Point cloud created by Drone2Map cannot be viewed in 3D ArcGIS Pro

ViTran · ‎04-25-2018

Hi all,

I started a pilot project to test out Drone2Map. My project is on a small area where there is mostly grass and a few trees. The drone I used was DJI Mavic Pro Quadcopter. All of the pictures I took were nadir.

The products I got from Drone2Map are orthos, DSM, Hillshade, and point cloud. Attached is the Processing Report of my project. I have a few problems:

- The DSM and the point cloud didn't pick up trees in the image.

- Although point cloud was generated ( i can view it in 2D map), I cannot view it 3D at all.

I'm brand new to Drone2Map, so I have no idea what's going on. I've done lots of research, but doesn't seem like anybody has run into the same problem.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Best,

MikiYAMAMOTO · ‎04-26-2018

Hello Vi,

Regarding to the issue 'No tree on DSM',
it is generally said that tall objects such as tree and electric pole are difficult to detect especially when its surrounded by low objects. I don't know how you flied your drone but I recommend you to try capturing plan below;
-Nadir camera-Higher overlap (≧ 80%)
-Higher altitude (less resolutions but helps increasing overlaps)
-Double grid flight
-Oblique camera-Same as above
Plus, poor contents' differences (homogeneous visual content) such as grasses and forests are difficult to match keypoints and it would cause distortions. (if your orthomosaic result have problems, i guess this is the cause)
When the photos doesn't have much contents's differences, Processing Options > Initial > "Calibration Method: Alternative" on D2M would be helpful.

Regarding to the issue 'No pointclouds in 3D view' (I believe that is happened on ArcGIS Pro),
I assume the pointclouds might be buried under the ground. You may find them when you check-on Contents Pane>Scene>Properties>Elevation Surface>Allow underground navigation. You can adjust the height from Contents pane>Point Cloud>Altitude>Cartgraphic Offset.
I use Japanese edition so the terms for setting might be different from the one I wrote above.

Any additional comments are welcome!

Hope you'll solve the problem soon.

Best,

Miki

View solution in original post

MikiYAMAMOTO · ‎04-26-2018

Hello Vi,

Regarding to the issue 'No tree on DSM',
it is generally said that tall objects such as tree and electric pole are difficult to detect especially when its surrounded by low objects. I don't know how you flied your drone but I recommend you to try capturing plan below;
-Nadir camera-Higher overlap (≧ 80%)
-Higher altitude (less resolutions but helps increasing overlaps)
-Double grid flight
-Oblique camera-Same as above
Plus, poor contents' differences (homogeneous visual content) such as grasses and forests are difficult to match keypoints and it would cause distortions. (if your orthomosaic result have problems, i guess this is the cause)
When the photos doesn't have much contents's differences, Processing Options > Initial > "Calibration Method: Alternative" on D2M would be helpful.

Regarding to the issue 'No pointclouds in 3D view' (I believe that is happened on ArcGIS Pro),
I assume the pointclouds might be buried under the ground. You may find them when you check-on Contents Pane>Scene>Properties>Elevation Surface>Allow underground navigation. You can adjust the height from Contents pane>Point Cloud>Altitude>Cartgraphic Offset.
I use Japanese edition so the terms for setting might be different from the one I wrote above.

Any additional comments are welcome!

Hope you'll solve the problem soon.

Best,

Miki

ViTran · ‎04-28-2018

Hi Miki,

I flew the drone again according to your suggestion, this time in an area with more content differences. I got better results and now am able to see trees, display point cloud, etc.

Thank you so much for your reply!

MikiYAMAMOTO · ‎04-30-2018

Hi Vi,

Glad you solved the problems!

Hope you solved the problem of invisible 3D pointclouds as well.

Best,

Miki