consistent exposure and white balance between practical and virtual elements.
Step 4: Playback on Stage
Once integrated, your Gaussian Splats can be displayed on LED Walls for real-time visualization or used for virtual scouting and previs. Directors can preview camera moves, adjust lighting, and even rehearse blocking without ever visiting the real location again.
Gaussian Splats open up a wide range of possibilities for film, TV, and commercial production:
Like any new technology, Gaussian Splatting has a few considerations to keep in mind:
The pace of innovation around 3D Gaussian Splats for Unreal Engine is accelerating. Expect to see:
As studios look to save time, save costs, and create more realistic worlds, 3DGS will continue to play a central role in building the next generation of virtual production environments.
Gaussian Splats bridge the gap between real and virtual, offering a faster, more affordable path to photorealistic environments that integrate seamlessly into modern LED wall workflows.
If you’re ready to explore what’s possible, start experimenting with Volinga, designed to make location capture, 3D reconstruction, and 3DGS relighting accessible to every virtual production team.