Mapping noob

[John G.]

Going to try my hand at mapping. Pix4d or drone deploy or something else? Mavic 2 pro or zoom? 150 ft ceiling.

 

[GFields]

I would say Pro due to the larger censor

 

[jaja6009]

This is a broad question with an answer that depends on what you are trying to do.

To just make maps to learn how to do it is easy.

Choose the Mavic 2 Pro. As mentioned the 1" sensor will have better results over the Mavic 2 Zoom. You can map with the Zoom, but you cannot change the zoom level while mapping as it will change your focal length.


1. Image acquisition

You can use Drone Link, Pix4D Capture, Drone Deploy or other apps to collect your images. The height will depend on what you want your GSD or resolution of your map to be. Lower is higher resolution, but too low may have problems with processing.

Next nadir or oblique images. Nadir images work but miss some of the sides of buildings. If you want a great model you can do oblique or mix oblique or nadir.

2. Software

Free - WEB ODM (May have small cost) Maps Made Easy (Small datasets) or Reality Capture.

You can obtain a free trial from most photogrammetry software. Drone Deploy, Pix4D, Agisoft Pro etc.

Cloud Options - Drone Deploy, Pix4D Cloud. These are upload images and sit back and relax.

Desktop Options - Pix4Dmapper, Pix4Dmatic, Agisoft Pro. You install the free trial onto your computer. The computer needs a decent CPU and Graphics card if you have a large number of images. There are various tutorials from the company and on Youtube to get you processing.


Learn about datums, coordinate systems and in particular elevations. To fully use your data in the correct context and have your outputs have correct coordinates systems you will need to learn a bit about WGS84, NAD83 and then about elevations such as EGM96 and NAVD88. Having the wrong coordinate systems will introduce problems and inaccuracies as well as totally incorrect elevations. You will run into a problem with the Mavic 2 Pro if you do not use Ground Control in terms of its elevations being incorrect.


Learn the basics and then if you like it, you can start to explore introducing accuracy and precision into your data with Ground Control, RTK and PPK workflows. But the learning curve is a long path of learning.

Pilot Institute has a course that will lead you along the way. But when you get into RTK and PPK, it is lacking and has some minor errors in datums/coordinate systems.