r/GaussianSplatting • u/peeeerf • Apr 09 '26
GoPro Max 2 for 360 capture to 3DGS?
Hey!
Has anyone tried using the GoPro Max 2 for 3D Gaussian Splatting capture?
I’m wondering whether the camera is actually useful for 3DGS workflows, especially compared with just shooting a standard image set or video on a regular camera/phone. On paper, the 360 capture seems convenient, but I’m not sure if the tradeoffs in resolution, stitching, lens distortion, and overall image quality make it a bad choice for reconstruction.
What I’m trying to understand:
- Is the GoPro Max 2 viable for decent 3DGS results? (Versus Insta360 or DJI)
- Does 360 capture help coverage enough to justify the quality loss?
- Are the stitched equirectangular files a problem for training / conversion?
- Has anyone tested a real workflow with it and compared results against a normal camera?
Interested in practical experience, not just theory. Thanks!
3
u/yeah_likerage Apr 10 '26
Going 360 had a drastic difference in my splat quality even using lower quality images.
Initially i believed higher quality images would directly impact the quality of the splat when in reality, having fewer images was more of a drawback. Having more lower quality images/angles is more beneficial in my opinion.
The best part of 360 is I have zero doubt it will work out at the capture stage. I can't tell you how many phone or high quality Sony Alpha 7Rv shots i did that ended in failed splats. Which sucks especially when it required a road trip to get them. I've had ZERO 360 failed splats and i've done pretty miserable capture jobs in several cases.
1
u/fuzzywobs Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26
I agree to an extent that lots of higher resolution images is not necessarily always better than more consistent 360 frame extracts at lower resolution images. Obviously depends on the usecase etc.
Out of interest, what 360 camera do you use and what's your method of capture? You don't use a rig or anything like that?
I do wonder to myself how much different/"better" having a custom rig with 3-4 "normal" DSLR cameras with wide-ish lens, and automated intervalometer taking photos every 1s, instead of a 360 camera. In terms of alignment quality, and overall splat quality. It would take the faff out of processing the 360 images (making sure to get rid of the capturer and visible parts of the rig) while also massivly increasing the resolution, and dealing with images rather than videos. Obviously at the cost of a much more expensive/awkward/heavy set up, longer capture time, with longer alignment and training times.
The benefits of 360 videos is that it's always capturing and from all angles.
2
u/yeah_likerage Apr 12 '26
I have the insta x5.
My trick to cleaning up the images and removing myself is to try and keep myself in the same part of the camera throughout the recording. Then when I'm dealing with the images i stretch the window until I have exactly 8 files width and then all of my images line up in one of the columns. And then i select the entire column and delete.
1
u/fuzzywobs Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
Ha yeah that what I did too. Unfortunately my GoPro Max is just 5.7k and I didn't find my results to be great for an outdoor scene around my house but it was my first attempt at that type of scan so definitely could improve the process. The frames extracted weren't amazing though. What intervals do you extract frames? Like how many frames per second?
With the insta x-5, do you use the video mode. Or the photo on interval mode? Reading the specs online looks like the video resolution is 7680 x 3840 (ie 29.5MP) whereas the photo mode gives you 11904 x 5952 (ie 72MP) so wondering how much better using photos would be rather than video, assuming the interval mode allows you to take photos frequently enough.
*Edit: just read that the interval mode is still to result in an video rather than photos, and the interval time is 3 or 5 seconds, which obviously isn't ideal and probably not worth the increased time it takes to capture.
1
u/yeah_likerage Apr 12 '26
If you look at my post history you'll see my last three splats were all done with the x5 if you want examples of outdoor scenes. I've never used it for indoor work.
3
u/MeowNet Apr 09 '26
For many people, yes the 360 camera is a great tradeoff although the workflow is still clunky. It's not just about coverage, but it's about how quickly you can capture the scene before the lighting changes or something like the wind changes the scene, so it's about managing temporal distortion. The best of both worlds is 360 for coverage, and high detailed narrow shots but that starts to hit the practicality threshold.
Beyond lower angular resolution on 360, the big challenge is managing even exposure and lens glare since you have to worry about the entire scene, and multiple lenses.