How to convert to SOGs

Compressing your PLY files to SOGs

To get the best performance for your 3D Gaussian Splats in Reflct, we recommend the SOGs format. This guide shows you how to convert your existing .PLY files using the powerful, open-source Splat-Transform library, created by the talented team at PlayCanvas. Read their docs here.

SOGs (Self-Organizing Gaussians) is a format designed for high-performance, web-based rendering. Its key advantage lies in its powerful compression, which can shrink original .PLY files by up to 95%. This dramatic file size reduction also leads to more efficient memory usage, ensuring your creations load quickly and run smoothly for all users, on any device.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you’ll need Node.js installed on your computer, which includes npm (Node Package Manager). If you don’t have it, you can download it from the official Node.js website.

Installation

First, you’ll need to install the PlayCanvas Splat Transform command-line tool. This is a simple process that you can complete in a few seconds using npm.

  1. Open your terminal or command prompt.

  2. Run the following command to install the tool globally on your system:

    npm install -g @playcanvas/splat-transform

This command downloads and installs the Splat Transform library, making it available for you to use from any directory on your computer.

Conversion Process

Once the installation is complete, you are ready to convert your PLY files. The process is straightforward and can be completed with a single command.

  • Navigate to your project directory. Open your terminal and use the cd command to move into the folder where your PLY file is located.
  • Run the conversion command. Use the following command to convert your file, replacing your-file.ply with the name of your .ply file. 
    splat-transform your-file.ply your-file.sog

What’s Next?

Now that you have your SOGs files, you are ready to upload them to Reflct and start building your interactive 3D scenes. For more information on how to create stunning visualizations and experiences, check out our other guides on optimizing your scenes and capturing high-quality Gaussian Splats.

Optimizing 3DGS for WebCapturing Gaussian Splats