How to get started with 3D mapping using drones.

Mapping and 3D modeling (important processes to create a 3D configurator) with drones is a cost-effective way to collect and deliver data about land, buildings and real estate.

The latest software updates, features and partnerships make drone mapping useful for small and large businesses alike.

The year 2017 was a showcase year for commercial drone application. The FAA certified more than 60,000 commercial drone pilots this year, enabling commercial operations for service providers and large organizations alike.

Many large companies are already flying drones to increase productivity, improve safety and achieve significant ROI. This expansion of business poses new challenges for hardware and software vendors that require increasing size, sophisticated controls, fleet management and compliance tools.

With these developments in mind, more and more commercial solutions such as DroneDeploy are emerging. It is an intuitive solution for creating aerial maps and 3D models. Its mobile app makes it possible to turn a range of DJI drones into reliable and powerful mapping tools.

With DroneDeploy, it’s easy to create a 3D model and, in fact, each map includes a 3D model view and the ability to create a higher quality model that looks great from any angle on demand adds value.

To help them create better 3D models, we talked to an expert and asked him to share his tips and tricks with us.

Jeff Foster, co-founder of Sounds Visions Media and editor of Drone Coalition, is no stranger to 3D modeling. He has been doing 3D modeling, rendering and animation since the early 1990s and has written 10 books on the subject. In 2012, Jeff worked with the pro video coalition and wrote articles about GoPro cameras when he was contacted by DJI to check out their new drone. He got one, took it out and thought, “This changes everything.

When he started creating 3D models with his drone, Jeff used desktop software to process the images. Then he found DroneDeploy.

“It’s so much faster and cleaner. The models themselves and the ways to share the models were phenomenal.” – Jeff Foster

Today, Jeff flies a DJI Inspire with X3 and X5 cameras and a DJI Phantom 3, in which he uses his Phantom 3 Professional drone to create a 3D model of the abandoned Navy dormitories on Treasure Island near San Francisco.

Step 1: Choose time to fly.

According to Jeff, this is one of the most important steps in using drones to create a 3D model, choose a good time to fly. In addition to avoiding strong wind or rain, it is also important to choose a time with good lighting.

“A cloudy day is best because there are no strong shadows,” said Jeff, “I prefer to work around noon, when there are the shortest shadows, but you don’t always have the choice.”

The worst time of the day? Too early or too late in the day, because then the shadows are the longest and have the greatest influence on the result of the model.

Flying into the abandoned Navy dormitories, Jeff flew at 10am on a partly cloudy day.

Step 2: Capture depth images.

Jeff starts by taking deep pictures, photos he took directly from the top with the free DroneDeploy flight application. He simply sketches the area he wants to fly in based on a base layer map and the app generates a flight plan. After a security check, the drone automatically takes off, flies over the automatic flight path, takes pictures and then lands.

“I’ve been flying for several years and other mapping software I’ve tried is a bit scary because it doesn’t always do what you expect it to do. The DroneDeploy flight application was really solid – it’s really phenomenal.” – Jeff Foster

Step 3: Circle the structure to capture oblique images.

If you are creating a 3D model of relatively flat terrain, an overhead flight may be enough to create a good model. However, if you model a structure or rock formation with steep, vertical, or concave sides, you cannot get a good view of the sides of the structure. For this reason, Jeff recommends flying two additional orbital flights around the structure to improve the quality of your model.

“The manual slant images, in addition to the automated ones, give me much better results than just shooting from above.” – Jeff Foster

Jeff records manual lean angles by tilting the camera 45 degrees and flying around the structure in a fixed radius at the same height as the original low-level flight. “Then I come down about half the height and turn the camera to 90 degrees and circle the structure back in,” Jeff said.

When taking oblique images, it is important not to capture the horizon in their images. When Jeff makes these two orbital flights, he manually triggers the camera shutter to capture each image. But if you’re just getting started, you can experiment with flying very slowly and adjusting the camera to automatically take pictures every 3 to 5 seconds using your drone’s flight application.

In some cases where the structure is more complicated or has overhangs, Jeff can even perform a third orbit from an even lower angle and align the camera up to 90 degrees.

In the abandoned Navy dormitories, Jeff made three additional flights to take oblique images. One at 150 feet with the camera tilted 45 degrees, the other at 70 feet with the camera tilted 80 degrees. Then he made a final Overview Pass at about 30 degrees at about 230 feet to cover the entire area. The four flights, including inclines and low flights, lasted about 45 minutes and covered about 10 acres.

Step 4: Edit the images to create your 3D model.

After finishing flying, Jeff uploaded 504 photos from all four flights to DroneDeploy and decided to process the images as a “structure”. After a few hours, DroneDeploy’s cloud-based processing merged all the images and the 3D model was ready.

Discover the finished 3D model.

Explore the interactive 3D model here or watch the fly-through video:

The most common mistake.

Jeff said that one of the most common mistakes pilots make is that they “don’t agree with what they’re shooting – it takes time to become familiar with flying and some don’t take the time to learn it”. Going further, Jeff said that newcomers “may not get enough overlap between images or cover enough areas when flying manually”.

How do you avoid this error? “Practice, practice, practice”. Jeff recommends practicing in large, wide spaces or with flights far above the tree line. To ensure a sufficient overlap between the images, you should move more frequently on the side of the shots and cover more of the surface of the structure.

Commercial applications for 3D models.

Not only drone enthusiasts use drones to create 3D models. Construction sites often use 3D models to evaluate the topography of a construction site, determine earthmoving needs, and monitor project progress based on project plans. Other industries that use drone-based modeling are mining and inspection.

Jeff is excited about the potential of drone-based 3D models in environmental protection. He has experimented with drones to measure and model ebb and flow along the bay. “You can see differences in 3D. You can see how urbanization affects erosion along wetlands – it has an important intrinsic value here and now,” Jeff said.

Thank you very much for your visit.