ArchViz AI
While there are still some caveats, the minimal time spent and the results are fantastic! These examples took between 5-15 minutes each, once I was happy with my prompts and checkpoint models. No inpainting.
In the future, rendering will be as much a process of combining 3D models, prompt refinement, and materiality, then simply pressing a button.
Have I wasted the last 15 years learning material shaders, lighting systems, and offline rendering?
Gaussian Splats
I’ve been experimenting with processinig and publishing a new type of 3d pointcloud called Gaussian splatting for webview. Unlike conventional pointclouds or even photogrammetry-derived assets, Gaussian splats can refine detail like text and graphics and even thin geometry (trees) in 3d space like nothing else! reflections in glass and metals can also be emulated with surprising accuracy.
The real magic lies in the splatting pipeline’s ability to dynamically adjust density and detail, enabling both ultra-high-resolution close-ups and performant distant views without the overhead of traditional geometry. Inputs are sharp image sequences or video. No LIDAR needed!
What excites me most is how this technology bridges the gap between raw scanned data and real-time rendering. Neural radiance fields (NeRFs) hinted at this future, but Gaussian splats deliver practical, artist-friendly workflows —exportable to game engines, editable via intuitive parameters like opacity and splat decay. Early adopters in VFX and virtual production are already leveraging splatting for near-photorealistic environments with orders-of-magnitude smaller file sizes than equivalent textured meshes.
As GPU optimizations mature, I foresee Gaussian splatting becoming the standard for immersive 3D experiences and volumetric capture, democratizing high-fidelity scanning while freeing artists from the constraints of UV unwrapping and retopology. More to come!
note: these demos are 3D, not videos. take them for a spin (orbit)
Text2AugmentedRealty
This test, from concept to production model, took 40mins!
Clean up was needed for the retopology, but I wrote a houdini workflow for remeshing, autoUVs, autorigging, and skeleton retargeting all in one place.
I had seen AI auto skinning and animation, but my tests needed too much keyframe cleanup, so I ditched it. This will improve tho, and I can imagine in the future it being the standary for 3d character generation.
The newer AI models can generate PBR materials, so if I can get segmentation working in COPs, all the texture upscaling and cleanup/editing can be done in Houdini, without needing substance painter.
Seriously Impressive!
