As 3D Gaussian Splatting becomes more widely used, so does the need for practical tools to manage the growing size and complexity of splat based datasets. One of the latest additions to the ecosystem is Gaussian Splat Decimation, a very nice utility designed to help creators streamline their models without losing their overall structure.

The tool works by merging gaussian points within a configurable radius, reducing model density while still preserving the geometry and appearance that make splats so effective. The result is a lighter model that’s easier to process, share, or render in real time.

It runs from the command line and outputs directly to .ply, making it easy to slot into existing pipelines. A single argument controls the radius in which points are merged, giving you direct control over how aggressively the model is simplified.

For those familiar with open source collaboration, the project is open to contributions. Developers are encouraged to fork, experiment, and submit pull requests to expand its capabilities. The tool is released under the MIT License, though it does incorporate portions of the original gaussian-splatting project by Inria, which remain under their original licensing terms requiring a commercial license. However, developer Felix Hirt (the same who we profiled yesterday) let me know that he plans to port it to Nerfstudio’s gsplat for a more permissive license.

As datasets grow larger and splat-based methods find their way into real-world applications, lightweight utilities like this will become essential for keeping the technology practical and accessible.

The GitHub repo can be found here.