Why Capture Quality Matters
The quality of your Gaussian Splat is directly tied to the quality of your input images. Even the most sophisticated reconstruction algorithm can't recover information that was never captured in the first place.
This guide walks you through the most impactful capture practices — whether you're using a drone, a smartphone, or a professional camera.
General Rules
1. Cover All Surfaces
Move around your subject so that every visible surface appears in at least three overlapping images. Hidden or under-represented surfaces will appear blurry or create holes in the reconstruction.
2. Keep Movement Slow and Steady
Fast movement causes motion blur, which degrades feature matching. Whether shooting video or a burst of photos, move slowly and deliberately.
3. Lock Exposure and Focus
Changing exposure between frames creates inconsistent brightness, which confuses the optimizer. On smartphones, tap and hold to lock AE/AF before starting your capture.
4. Aim for 100–300 Images
For most objects and small scenes, 100 to 300 sharp overlapping images is the sweet spot. More isn't always better — redundant frames just slow down processing.
Capturing with a Drone
Drones are ideal for large outdoor scenes like buildings, gardens, and landscapes.
Recommended flight patterns:
- Grid pattern at nadir (camera pointing straight down) for flat areas
- Orbit pattern at 45° and 70° tilt for structures with vertical faces
- Multi-altitude passes: fly at 30m, 60m, and 90m for large sites
Keep your GSD (Ground Sample Distance) consistent across the mission, and always shoot in manual mode with a fixed ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.
Capturing with a Smartphone
Smartphones work surprisingly well for small objects and indoor spaces.
- Use portrait mode off — you want everything in focus
- Shoot in a circle around the object, then again from above at 45°
- Use good diffuse lighting (overcast outdoor light or softboxes)
- Avoid glossy or metallic surfaces without a matte spray
Common Mistakes to Avoid
| Mistake | Effect | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Blurry images | Poor feature matching | Slow down, use a tripod |
| Reflective surfaces | Ghosting artefacts | Add matte coating, avoid mirrors |
| Insufficient overlap | Holes in the model | Add more passes |
| Changing lighting | Inconsistent colour | Fix exposure, avoid moving shadows |
| Too few images | Low detail | Aim for 100+ frames |
Next Steps
Once you've captured your scene, upload it to FreeGaussian and we'll handle the rest — point cloud generation, Gaussian optimization, and real-time rendering in the browser.
Happy capturing!