Skip to main content

Compress SPLAT File — Shrink Your 3DGS Scene 4-6x

Compress SPLAT Gaussian Splatting files to the smaller, standards-aligned SPZ format.

Last updated Mar 2026

  1. 1
    Upload
  2. 2
    Compress
  3. 3
    Download

Drag SPLAT file here, or click to upload

What You Should Know

Why Compress SPLAT Files to SPZ?

SPLAT files use a simple fixed 32-byte-per-Gaussian layout that is widely compatible with web viewers, but not space-efficient. A scene with 5 million Gaussians produces a 160 MB SPLAT file. Converting to SPZ compresses this to approximately 30-40 MB — a 4-6x reduction — while maintaining the same visual quality. SPZ also aligns with the emerging Khronos/Niantic standard, making it a future-proof choice for archiving and distribution.

Important: Spherical Harmonics Are Not Added

SPLAT files do not contain spherical harmonics (SH) data — they store only base color per Gaussian. Compressing a SPLAT to SPZ does not add SH data. The resulting SPZ file will have the same visual characteristics as the original SPLAT: correct colors from any angle, but without view-dependent color shifts. If you need SH preservation in your compressed file, start from a PLY source that contains the original SH data.

SPLAT vs. SPZ: Size and Compatibility

SPLAT has broader viewer compatibility today — it is supported by antimatter15, splat.io, and many Three.js implementations. SPZ is newer but gaining rapid adoption through the Khronos ecosystem and Niantic Scaniverse. Compressing your SPLAT to SPZ gives you a significantly smaller file and positions your asset for future tool compatibility, while the original SPLAT can still serve viewers that do not yet support SPZ.

Typical Use Cases for SPLAT Compression

SPLAT-to-SPZ compression is most practical when you have existing SPLAT files from older workflows and want to reduce storage costs without changing tools. For example, a content creator who has accumulated a library of SPLAT files from 2023-2024 can compress them to SPZ to cut storage by 4-6x. The SPZ output can be served directly to viewers that support SPZ, or converted back to SPLAT on demand. This workflow is also useful when distributing scenes where bandwidth matters — a 30 MB SPZ is significantly easier to deliver than a 160 MB SPLAT over mobile connections.

SPLAT vs SPZ
FeatureSPLAT (Input)SPZ (Compressed)
Typical File Size100-300 MB20-50 MB (compressed)
Compression RatioModerate (fixed 32-byte layout)~75-85% reduction vs SPLAT
Spherical HarmonicsNot present (base color only)Not present (base color only)
Gaussian CountN GaussiansSame N Gaussians (no culling)
Web DeliveryBroad compatibilitySmaller + Khronos standard
Compression MethodFixed 32-byte layoutQuantization + gzip
Frequently Asked Questions
Typically 4-6x smaller than the original SPLAT file. A 200 MB SPLAT file becomes approximately 35-50 MB SPZ. The exact ratio depends on scene characteristics — dense scenes with spatially coherent Gaussians compress more efficiently.
No. Both the SPLAT original and the SPZ output contain only base color (no spherical harmonics). The rendered scene will look identical. The only difference is file size and the underlying storage format.
Yes. Use our SPZ to SPLAT converter. The round-trip preserves all Gaussian data (positions, scales, rotations, opacity, base colors) with minor quantization precision differences.
This compressor supports SPLAT files up to 100 MB on desktop browsers. This corresponds to approximately 3.1 million Gaussians. For larger scenes, consider using command-line tools.
This tool compresses to SPZ because SPZ is the best-in-class compression format for Gaussian Splatting: it achieves the smallest file sizes and is the Khronos/Niantic standard. KSPLAT produces larger files than SPZ and is only useful if you specifically need the Three.js GaussianSplats3D library's progressive loading feature. For that workflow, use our SPLAT to KSPLAT converter instead.

Related Tools

SPLAT to SPZ ConverterSPLAT ViewerSPZ ViewerCompress PLY