Photogrammetry vs 3DGS: What Actually Produces Better 3D Content?

Photogrammetry vs 3DGS: A Technical Breakdown
Why Gaussian Splatting is redefining 3D product visuals — and how Solaya takes it further.

If you’ve worked with 3D content, you’ve likely encountered photogrammetry — and maybe recently heard the buzz around 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) and NeRF. Here’s a straightforward breakdown of these technologies — and why Solaya’s hybrid method outperforms them all.

Photogrammetry: Traditional, but Limited

Photogrammetry reconstructs 3D geometry by triangulating features from multiple 2D images.

Pros:

• Accurate mesh generation in controlled environments

• Long-standing pipeline with industry tools
  
  

Cons:

• Requires extensive photo coverage (50–200+ images)

• Highly sensitive to lighting changes, shadows, and specular surfaces

• Often needs cleanup and retopology

• Produces rigid models that can feel flat or synthetic
  
  

Verdict: Solid for scanning architecture or static objects with uniform textures — but not ideal for consumer-grade workflows or rich materials like fabrics, plastics, or glass.

3DGS (3D Gaussian Splatting): A New Paradigm

3DGS renders scenes using point-based volumetric primitives ("splats") that model radiance and depth uncertainty with continuous blending.

Pros:

• Real-time rendering with high visual fidelity

• Captures complex materials, lighting, and soft edges naturally

• No explicit geometry needed

• Extremely efficient — requires fewer frames and simpler capture
  

Cons:

• Less traditional mesh exportability (though improving)

• Needs proper training/rendering pipeline
  
  

Verdict: Ideal for creating lifelike, immersive 3D views. Visually far superior, especially for retail and e-commerce.

Solaya: 3DGS + NeRF + Proprietary Algorithms

At Solaya, we take it a step further.

We combine 3D Gaussian Splatting with NeRF (Neural Radiance Fields), enhanced by our proprietary algorithms for segmentation, lighting normalization, and post-processing.

What does this mean for you?

• Sharper textures and color accuracy

• Smooth, photorealistic surfaces with minimal noise

• Robust to inconsistent lighting and reflective materials

• Streamlined user experience with high output quality — every time
  
  
  

We’ve built a pipeline that merges the power of volumetric rendering with the speed and reliability needed for e-commerce at scale.


The Bottom Line

Photogrammetry is solid — but outdated for high-volume, high-fidelity product visuals.
3DGS is the future — and Solaya’s hybrid system is already there.