Photogrammetry with Litchi, anyone doing it? Settings?

[Lady Rover]

Hi,

while I know that there are better softwares geared to this (like DroneHarmony for example) I was wondering if someone tried that successfully with a flight path set up in Litchi Mission hub.

If you did, what where your flight parameters? Height above ground, distance between photos, distance between flight paths, did you do sharp turns at the end of each turn? Camera angles? How many runs?

Would be great to learn from you!

Which software did you use for processing? By chance any of the free options mentioned here?:

14 Best Photogrammetry Software Tools of 2018 (5 are Free) | All3DP

Thanks,

Franziska

 

[Lady Rover]

If yes, did you create a waypoint for each photo?

 

[Meta4]

while I know that there are better softwares geared to this (like DroneHarmony for example) I was wondering if someone tried that successfully with a flight path set up in Litchi Mission hub.

If you did, what where your flight parameters? Height above ground, distance between photos, distance between flight paths, did you do sharp turns at the end of each turn? Camera angles? How many runs?

Why?
Litchi isn't a mapping app and there are quite a few dedicated mapping apps that calculate everything for you and fly the pattern, capturing images with precise overlaps ...
... and they are free !!
Using Litchi for mapping would be like attempting surgery with carpenter's tools.

 

[53-63-6f-74-74]

It doesn't make sense to use Litchi for that purpose. It takes literally less than a minute to set up an automated flight using Pix4d or DroneDeploy, and all of the flight parameters will be optimized. As Meta4 said, the flight apps are free to use indefinitely after you create an account. I use Pix4d with my MP and P4P in a professional capacity, but use Agisoft Photoscan for all of the post processing. Flight parameters will depend on terrain, ground sampling distance required, etc. For me, using a P4P, 180 feet above launch elevation and an 80% overlap tends to give the best results. Since I do not require a point cloud or detailed 3d model, I fly only parallel lines, not a double grid.

 

[Lady Rover]

Yes, drone deploy is good, but I do not want apps which force you into subscription (even after a while).

I was thinking about using as I already paid for it.

So any suggestions on good and free (or one time paid) ones you guys tested? Open Source?

 

[Meta4]

Yes, drone deploy is good, but I do not want apps which force you into subscription (even after a while).

I was thinking about using as I already paid for it.

So any suggestions on good and free (or one time paid) ones you guys tested? Open Source?

DroneDeploy doesn't force you into anything.
You only pay if you use their processing service, not to use the app.
It's free and 10,000% better than trying to use Litchi would ever be.

 

[Keule]

So any suggestions on good and free (or one time paid)

As previously stated already, a lot of those apps are FREE to use (lifetime).
Download the app(s) to your phone/tablet and you can use them.

The thing what makes the stuff expensive is the part where your stack of images are put together (stitched or rendered, whatever you call it) The service provided by those companies where CPU power is heavily used and storage space is used by their servers is what makes them charge you money.

Again, use the flying apps, create your mission and get your bunch of images to your drone for free.
After that, you are free to do with whatever with your images.

 

[Lady Rover]

Fair enough. So which of those flying apps have you successfully tried and can recommend.

 

[Meta4]

Fair enough. So which of those flying apps have you successfully tried and can recommend.

There are several good ones.
DroneDeploy works well for me .... but up to last week they still didn't have it working with the Mavic 2 and the Android version of their app.

 

[Keule]

o which of those flying apps have you successfully tried and can recommend.

That depends on what kind of equipment you have and what you want to achive ...

- What drone model do you have?
- What Phone / tablet are you using?
- Is it just for self education / testing?
- What kind of final output (before or after rendering/stitching) are you or your customer(s) expecting?
- What is the size of the area being mapped?
- Is it flat or does elevation change a lot?

 

[Lady Rover]

Thanks so far.

Here the answers to the questions.

Mavic Air, Huawei Mate 9 Pro, to create 3D models as start point for architectural CAD 3D modeling and visual actions. Initially as a test. Point cloud is ok as result. OBJ File better, NURBS best. I need also the ground texture.
Size about 100mx100m for now.
Cad work will be in Rhino 3D 6 with V-Ray.
For post I haves professional workstation with 24core processors, GTX 1060 and 72gb RAM.

I have no issue of paying a modest one time fee (let's say 100€ max), but I do not enter subscription schemes generally.
That's why I am not using Autodesk or Adobe software at all.

Litchi I have paid for and DroneHarmony I am considering their basic 1x payment app.
Still, some of you might have tried others as alternative to DroneHarmony and I'd love to hear about that.

Thanks!

 

[Keule]

All right, then i try to answer:

Mavic Air

Not perfect, because there are a lot of issues with the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic Air geotags. Which means the EXIF metadata of the images contain questionable infos which might lead to faulty post processing when these data are required.
But anyhow, you can try with the drone model.

Initially as a test

Ok, then most of trial versions of mapping providers will do the trick.

to create 3D models as start point

Ok, nearly all of the mapping providers output 3D files.

Point cloud is ok as result. OBJ File better, NURBS best.

Look for description on what kind of 3D file will be generated on the websites of the mapping service providers.

I need also the ground texture.

No problem - that's the basic task - just combine RGB images into one 'big' image.

After you defined your basic needs, i would recommend MapsMadeEasy. But as you are flying with an Android device, their flying app is not available for Android. So you have to capture your images with something else.
Then, after you have all your images of your 100x100m area, signup in MapsMadeEasy and follow their steps on howto upload and create your desired output. MME, by default creates following file types:

GeoTIFF (TIF)
Full Resolution Image (JPG)
DEM (TIF)
Colorized DEM GeoTIFF (TIF)
Colorized DEM (JPG)
3D Google Earth (KMZ)
Point Cloud (LAS)
Point Cloud XYZ RGB (TXT)
3D Model (OBJ)
3D Material (MTL)
3D Texture (JPG)

MME's service is free to use for lifetime as long as your area does not exceed a specific size.

I hope i did not made this to complicated ... ;-)

 

[53-63-6f-74-74]

I'd start with Pix4d. It's the most user friendly app and does everything simply. You'll want to fly a double grid mission for an accurate point cloud, and if you have the resources it's a good idea to have some ground control points. Download the app, make a (free) account. There's a trial period for their cloud processing. Use the cloud processing if you want to until the trial expires, then continue to use the app to collect photos for as long as you wish at no charge. You'll not find anything cheap as far as cloud processing software goes, and there are limited options as far as desktop software, which are also very expensive. Perhaps take a look at MapsMadeEasy to see if the pricing schedule fits your needs in the long term. It is not a subscription service and works with a point system (purchase points and use them as needed)

 

[Lady Rover]

Awesome info.

Will see how far that gets me. How do you guys deal with trees? Edit them out & add 3D proxy models?

I'll want to roughly follow this, but with different software:

How to Use a Drone to Create a Detailed 3D Context Model | ArchDaily

They used an Air successfully.
I'd love to use Lumion too, but the pricetag is too hefty.

Trial software leading to a subscription or high follow on costs are not worth it. You spent a lot of time learning it and than you have to abandon or pay a hefty price tag.

I run a small office, which obviously mean up and downs in the project numbers. That's why I try to avoid anything creating regular costs.

Which flight controllers similar to DroneHarmony are worth looking into?

 

[Keule]

That's why I try to avoid anything creating regular costs.

If you need professional help in defining the needs or if you are willing to outsource the task to an external provider with the right equipment, just give me an call or send me an e-mail.

 

[Lady Rover]

Hey Keule, thanks for the kind offer, but at the moment the aim is to learn how it can be done cost effective in house.
For larger contracts in your vicinity I keep you in mind.

 

[bushie]

I use DroneHarmony to plan and fly my photo missions. You can set prameters such as hight, overlap, speed etc.

I also use DH to fly a lot of my preplanned video fligjts.

I have purchased the basic version but may buy the full version to carry out bridge inspections if some plans i have work out

I then use Precision Mapper to produce the orthomaps. This service is free for up to 5 maps per month. It will also produce contours and 3D images.

I finally use MapWkndows5, also free, to plot the images. Also started to play with gvSig, again free.

 

[Lady Rover]

Ok, I did some more research and will use DroneHarmony for flightpaths and AliceVision Meshroom for Photogrametry.
Not sure if I will succeed but Meshroom looks pretty capable for an open Source program.

AliceVision | Photogrammetric Computer Vision Framework

Thanks to all for the info provided.

 

[Stellarat]

Ok, I did some more research and will use DroneHarmony for flightpaths and AliceVision Meshroom for Photogrametry.
Not sure if I will succeed but Meshroom looks pretty capable for an open Source program.

AliceVision | Photogrammetric Computer Vision Framework

Thanks to all for the info provided.

Hi, I'd like to have a go at this as well and wondered how AliceVision Meshroom worked out for you?

At a glance it doesn't seem to support making use of GPS information in the image EXIF data. Is this the case, and if so has it caused any problems?

 

[Toddvg]

I have been doing some trials with Meshroom and have had limited success. Currently working on processing 1400 photos of a downtown area. First i tried all 1400 photos, with 2019.1 then i went to trying 100 at a time with 2019.1 after some reading i have moved to ver 2018.1 processing 100 photos at a time.. so far so good.

any one else have some feed back??