SplatCraft – Maya Authoring & Generation Tool for 3D Gaussian Splatting

SplatCraft is a Maya-based toolkit for creating, importing, editing, and visualizing 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) scenes. Upload a 2D image and automatically generate a 3D Gaussian Splat model inside Maya, then author complex multi-object scenes with real-time WebGL visualization.

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Key Features

3DGS Generation from a Single Image

• Upload an image in the Maya UI
• Background removal (optional)
• Generates a .ply Gaussian splat model using Splatter-Image
• Automatically imports it into the Maya scene

3DGS Scene Authoring in Maya

• Multi-object scene management – Manage multiple 3DGS objects simultaneously
• Maya viewport proxy – LOD-controlled point cloud visualization (crash-safe)
• Transform and organize – Move, rotate, scale, duplicate splats like normal Maya objects
• Real-time synchronization – Object transforms automatically sync with WebGL viewer
• Automatic deletion detection – Remove objects from Maya, they disappear from viewer instantly
• Export edited scenes back to .ply

Real-Time WebGL Viewer

• Multi-object rendering – View entire scene with all 3DGS objects simultaneously
• Bidirectional synchronization:
  • WebGL → Maya: Camera movements update Maya viewport in real-time
  • Maya → WebGL: Object transforms sync automatically (100ms polling)
• Interactive navigation – Manual camera controls (WASD/ZX movement, mouse rotation, scroll zoom)
• Visual aids – Toggle XZ ground plane grid, XYZ reference axes, and depth rendering modes
• Integrated controls – All features accessible via in-viewer button panel
• Reset view – Instantly return to initial camera position

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Demo

Here's a quick preview of the full workflow — upload an image → generate 3D Gaussian Splats → auto-import into Maya → view/edit in real-time WebGL viewer.

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Project Structure

SplatCraft/
├── maya_plugin/                    # Main Maya authoring plugin
│   ├── ui/                         # Qt-based Maya UI panels
│   │   ├── inference_panel.py      # Image → 3DGS UI + progress bar
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── webgl_viewer/               # WebGL Gaussian viewer (embedded in Maya)
│   │   ├── gaussian_viewer.html    # Main HTML viewer interface
│   │   ├── gaussian_renderer.js    # WebGL rendering engine (multi-object)
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── splatcraft_node.py          # Custom Maya node for 3DGS data
│   ├── splatcraft_plugin.py        # Maya plugin loader
│   ├── import_gaussians.py         # PLY importer + scene loader
│   ├── maya_webgl_panel.py         # Embeds WebGL into Maya dockable panel
│   │                               # Handles multi-object sync & deletion detection
│   ├── splatter_subprocess.py      # Spawns backend inference in Conda
│   ├── load_splatcraft.py          # Plugin initialization helper
│   └── start_clean.py              # Quick startup script (Windows + WSL)
└── splatter-image/                 # Backend: image → 3D Gaussian Splats

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System Requirements

Component	Requirement
OS	Windows 10/11 with WSL Ubuntu or native Linux
GPU	NVIDIA GPU with CUDA 12.x (for splatter-image)
Maya	Autodesk Maya 2022–2025 (Python 3.9–3.10)
Python	Maya-side: Python 3.9 / Backend: Python 3.10
Backend	Conda env with PyTorch + CUDA
Viewer	PySide2 or PySide6 + WebGL-enabled Qt

Required Components

• Autodesk Maya
• WSL Ubuntu (if on Windows)

  wsl --install -d Ubuntu

• Conda for backend
• NVIDIA CUDA drivers (Windows or WSL)
• PySide2 / PySide6 available in Maya's Python

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Quick Start

One-line command (Windows + WSL):

exec(open(r'\\wsl$\Ubuntu\root\SplatMayaTool\maya_plugin\start_clean.py').read())

Or step-by-step:

# 1. Add plugin to path
import sys
sys.path.insert(0, r'/path/to/SplatMayaTool/maya_plugin')

# 2. Load plugin
import load_splatcraft
load_splatcraft.load_plugin()

# 3. Open inference UI
from ui.inference_panel import show_inference_panel
show_inference_panel(conda_env='splatter-image')

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Workflow

Generating 3DGS from Images

1. Launch Maya and run the quick start command
2. In the inference panel:
   • Click "Browse Image..." to select an input image
   • (Optional) Enable "Remove Background" for cleaner results
   • Click "Generate 3D Gaussian Splat"
3. The generated .ply file automatically imports into Maya
4. WebGL viewer opens automatically showing the full-resolution Gaussian splat

Working with Multi-Object Scenes

Import multiple objects into your scene:

import import_gaussians

# Import multiple PLY files
node1, _ = import_gaussians.import_gaussian_scene('/path/to/object1.ply')
node2, _ = import_gaussians.import_gaussian_scene('/path/to/object2.ply')
node3, _ = import_gaussians.import_gaussian_scene('/path/to/object3.ply')

Scene management:

• WebGL viewer displays all objects simultaneously
• Transform objects in Maya → Changes sync to WebGL in real-time
• Delete objects in Maya → They disappear from WebGL automatically
• Navigate in WebGL → Maya camera follows your movements
• Info panel shows: Objects: 3 | Gaussians: 500,000

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WebGL Viewer Reference

Control Panel Buttons

Button	Function
Manual Control	Toggle manual camera navigation (default: ON)
Grid	Show/hide XZ ground plane grid and XYZ reference axes
Reset View	Return camera to initial position
Camera Sync	Toggle WebGL → Maya camera synchronization (default: ON)
Object Sync	Toggle Maya → WebGL object transform sync (default: ON)

Navigation Controls

Input	Action
Mouse Drag	Rotate camera (orbit around target)
Mouse Wheel	Zoom in/out
W / A / S / D	Move forward / left / back / right
Z / X	Move up / down
O	Toggle depth write (solid vs. alpha-blended rendering)

Info Display

• Objects: 3DGS object count in scene
• Gaussians: Total splat count across all objects
• FPS: Rendering frame rate
• Camera: Current mode (Manual / Synced)

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Backend

SplatCraft uses the Splatter Image model as its core backend for single-image to 3D Gaussian Splat (3DGS) generation.
This feed-forward network enables fast, one-shot reconstruction of 3D splats directly from a single RGB input, allowing seamless integration with the Maya authoring pipeline.

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License

See individual component licenses in their respective directories.