# SmallGS: Gaussian Splatting-based Camera Pose Estimation for Small-Baseline Videos

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.17810 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.17810/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 25 of its 36 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 22 Apr 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 25 of 25)

- [DINOv2: Learning Robust Visual Features without Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.07193/) (2023)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [Vision Transformers for Dense Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.13413/) (2021)
- [DUSt3R: Geometric 3D Vision Made Easy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.14132/) (2023)
- [SuperPoint: Self-Supervised Interest Point Detection and Description](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.07629/) (2017)
- [4D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Dynamic Scene Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.08528/) (2023)
- [ORB-SLAM: a Versatile and Accurate Monocular SLAM System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1502.00956/) (2015)
- [ORB-SLAM2: an Open-Source SLAM System for Monocular, Stereo and RGB-D Cameras](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.06475/) (2016)
- [Dynamic 3D Gaussians: Tracking by Persistent Dynamic View Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.09713/) (2023)
- [Scaffold-GS: Structured 3D Gaussians for View-Adaptive Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.00109/) (2023)
- [DROID-SLAM: Deep Visual SLAM for Monocular, Stereo, and RGB-D Cameras](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.10869/) (2021)
- [iMAP: Implicit Mapping and Positioning in Real-Time](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.12352/) (2021)
- [MonST3R: A Simple Approach for Estimating Geometry in the Presence of Motion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.03825/) (2024)
- [Feature 3DGS: Supercharging 3D Gaussian Splatting to Enable Distilled Feature Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.03203/) (2023)
- [gsplat: An Open-Source Library for Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.06765/) (2024)
- [MegaSaM: Accurate, Fast, and Robust Structure and Motion from Casual Dynamic Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.04463/) (2024)
- [COLMAP-Free 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.07504/) (2023)
- [Robust Consistent Video Depth Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.05901/) (2020)
- [LEAP-VO: Long-term Effective Any Point Tracking for Visual Odometry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.01887/) (2024)
- [SplatFields: Neural Gaussian Splats for Sparse 3D and 4D Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.11211/) (2024)
- [FlowFusion: Dynamic Dense RGB-D SLAM Based on Optical Flow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.05102/) (2020)
- [GS-CPR: Efficient Camera Pose Refinement via 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.11085/) (2024)
- [DytanVO: Joint Refinement of Visual Odometry and Motion Segmentation in Dynamic Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.08430/) (2022)
- [ZeroGS: Training 3D Gaussian Splatting from Unposed Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.15779/) (2024)
- [Degrees of Freedom Matter: Inferring Dynamics from Point Trajectories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.03625/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Efficient Camera-Controlled Video Generation of Static Scenes via Sparse Diffusion and 3D Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.09697/) (2026)
- [Pose-Free Omnidirectional Gaussian Splatting for 360-Degree Videos with Consistent Depth Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.23324/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Dynamic videos with small baseline motions are ubiquitous in daily life, especially on social media. However, these videos present a challenge to existing pose estimation frameworks due to ambiguous features, drift accumulation, and insufficient triangulation constraints. Gaussian splatting, which maintains an explicit representation for scenes, provides a reliable novel view rasterization when the viewpoint change is small. Inspired by this, we propose SmallGS, a camera pose estimation framework that is specifically designed for small-baseline videos. SmallGS optimizes sequential camera poses using Gaussian splatting, which reconstructs the scene from the first frame in each video segment to provide a stable reference for the rest. The temporal consistency of Gaussian splatting within limited viewpoint differences reduced the requirement of sufficient depth variations in traditional camera pose estimation. We further incorporate pretrained robust visual features, e.g. DINOv2, into Gaussian splatting, where high-dimensional feature map rendering enhances the robustness of camera pose estimation. By freezing the Gaussian splatting and optimizing camera viewpoints based on rasterized features, SmallGS effectively learns camera poses without requiring explicit feature correspondences or strong parallax motion. We verify the effectiveness of SmallGS in small-baseline videos in TUM-Dynamics sequences, which achieves impressive accuracy in camera pose estimation compared to MonST3R and DORID-SLAM for small-baseline videos in dynamic scenes. Our project page is at: https://yuxinyao620.github.io/SmallGS