Lahr Feline Forms in Photogrammetry ( Mesh & Gaussian Splat Comparison)

Feline Forms in Photogrammetry is a small exploration project where I set out to practice and compare two different 3D capture workflows: traditional photogrammetry meshes and Gaussian Splat reconstructions. Without a fixed subject in mind, I walked through Lahr (Black Forest) looking for interesting objects to scan and ended up with three feline-themed sculptures: a lion‑head door handle, a bronze panther bust, and a cat shaped Gargoyle.
The workflow started with DSLR photography and reconstruction in RealityCapture. The raw meshes were cleaned, reduced and unwrapped in 3ds Max and ZBrush before being reimported into RealityCapture for texture reprojection. Using the cleaned topology and base textures, I created refined materials in Substance 3D Painter.
In parallel, I generated Gaussian Splats from the same RealityCapture datasets using Jawset Postshot, allowing a direct comparison between meshbased and splatbased representations.

The final goal was a side by side setup inside Unreal Engine to evaluate visual quality, performance, and personal potential of both approaches. I hope you like it and good luck on your own scan adventure.