# GAvatar: Animatable 3D Gaussian Avatars with Implicit Mesh Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.11461 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11461/

## Key facts

- Cited by 63 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 46 of its 51 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 18 Dec 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 46)

- [Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00020/) (2021)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [Photorealistic Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with Deep Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11487/) (2022)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [Adding Conditional Control to Text-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.05543/) (2023)
- [DreamFusion: Text-to-3D using 2D Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.14988/) (2022)
- [NeuS: Learning Neural Implicit Surfaces by Volume Rendering for Multi-view Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.10689/) (2021)
- [Expressive Body Capture: 3D Hands, Face, and Body from a Single Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.05866/) (2019)
- [Magic3D: High-Resolution Text-to-3D Content Creation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.10440/) (2022)
- [AMASS: Archive of Motion Capture as Surface Shapes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.03278/) (2019)
- [ProlificDreamer: High-Fidelity and Diverse Text-to-3D Generation with Variational Score Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16213/) (2023)
- [MVDream: Multi-view Diffusion for 3D Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.16512/) (2023)
- [DreamGaussian: Generative Gaussian Splatting for Efficient 3D Content Creation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.16653/) (2023)
- [Fantasia3D: Disentangling Geometry and Appearance for High-quality Text-to-3D Content Creation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13873/) (2023)
- [PIFuHD: Multi-Level Pixel-Aligned Implicit Function for High-Resolution 3D Human Digitization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.00452/) (2020)
- [Zero-Shot Text-Guided Object Generation with Dream Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.01455/) (2021)
- [Deep Marching Tetrahedra: a Hybrid Representation for High-Resolution 3D Shape Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.04276/) (2021)
- [Modular Primitives for High-Performance Differentiable Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.03277/) (2020)
- [DeepVoxels: Learning Persistent 3D Feature Embeddings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.01024/) (2018)
- [CLIP-NeRF: Text-and-Image Driven Manipulation of Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.05139/) (2021)
- [Neural Point-Based Graphics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.08240/) (2019)
- [Common Diffusion Noise Schedules and Sample Steps are Flawed](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.08891/) (2023)
- [TEXTure: Text-Guided Texturing of 3D Shapes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.01721/) (2023)
- [Mixture of Volumetric Primitives for Efficient Neural Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.01954/) (2021)
- [CLIP-Forge: Towards Zero-Shot Text-to-Shape Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.02624/) (2021)
- [ECON: Explicit Clothed humans Optimized via Normal integration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.07422/) (2022)
- [DeepCap: Monocular Human Performance Capture Using Weak Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.08325/) (2020)
- [DreamAvatar: Text-and-Shape Guided 3D Human Avatar Generation via Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.00916/) (2023)
- [Dream3D: Zero-Shot Text-to-3D Synthesis Using 3D Shape Prior and Text-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.14704/) (2022)
- [TADA! Text to Animatable Digital Avatars](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.10899/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 63)

- [A Survey on 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.03890/) (2024)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting as Markov Chain Monte Carlo](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.09591/) (2024)
- [Recent Advances in 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.11134/) (2024)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting: Survey, Technologies, Challenges, and Opportunities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.17418/) (2024)
- [CG-SLAM: Efficient Dense RGB-D SLAM in a Consistent Uncertainty-aware 3D Gaussian Field](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.16095/) (2024)
- [Generative Gaussian Splatting for Unbounded 3D City Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.06526/) (2024)
- [Towards Open Domain Text-Driven Synthesis of Multi-Person Motions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.18483/) (2024)
- [AvatarGO: Zero-shot 4D Human-Object Interaction Generation and Animation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.07164/) (2024)
- [GVA: Reconstructing Vivid 3D Gaussian Avatars from Monocular Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.16607/) (2024)
- [Mani-GS: Gaussian Splatting Manipulation with Triangular Mesh](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.17811/) (2024)
- [GUAVA: Generalizable Upper Body 3D Gaussian Avatar](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.03351/) (2025)
- [ShapeGen4D: Towards High Quality 4D Shape Generation from Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.06208/) (2025)
- [TELA: Text to Layer-wise 3D Clothed Human Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.16748/) (2024)
- [GuardSplat: Efficient and Robust Watermarking for 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.19895/) (2024)
- [iHuman: Instant Animatable Digital Humans From Monocular Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.11174/) (2024)
- [Advancing Extended Reality with 3D Gaussian Splatting: Innovations and Prospects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.06257/) (2024)
- [PuzzleAvatar: Assembling 3D Avatars from Personal Albums](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.14869/) (2024)
- [STAR: Skeleton-aware Text-based 4D Avatar Generation with In-Network Motion Retargeting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.04629/) (2024)
- [Surfel-based Gaussian Inverse Rendering for Fast and Relightable Dynamic Human Reconstruction from Monocular Video](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.15212/) (2024)
- [DreamWaltz-G: Expressive 3D Gaussian Avatars from Skeleton-Guided 2D Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17145/) (2024)
- [GST: Precise 3D Human Body from a Single Image with Gaussian Splatting Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.04196/) (2024)
- [MonoGSDF: Exploring Monocular Geometric Cues for Gaussian Splatting-Guided Implicit Surface Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.16898/) (2024)
- [TaoAvatar: Real-Time Lifelike Full-Body Talking Avatars for Augmented Reality via 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.17032/) (2025)
- [Evaluating Alternatives to SFM Point Cloud Initialization for Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.12547/) (2024)
- [ClotheDreamer: Text-Guided Garment Generation with 3D Gaussians](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.16815/) (2024)
- [SimAvatar: Simulation-Ready Avatars with Layered Hair and Clothing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.09545/) (2024)
- [VolumetricSMPL: A Neural Volumetric Body Model for Efficient Interactions, Contacts, and Collisions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.23236/) (2025)
- [OccFusion: Rendering Occluded Humans with Generative Diffusion Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.00316/) (2024)
- [3D Gaussian Editing with A Single Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.07540/) (2024)
- [AdaHuman: Animatable Detailed 3D Human Generation with Compositional Multiview Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.24877/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Gaussian splatting has emerged as a powerful 3D representation that harnesses the advantages of both explicit (mesh) and implicit (NeRF) 3D representations. In this paper, we seek to leverage Gaussian splatting to generate realistic animatable avatars from textual descriptions, addressing the limitations (e.g., flexibility and efficiency) imposed by mesh or NeRF-based representations. However, a naive application of Gaussian splatting cannot generate high-quality animatable avatars and suffers from learning instability; it also cannot capture fine avatar geometries and often leads to degenerate body parts. To tackle these problems, we first propose a primitive-based 3D Gaussian representation where Gaussians are defined inside pose-driven primitives to facilitate animation. Second, to stabilize and amortize the learning of millions of Gaussians, we propose to use neural implicit fields to predict the Gaussian attributes (e.g., colors). Finally, to capture fine avatar geometries and extract detailed meshes, we propose a novel SDF-based implicit mesh learning approach for 3D Gaussians that regularizes the underlying geometries and extracts highly detailed textured meshes. Our proposed method, GAvatar, enables the large-scale generation of diverse animatable avatars using only text prompts. GAvatar significantly surpasses existing methods in terms of both appearance and geometry quality, and achieves extremely fast rendering (100 fps) at 1K resolution.