Tutorial: Gaussian Splatting Plugin | GSX Shadows Tutorial

Real-time VFX & Shadow Projection for Gaussian Splatting in Unreal Engine 5

GSX Shadows is a specialized Gaussian Splatting-based VFX framework designed to integrate with Niagara, runtime lighting, and point cloud rendering.

🛠 Key Features

✅ VFX-Driven: Enables dynamic player position tracking and Low-Frequency Oscillation (LFO) for animated effects.

✅ Runtime Directional Light Shadows: Supports real-time shadow casting from directional lights for Gaussian Splatting-based objects.

✅ Point Cloud Support: Import PLY files and convert them into point clouds with full material, texture, and Niagara integration.

✅ Drag & Drop Workflow: Simply drop a .ply file into Unreal Engine, and GSX Shadows will generate materials, textures, and a Niagara system automatically.

✅ Preconfigured Sample Effects: Includes two sample Niagara-based effects demonstrating Gaussian Splatting integration.

System Requirements:

• GPU with DirectX 12 support required.

• Make sure Niagara Visual Effect is turned on in the plugin window

Limitations:

• No VR support yet.

• No shadows from point lights, rect lights, or spotlights.

• No crop feature support

• Supports up to 1024 × 1024 million Gaussians.

• Ray tracing does not work with translucent materials (such as the Gaussian Splat Niagara system).

• Compositing multiple Gaussian Splatting scenes may cause incorrect object rendering order.