---
license: cc-by-nc-4.0
tags:
- gaussian-splatting
- 3d-reconstruction
- mineralogy
pretty_name: "Amethyst Specimen (amet-001) — Gaussian Splat"
originSessionId: fa57a6d8-3a13-409a-b8c2-a786bb4996d2
---
# Amethyst Specimen (amet-001) — Gaussian Splat

Amethyst specimen reconstructed using Gaussian Splatting via COLMAP + opensplat pipeline on MacBook Pro.

## Capture Method

- **Device:** Camera/iPhone (handheld)
- **Total frames:** 103 (images_jpg/ directory)
- **Background:** Dark matte (controlled background for COLMAP registration)
- **COLMAP registration:** Registered via colmap_ws_v1

## Directory Structure

```
images_nobg/     — background-removed images (primary COLMAP input, symlinked as images/)
images_jpg/      — original JPG captures (103 frames)
images_cropped/  — cropped variants
images_heic/     — original HEIC captures
colmap_db/       — COLMAP database
colmap_ws/       — COLMAP workspace
colmap_ws_v1/    — COLMAP workspace v1 (sparse/ symlinked)
runs/
  v1-macbook-15k/
    output.ply   — 15,000 iteration Gaussian Splat
    cameras.json
    params.json
  2026-03-20-15000-Drus-MacBook-Pro/
    output.ply   — 15,000 iteration Gaussian Splat (with renders)
    renders/     — render outputs
    cameras.json
    params.json
    scores.json
  2026-03-20-30000-Drus-MacBook-Pro/   — 30,000 iteration run (params.json only; PLY not generated)
    renders/
    params.json
  macbook-15k/   — additional 15k run directory
pipeline.log
assess.log
sips-convert.log
```

## PLY Iterations

| Run | Iterations | Node | Notes |
|-----|-----------|------|-------|
| v1-macbook-15k | 15,000 | MacBook Pro | Standard run |
| 2026-03-20-15000 | 15,000 | MacBook Pro | Run with render outputs and scores |
| 2026-03-20-30000 | 30,000 | MacBook Pro | 30k run (PLY incomplete) |

## Training Pipeline

1. **Structure from Motion:** COLMAP (feature extraction + matching + mapping)
2. **Background removal:** Applied before COLMAP input
3. **Gaussian Splat training:** opensplat
4. **Output:** `.ply` point cloud files viewable in SuperSplat

## Viewing PLY Files

Use [SuperSplat](https://supersplat.dev/) to view `.ply` Gaussian Splat files in-browser.