Nilsletter #06 | Gaussian Splatting, 3D Filmmaking & Photorealistic Avatars 🌌

Issue #06 | Date: October 6, 2023

Hello 3D enthusiast,

Welcome to the sixth edition of the 3D Nilsletter! I’m excited to present the most recent and noteworthy highlights from the 3D world from the past week. This includes captivating insights and creative sparks for your upcoming projects. I'm confident you'll find something truly captivating in this issue.

And now to this weeks of new stuff in the 3D space.

3D Scanning: Gaussian Splatting in Unreal Engine

3D Gaussian splatting has gained significant traction across the internet, showcasing continuous improvement and surpassing the already impressive NeRF scans in aesthetics. Similar to NeRF, Gaussian splatting is now making its way into Unreal Engine, offering astonishing quality, even with translucent objects. Envisioning its application in film production is promising, enabling the scanning of real locations and facilitating seamless post-production incorporation of intricate camera movements and CGI integration. Notably, Luma Labs has already developed a web player, allowing users to explore and generate Gaussian splats firsthand.

META: Photorealistic avatars

I was absolutely amazed by the latest episode of Lex Fridman's podcast, featuring Mark Zuckerberg. Witnessing the trajectory of this technology is truly mind-boggling. It's incredible how we're advancing towards crafting highly convincing virtual presences, now not through animated avatars but through photorealistic scans that move with natural fluidity—all happening in real time. The anticipation of seeing this technology evolve is truly exciting!

Unreal Engine: Starting with filmmaking in Unreal Engine

If you're a filmmaker eager to embark on your creative journey with Unreal Engine 5 but unsure about where to begin, Epic has your back. They've recently released an extensive guide designed to assist newcomers in navigating the world of Unreal Engine and utilizing it for filmmaking. This comprehensive page is a treasure trove of invaluable information, offering a wealth of tips, tricks, tutorials, and a plethora of additional resources, making your initiation into Unreal Engine's filmmaking realm as smooth and insightful as possible. Dive in and discover the exciting potential that awaits you in this innovative platform.

Motion Capture: Human Pose and Shape estimation

Introducing SMPLer-X, a revolutionary foundation model for human pose and shape estimation (EHPS). Trained on a diverse dataset of 4.5 million instances, SMPLer-X excels across benchmarks and quickly extracts motion data from any video, making it a powerful tool for animating virtual characters. Read more about this project here.

I hope you enjoyed this week's news roundup, and I'm looking forward to sharing more exciting developments in the 3D space in the upcoming editions of this 3D Nilsletter.

That’s all for now!

Regards,
Nils Bakker

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