# SpotlessSplats: Ignoring Distractors in 3D Gaussian Splatting

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.20055 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.20055/

## Key facts

- Cited by 61 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 46 of its 63 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Jun 2024.

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

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [DINOv2: Learning Robust Visual Features without Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.07193/) (2023)
- [Emerging Properties in Self-Supervised Vision Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.14294/) (2021)
- [Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.06125/) (2022)
- [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)
- [Generative Modeling by Estimating Gradients of the Data Distribution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.05600/) (2019)
- [Instant Neural Graphics Primitives with a Multiresolution Hash Encoding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.05989/) (2022)
- [GLIDE: Towards Photorealistic Image Generation and Editing with Text-Guided Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10741/) (2021)
- [Mip-NeRF 360: Unbounded Anti-Aliased Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.12077/) (2021)
- [Mip-NeRF: A Multiscale Representation for Anti-Aliasing Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.13415/) (2021)
- [pixelNeRF: Neural Radiance Fields from One or Few Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.02190/) (2020)
- [NeRF in the Wild: Neural Radiance Fields for Unconstrained Photo Collections](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.02268/) (2020)
- [Direct Voxel Grid Optimization: Super-fast Convergence for Radiance Fields Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.11215/) (2021)
- [PlenOctrees for Real-time Rendering of Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14024/) (2021)
- [Block-NeRF: Scalable Large Scene Neural View Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.05263/) (2022)
- [pixelSplat: 3D Gaussian Splats from Image Pairs for Scalable Generalizable 3D Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.12337/) (2023)
- [Mip-Splatting: Alias-free 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.16493/) (2023)
- [BARF: Bundle-Adjusting Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.06405/) (2021)
- [Putting NeRF on a Diet: Semantically Consistent Few-Shot View Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.00677/) (2021)
- [Emergent Correspondence from Image Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.03881/) (2023)
- [Deep ViT Features as Dense Visual Descriptors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.05814/) (2021)
- [MobileNeRF: Exploiting the Polygon Rasterization Pipeline for Efficient Neural Field Rendering on Mobile Architectures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.00277/) (2022)
- [A Tale of Two Features: Stable Diffusion Complements DINO for Zero-Shot Semantic Correspondence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.15347/) (2023)
- [Urban Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.14643/) (2021)
- [A Hierarchical 3D Gaussian Representation for Real-Time Rendering of Very Large Datasets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.12080/) (2024)
- [Diffusion Hyperfeatures: Searching Through Time and Space for Semantic Correspondence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14334/) (2023)
- [Probing the 3D Awareness of Visual Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.08636/) (2024)
- [NeRF--: Neural Radiance Fields Without Known Camera Parameters](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.07064/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 61)

- [WildGaussians: 3D Gaussian Splatting in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.08447/) (2024)
- [DreamDrive: Generative 4D Scene Modeling from Street View Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.00601/) (2024)
- [DAS3R: Dynamics-Aware Gaussian Splatting for Static Scene Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.19584/) (2024)
- [RoMo: Robust Motion Segmentation Improves Structure from Motion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.18650/) (2024)
- [DeRainGS: Gaussian Splatting for Enhanced Scene Reconstruction in Rainy Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.11540/) (2024)
- [RealX3D: A Physically-Degraded 3D Benchmark for Multi-view Visual Restoration and Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.23437/) (2025)
- [Skyfall-GS: Synthesizing Immersive 3D Urban Scenes from Satellite Imagery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.15869/) (2025)
- [Faster-GS: Analyzing and Improving Gaussian Splatting Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.09999/) (2026)
- [HybridGS: Decoupling Transients and Statics with 2D and 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.03844/) (2024)
- [DeGauss: Dynamic-Static Decomposition with Gaussian Splatting for Distractor-free 3D Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.13176/) (2025)
- [DeSplat: Decomposed Gaussian Splatting for Distractor-Free Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.19756/) (2024)
- [T-3DGS: Removing Transient Objects for 3D Scene Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.00155/) (2024)
- [RobustSplat: Decoupling Densification and Dynamics for Transient-Free 3DGS](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.02751/) (2025)
- [Distractor-free Generalizable 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.17605/) (2024)
- [Robust and Efficient 3D Gaussian Splatting for Urban Scene Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.23006/) (2025)
- [Unifying Color and Lightness Correction with View-Adaptive Curve Adjustment for Robust 3D Novel View Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.18322/) (2026)
- [NexusSplats: Efficient 3D Gaussian Splatting in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.14514/) (2024)
- [Seg-Wild: Interactive Segmentation based on 3D Gaussian Splatting for Unconstrained Image Collections](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.07395/) (2025)
- [ForestSplats: Deformable transient field for Gaussian Splatting in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.06179/) (2025)
- [Robust Neural Rendering in the Wild with Asymmetric Dual 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.03538/) (2025)
- [WorldWarp: Propagating 3D Geometry with Asynchronous Video Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.19678/) (2025)
- [SimVS: Simulating World Inconsistencies for Robust View Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.07696/) (2024)
- [SpeeDe3DGS: Speedy Deformable 3D Gaussian Splatting with Temporal Pruning and Motion Grouping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.07917/) (2025)
- [MGSR: 2D/3D Mutual-boosted Gaussian Splatting for High-fidelity Surface Reconstruction under Various Light Conditions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.05182/) (2025)
- [EgoSplat: Open-Vocabulary Egocentric Scene Understanding with Language Embedded 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.11345/) (2025)
- [WildRayZer: Self-supervised Large View Synthesis in Dynamic Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.10716/) (2026)
- [You Only Gaussian Once: Controllable 3D Gaussian Splatting for Ultra-Densely Sampled Scenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.21400/) (2026)
- [MVGSR: Multi-View Consistency Gaussian Splatting for Robust Surface Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.08093/) (2025)
- [SparseGS-W: Sparse-View 3D Gaussian Splatting in the Wild with Generative Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.19452/) (2025)
- [Fillerbuster: Unified Generative Scene Completion Model for Casual Captures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.05175/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) is a promising technique for 3D reconstruction, offering efficient training and rendering speeds, making it suitable for real-time applications.However, current methods require highly controlled environments (no moving people or wind-blown elements, and consistent lighting) to meet the inter-view consistency assumption of 3DGS. This makes reconstruction of real-world captures problematic. We present SpotLessSplats, an approach that leverages pre-trained and general-purpose features coupled with robust optimization to effectively ignore transient distractors. Our method achieves state-of-the-art reconstruction quality both visually and quantitatively, on casual captures. Additional results available at: https://spotlesssplats.github.io