Your videos have improved greatly. A timesaver tip: After selecting a tie point in two images, click the icon on the far right - that will center the remaining photos on the tie point, making them easier to find/select. Happy droning!
To clear the point cloud I use the clipping cube, you can move it and resize and move as you like removing from the "scene" what bothers you at any given time. I think that with this system you gain time to work avoiding to classify more points, although in many cases you have to use both methods. The automatic point classification, unless in this last version they have improved it, I do not see it yet ready, it is very difficult for it to classify well. Although all help is welcome. This operation, the cleaning operation, is very important to get a good model and above all it is the one that consumes more time. I have the feeling that in the last versions the processing time of the program has decreased considerably. Which is always good news. Good video, very well explained and above all the results are very good. I think part of the credit is for the assistant you brought with you ;)
Thanks for your input. I forgot about the clipping cube. I agree with everything you said. Cleaning the point cloud is the biggest part of it. In Agisoft they have a tool called Gradual Selection. It lets you clean the point cloud in seconds. The other thing I want to mention is Pix4d has a setting that allows your computer to send data back to their server to learn how you use point cloud classification and supposedly makes it better. I haven't tested that but I read about it.
They release new versions every few weeks and for lack of time I find it difficult to follow all the tools they release. A more powerful tool, than doing it by hand as it is now, would come in handy to clear the point cloud. I didn't know about the learning in the cloud of automatic classification, it will be a matter of looking at it, especially if it improves the cleanliness of the model in this way. (I can't find any information about this function at the moment) The tool Gradual Selection is a great tool, Pix4D should also adopt something similar to facilitate the work.
ArrUnTuS David Pix4D calls it machine learning Ill see if I can find a link to it. Agisoft has a bit of a learning curve but the gradual selection is huge. I believe pix4d has an automatic version of the tool. Thats just based on some things Ive seen not fact. If you are on Facebook be sure to join a couple of the drone mapping groups. So much knowledge is shared by some really smart people.
Yes, has a automatic classification tool, in the second step you can activate it. But that's what I was telling you, it doesn't classify very well (at least when I've tried it). I like the Photoscan tool better because from what I've seen it works pretty well and is very fast, in a few steps it cleans the model very well. I'm already in a couple of facebook groups, it's about time, a scarce resource for me...... Thanks, I'll have to keep digging when I get a chance.
One question please, Ive took a a bunch of pictures for a guyed tower, and i follow exactly same step as you did, but the result was so bad, the picture was not clear at all!!! Please help!!!
I’m just curious, so please don’t take this question for anything other. I’m studying for my part 107 drone license and it says you have to have a special permit to fly over any people, so I’m wondering if you have to get a special permit or waver to do something like this?
As of right now, yes you have to have permission. In this job I had checked the area and was not over anyone. It looked like I was over a car but I was not directly over any vehicles. Now if I missed something and you saw me directly over a person, it was purely accidental. I have had several drones fall out of the sky, so I take it very serious. Im not concerned about the FAA. Im concerned with public safety.
Excellent Video! Did I understand you right that you flew your NADIR flights with the camera at 45 degrees? (so not NADIR anymore? :) Do you find better results with this for 3D mapping?) Did you have any images looking straight down? You then added Obliques anyway in you POI flights? Just learning so excuse stupid questions :), some of the items I'm reading on 3D mapping is first flights NADIR, then obliques at the same height, then obliques lower again, just looking to understand why you did it differently, thanks again for this insightful video!
Donal, as the old saying goes, the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask. Yes, I flew the grid pattern with a slight angle because the buildings are so close together. I wanted to get the sides, so I angled the camera up. If I only wanted the building in the center or the building was not surrounded by other objects, then I would have flown a single grid at a 90 degree angle, then a POI around the object of interest (in this case a building) In the beginning I read all the material on the best way to capture data. I found a lot of it was wrong or incomplete. Now the real truth is, some things in mapping can be changed and tweaked, somethings can not. Keep learning and experimenting.
@Марат Тикеев 100% manual focus. While in auto, focus the camera, then put it in manual so it stays. Adjust the focus only when you need then leave it there. That will give you more consistent results. You should only need to change it when the distant from the object changes enough to be out of focus.
@@МаратТикеев That is because I am not in position yet. When I am ready to take pictures I tap the screen to focus then put it in manual so it stays. I do not try and manually focus it. The screen is small and the sun is bright so I don't trust my eyes for that. Does that explain it better?
@@GM6DroneMapping yes, thank you. I think about depth of field. Little aperture is little depth of field. I try shooting on 8 aperture and in sunny weather shutter is 1/200 - you recommend 1/800, 1/1000. Therefore I think about 1/200 shutter - is it too big, long shutter?
@@МаратТикеев did I recommend 1000 for the shutter speed? Well if so that was a couple of years ago. Don't do that. The shutter speed is relative to the drone's speed. 1/200 for modeling is good because you should be flying slow.
Yes sir. There are a couple of options. Here is a link to one I found the other day. I have not tested it yet. alicevision.github.io/ I noticed a few videos on TH-cam about this software.
After extensive research and testing, I would say you can do it well with any Phantom 3 or Phantom 4 series drone. The P4P is better but you can use either drone. They all have what is called a rolling shutter, a camera with a global shutter will give you the best results. You can find a camera with a global shutter on the more expensive cameras.
For most projects I use a Phantom 4 Adv. It has the same camera as the Phantom 4 Pro. The most important part about data collection is the camera settings. Even a Phantom 3 will make a good model if you set the camera up right. Of course with a P3 you need to be closer to the object.
I used 3 batteries. I only changed them out because I was starting a new mission. I probably could have done it with 2 but then you run the risk of running to low in the middle of a mission.
@@GM6DroneMapping .. sweet! I subscribed so I'll be alerted. I work as a meteorologist full time. But I'm interested in earning a few side bucks with my mavic pro. I feel like ya need to have a little bit of a niche in order to actually gain clients. 2d and 3d modeling could provide that niche that I'm looking for. I'm in Tampa, FL ..BTW.
@@MeteorologistBryanBennett Yes. I think so. I do a little crime scene reconstruction with my 3d modeling. Its all very interesting. Maybe put a probe on the drone and fly it in a hurricane. The stations not yours. Lol. Im thinking of Twister the movie. Maybe not the best idea on second thought.
@@GM6DroneMapping Actually.. this is a great idea. One of the services I offer with my weather company is forensic meteorology. Offering 2d or 3d drone imagery could supplement the weather offerings quite nicely. In other words.. someone might claim that they got into an accident due to ice on a bridge. As a weather expert.. My job would be to prove it disprove the presence of ice. A 3d image of the site would be a nice compliment.
GM6 Drone Mapping I have seen this video a few times and never noticed that the word Waxahachie showed up on the map. I assume it’s the courthouse. They now have a new court house a block away and a Jail 2 blocks away. Just curious if It’s allowed to fly there now. I live fairly close in Ennis and always wanted to film that.
@@chrisshorrock8982 If you see a jail/corrections facility in the video then please let me know, as state law does not allow a person to intentionally fly over it. To the best of my knowledge, I did not fly over or capture a jail in any images.
Well, that would be true if all I did was show how to process a 3D model, however in this video I also show the proper collection method. Not to mention, its still free to export a fly-through
Your videos have improved greatly.
A timesaver tip: After selecting a tie point in two images, click the icon on the far right - that will center the remaining photos on the tie point, making them easier to find/select. Happy droning!
Joseph Azzarelli hey thanks for that tip. Yes that is a huge time saver. And thanks for the compliment. Through my failure comes knowledge.
Thank you so much for this content. I just finished a lab in my remote sensing class, this video helped out.
You are very welcome. Im glad it helped.
To clear the point cloud I use the clipping cube, you can move it and resize and move as you like removing from the "scene" what bothers you at any given time. I think that with this system you gain time to work avoiding to classify more points, although in many cases you have to use both methods.
The automatic point classification, unless in this last version they have improved it, I do not see it yet ready, it is very difficult for it to classify well. Although all help is welcome. This operation, the cleaning operation, is very important to get a good model and above all it is the one that consumes more time.
I have the feeling that in the last versions the processing time of the program has decreased considerably. Which is always good news.
Good video, very well explained and above all the results are very good. I think part of the credit is for the assistant you brought with you ;)
Thanks for your input. I forgot about the clipping cube. I agree with everything you said. Cleaning the point cloud is the biggest part of it. In Agisoft they have a tool called Gradual Selection. It lets you clean the point cloud in seconds. The other thing I want to mention is Pix4d has a setting that allows your computer to send data back to their server to learn how you use point cloud classification and supposedly makes it better. I haven't tested that but I read about it.
They release new versions every few weeks and for lack of time I find it difficult to follow all the tools they release. A more powerful tool, than doing it by hand as it is now, would come in handy to clear the point cloud.
I didn't know about the learning in the cloud of automatic classification, it will be a matter of looking at it, especially if it improves the cleanliness of the model in this way. (I can't find any information about this function at the moment)
The tool Gradual Selection is a great tool, Pix4D should also adopt something similar to facilitate the work.
ArrUnTuS David Pix4D calls it machine learning Ill see if I can find a link to it.
Agisoft has a bit of a learning curve but the gradual selection is huge. I believe pix4d has an automatic version of the tool. Thats just based on some things Ive seen not fact. If you are on Facebook be sure to join a couple of the drone mapping groups. So much knowledge is shared by some really smart people.
Yes, has a automatic classification tool, in the second step you can activate it. But that's what I was telling you, it doesn't classify very well (at least when I've tried it). I like the Photoscan tool better because from what I've seen it works pretty well and is very fast, in a few steps it cleans the model very well.
I'm already in a couple of facebook groups, it's about time, a scarce resource for me...... Thanks, I'll have to keep digging when I get a chance.
ArrUnTuS David Sorry what I meant was an automatic tool for clearing some of the points (like noise) similar to the gradual selection tool in Agisoft.
One question please, Ive took a a bunch of pictures for a guyed tower, and i follow exactly same step as you did, but the result was so bad, the picture was not clear at all!!! Please help!!!
Hello. What version of Pix4D are you using? There are so many. Thanks
In all of my videos I was using Pix4D Mapper.
Thank you for using Drone Harmony!
You guys have made a great application and continue to make it better. Thank you for that.
@Alonzo Jericho definitely, have been watching on InstaFlixxer for years myself :)
Hi will drone harmony work on phantom 4 advanced plus controller android with screen? Thanks
I can't say for sure but I would guess, no since I had trouble with it working on other Android devicces. Like Crystal sky
I’m just curious, so please don’t take this question for anything other. I’m studying for my part 107 drone license and it says you have to have a special permit to fly over any people, so I’m wondering if you have to get a special permit or waver to do something like this?
As of right now, yes you have to have permission. In this job I had checked the area and was not over anyone. It looked like I was over a car but I was not directly over any vehicles. Now if I missed something and you saw me directly over a person, it was purely accidental. I have had several drones fall out of the sky, so I take it very serious. Im not concerned about the FAA. Im concerned with public safety.
Excellent Video! Did I understand you right that you flew your NADIR flights with the camera at 45 degrees? (so not NADIR anymore? :) Do you find better results with this for 3D mapping?) Did you have any images looking straight down? You then added Obliques anyway in you POI flights? Just learning so excuse stupid questions :), some of the items I'm reading on 3D mapping is first flights NADIR, then obliques at the same height, then obliques lower again, just looking to understand why you did it differently, thanks again for this insightful video!
Donal, as the old saying goes, the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask. Yes, I flew the grid pattern with a slight angle because the buildings are so close together. I wanted to get the sides, so I angled the camera up. If I only wanted the building in the center or the building was not surrounded by other objects, then I would have flown a single grid at a 90 degree angle, then a POI around the object of interest (in this case a building) In the beginning I read all the material on the best way to capture data. I found a lot of it was wrong or incomplete. Now the real truth is, some things in mapping can be changed and tweaked, somethings can not. Keep learning and experimenting.
@@GM6DroneMapping Thanks a mill for the reply! and again for sharing your insights! Again excuse ignorance, 90 degrees is straight down? Cheers!
Correct. I think it may be -90 on the drone but yes straight down. I should have been more clear because 90 and -90 are 2 different angles. 👍
Hi. Thank you for video. I can't decide - AUTOfocus or Manualfocus. What do you advice?
@Марат Тикеев 100% manual focus. While in auto, focus the camera, then put it in manual so it stays. Adjust the focus only when you need then leave it there. That will give you more consistent results. You should only need to change it when the distant from the object changes enough to be out of focus.
@@GM6DroneMapping ok, thank you. But why on 3:43 minutes of video on the left side there’s a AFC. Not MF?
@@МаратТикеев That is because I am not in position yet. When I am ready to take pictures I tap the screen to focus then put it in manual so it stays. I do not try and manually focus it. The screen is small and the sun is bright so I don't trust my eyes for that. Does that explain it better?
@@GM6DroneMapping yes, thank you. I think about depth of field. Little aperture is little depth of field. I try shooting on 8 aperture and in sunny weather shutter is 1/200 - you recommend 1/800, 1/1000. Therefore I think about 1/200 shutter - is it too big, long shutter?
@@МаратТикеев did I recommend 1000 for the shutter speed? Well if so that was a couple of years ago. Don't do that. The shutter speed is relative to the drone's speed. 1/200 for modeling is good because you should be flying slow.
When is the next video? Very much enjoying these.
Caxman89 thanks. Im not sure but Im working on a couple now.
pix4D is €4000 or €260 per month. is there free alternative to it?
Yes sir. There are a couple of options. Here is a link to one I found the other day. I have not tested it yet. alicevision.github.io/ I noticed a few videos on TH-cam about this software.
What type of camera should a drone have to be able to carry out drone mapping?
After extensive research and testing, I would say you can do it well with any Phantom 3 or Phantom 4 series drone. The P4P is better but you can use either drone. They all have what is called a rolling shutter, a camera with a global shutter will give you the best results. You can find a camera with a global shutter on the more expensive cameras.
@@GM6DroneMapping MAVIC 2 zoom can do it ?
@@antoniomiguel6298 Yes
@@GM6DroneMapping Currently, what are the 3 best drones for this type of service?
in your opinion
Which Drone you have used for this project...???
For most projects I use a Phantom 4 Adv. It has the same camera as the Phantom 4 Pro. The most important part about data collection is the camera settings. Even a Phantom 3 will make a good model if you set the camera up right. Of course with a P3 you need to be closer to the object.
GM6 Drone Mapping Thanks a lot.
Is that $50 a one off payment for 1 model? or is that their subscription cost?
30 day subscription
How many Battery did you go through to capture that many photo
I used 3 batteries. I only changed them out because I was starting a new mission. I probably could have done it with 2 but then you run the risk of running to low in the middle of a mission.
Thank you thank you thank you !
I have sg906 pro 2 drone. How can i use it to create 3d model?
If it has GPS then you can use it like any other drone except I would not fly it in wind. It does not look like it can handle wind.
@@GM6DroneMapping Is there an app to take pictures to cover a site for 3D modeling for such drones?
Thanks for creating this video. :-)
Thank you for watching. I hope to have a couple more out soon. Dealing with GPS and RTK, PPK.
@@GM6DroneMapping .. sweet! I subscribed so I'll be alerted.
I work as a meteorologist full time. But I'm interested in earning a few side bucks with my mavic pro. I feel like ya need to have a little bit of a niche in order to actually gain clients. 2d and 3d modeling could provide that niche that I'm looking for. I'm in Tampa, FL ..BTW.
@@MeteorologistBryanBennett Yes. I think so. I do a little crime scene reconstruction with my 3d modeling. Its all very interesting. Maybe put a probe on the drone and fly it in a hurricane. The stations not yours. Lol. Im thinking of Twister the movie. Maybe not the best idea on second thought.
@@GM6DroneMapping Actually.. this is a great idea. One of the services I offer with my weather company is forensic meteorology. Offering 2d or 3d drone imagery could supplement the weather offerings quite nicely. In other words.. someone might claim that they got into an accident due to ice on a bridge. As a weather expert.. My job would be to prove it disprove the presence of ice. A 3d image of the site would be a nice compliment.
Was the Jail built yet when yo filmed this?
What jail are you referring to?
Around the old court house you filmed.
GM6 Drone Mapping I have seen this video a few times and never noticed that the word Waxahachie showed up on the map. I assume it’s the courthouse. They now have a new court house a block away and a Jail 2 blocks away. Just curious if It’s allowed to fly there now. I live fairly close in Ennis and always wanted to film that.
@@chrisshorrock8982 If you see a jail/corrections facility in the video then please let me know, as state law does not allow a person to intentionally fly over it. To the best of my knowledge, I did not fly over or capture a jail in any images.
GM6 Drone Mapping Didn’t see any
Jail I just know it’s there. Google Earth probably wasn’t up to date at the time.
How was it Free.
Pix4D discovery is free
Better title would be "How to using Free versions...until you have to pay"
Well, that would be true if all I did was show how to process a 3D model, however in this video I also show the proper collection method.
Not to mention, its still free to export a fly-through