GIS Question

[kadras]

I didn't expect so much discussion and suggestions when asking this question, but I'm enjoying it all! I'm glad it has expanded so much and many are participating.

This is all new to me and I was unaware of the various everything that is involved and offered. This is wonderful. :-D

This image I attached is a series of images taken of a small local harbor and stitched together via Microsoft ICE. For some reason I couldn't get it to add on the extended end of the harbor, but it could have been the way I took the images (?). I will try again soon.

I will check out these other suggestions as well and look into the various different techniques and words I've read here (don't mean to sound simple in saying that).

@Casper52 That is a wonderful image of your house; I'm a little envious of it's location as well.View attachment 75980

How did you determine the photo positions so that they overlapped?

 

[AMann]

How did you determine the photo positions so that they overlapped?

You essentially just have to eyeball it if you’re in a hurry, of course it’s a lot easier if you’re using a M2P with its wide angle lens. There’s also a formula to calculate it based on the focal length of the lens, the sensor size and the percent overlap you want. The answer is the distance between passes based on your flying height.

But I will save you from all that math, here’s a cool little app tool that may help:

UAVphoto – a simple calculation tool for aerial photography

I have to admit that I am sometimes a bit lazy. Rather than solving a problem once and working with the solution, in some cases I keep twiddling with the same problem again and again. Calculating t…

www.google.com

 

[Detritalgeo]

How did you determine the photo positions so that they overlapped?

Have you tried the photo collection apps from Drone Deploy, Pix4d or similar..

 

[Casper52]

Have you tried the photo collection apps from Drone Deploy, Pix4d or similar..

I use Dronedeploy, in its planning section you pick both the Overlap and Sidelap It defaults to 80% overlap and 75% sidelap. Those are typical numbers for doing ortho-rectification as you want to have multiple looks of the same ‘target’ to get better triangulation results. It is pricey but heck I got more expensive hobbies than drone flying.

 

[Detritalgeo]

I use Dronedeploy, in its planning section you pick both the Overlap and Sidelap It defaults to 80% overlap and 75% sidelap. Those are typical numbers for doing ortho-rectification as you want to have multiple looks of the same ‘target’ to get better triangulation results. It is pricey but heck I got more expensive hobbies than drone flying.

Yeah, I only use the free apps to design and carry-out the mission with desired overlap. Then I take the photos elsewhere for processing..

 

[AMann]

Yeah, I only use the free apps to design and carry-out the mission with desired overlap. Then I take the photos elsewhere for processing..

Deonedeploy looks great, it’s the perfect tool for business, but the $99/month cost is above what most drone hobby budgets can afford.

 

[Detritalgeo]

Deonedeploy looks great, it’s the perfect tool for business, but the $99/month cost is above what most drone hobby budgets can afford.

I agree, that's why I don't pay.
As I mentioned, you can still use the mission planner tools without an active subscription. It's a far better option if anyone is just flying and taking photos manually.

 

[AMann]

I agree, that's why I don't pay.
As I mentioned, you can still use the mission planner tools without an active subscription. It's a far better option if anyone is just flying and taking photos manually.

It lets you set photo overlaps? What do you do to do that?

 

[Detritalgeo]

It lets you set photo overlaps? What do you do to do that?

You just load the app and start a project... it has auto-mode but you can edit the settings manually..

 

[AMann]

You just load the app and start a project... it has auto-mode but you can edit the settings manually..

I totally missed that and will have to try it, are you using the mobile app to do it?

 

[Detritalgeo]

I totally missed that and will have to try it, are you using the mobile app to do it?

Yeah, just an android phone..

 

[Planet_Earth]

Hey Planet Earth, that stitched image look really good! If you look close at the image of my house, you will see two of me in the parking area. I was walking around a bit during the flight and I was picked up in a couple of frames that got used in the final image. I too got some good hints and suggestion from other GIS Mapper in this thread. Thanks to all!

Thank you, and I'm glad you've gain from this as well! I didn't notice you initially and took a second look; I was too caught up in examining the waters edge and the property (it's a beautiful property). Also looks like an easy way of cloning yourself. :-D

How did you determine the photo positions so that they overlapped?

@kadras Just what AMann said; I created a mental rectangle in my mind, started at one corner, then began taking images and, assuming the program I would be using would be overlapping the images, I made sure each image I took had about 20%ish of each other image.


Does the DroneDeploy app allow one to set/lay out specific spots to take your images to help build a better panoramic? I would love to set my drone to auto on larger image projects.

Here is another panoramic that I took recently:

 

[kadras]

@kadras Just what AMann said; I created a mental rectangle in my mind, started at one corner, then began taking images and, assuming the program I would be using would be overlapping the images, I made sure each image I took had about 20%ish of each other image.

Thanks, that's what I wanted to know.

 

[Casper52]

When I set up a ‘project’ in DroneDeploy I just define the outside boundaries and then the over/side lap percentages and the flight altitude. The program figures out where to put the flight lines and where to to take each photo. It will tell you how many pictures it will take, how long the flight will be and how many batteries it will take. It seems to conservative on the batteries numbers, which is good.

 

[AMann]

When I set up a ‘project’ in DroneDeploy I just define the outside boundaries and then the over/side lap percentages and the flight altitude. The program figures out where to put the flight lines and where to to take each photo. It will tell you how many pictures it will take, how long the flight will be and how many batteries it will take. It seems to conservative on the batteries numbers, which is good.

Are you on the trial version? I can't find where they have a free version. Maybe they’re not offering it with newer versions anymore, so don’t update yours just in case!

 

[Casper52]

I do the monthly Pro thing. You can stop then start up again when you want. It defaults to auto extending each month so you have to be ontop of it or your Credit Card will be billed. My CFO (Chief Female Officer) keeps me in check on such matters. If I miss one I will either get ‘The Look’ or be presented with the Visa bill with the DroneDeploy line item highlighted. If you go to there website there should be a 14 day trial button. I am doing a bigger project in the next few weeks. My 16 acre BC lot, and my neighbor to the north who also has 16 acres and the neighbor to the south who has 42 acres. All hilly and heavily treed it should an interesting few flights.

 

[AMann]

I do the monthly Pro thing. You can stop then start up again when you want. It defaults to auto extending each month so you have to be ontop of it or your Credit Card will be billed. My CFO (Chief Female Officer) keeps me in check on such matters. If I miss one I will either get ‘The Look’ or be presented with the Visa bill with the DroneDeploy line item highlighted. If you go to there website there should be a 14 day trial button. I am doing a bigger project in the next few weeks. My 16 acre BC lot, and my neighbor to the north who also has 16 acres and the neighbor to the south who has 42 acres. All hilly and heavily treed it should an interesting few flights.

Ah, so you are a trial version cheater! Ok, well that won’t work here, I have a lot of Audible credits because I forgot they were billing me each month!

 

[Detritalgeo]

I think I should be more clear..

I use the mission control apps (drone deploy, pix4d, DJI Pilot, etc) ONLY to set up the mission and take the photos in an automated fashion. This is no cost.

Then I take the photos and process them in any tool I want. I use webODM but any service mentioned above should work because the photos from drone deploy are no different than if you manually took them..

 

[Meta4]

Ah, so you are a trial version cheater! Ok, well that won’t work here, I have a lot of Audible credits because I forgot they were billing me each month!

There is no trial version of their app.
The only trial is a 1 month trial of their processing.
After a month you are still free to use the app to plan and fly missions.

 

[AMann]

There is no trial version of their app.
The only trial is a 1 month trial of their processing.
After a month you are still free to use the app to plan and fly missions.

I’ll have to try that, I wrote to DroneDeploy and asked what kind of educational discount they would give a teacher, they responded very quickly and politely but they only take off 30% if we purchased an annual subscription. We probably only need it for a month anyways so that’ll be fine, LVM is a great alternative. In the meantime, now that I’ve got it running, I’m really enjoying learning how to use WebODM for my image processing needs, it’s amazing what tools it comes with for free! I think we’re going to end up using that at school instead of purchasing something else, besides it will be easier for the students to learn with. So we’re just about set to teach a full on GPS surveying, aerial mapping and GIS analysis unit for our aviation and computer science program when school starts this fall.

Many thanks to people here for helping guide my search for better aerial survey and GIS programs for free, you really helped our students!