Latest Contributions by CodyBenkelman

‎04-30-2020

Gary see Editing the camera model—ArcGIS Help | Documentation Cody B

‎03-20-2020

Richard If you want to know for sure the date & source of imagery in the default basemap, you can query this feature class overlay https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=c03a526d94704bfb839445e80de95495 Also, if it's important to you to exert more control over exactly what you see, the Wayback service allows you to choose. Using World Imagery Wayback Thanks to Peter for his original response. Cody B

‎03-04-2020

Emma I don't believe the TIF format allows this. If you need to write different resolutions into a single file, NITF or NetCDF formats allow that. But one key reason NOT to do that is you're duplicating data volume, and there's another risk to consider - if you're leaving some of the other files behind, you may lose an important metadata file. Peter's point is that, if you're working in ArcGIS, there's no need for this - the mosaic dataset can manage all of your separate files and present them to the user as a single image. And if you want to stack 8 multitemporal scenes covering the same area, that can be one mosaic dataset (does not require 8). Our imagery workflows site http://esriurl.com/ImageryWorkflows provides resources if you want to learn more, or automate these sort of tasks. Note you mentioned "number of files delivered". You can share a mosaic dataset with colleagues if you're on the same network, or if working in the cloud, we have ways of allowing the mosaic dataset to access all of the necessary source files directly from cloud storage. But our recommendation is that you keep all of those original source files together (in most cases - there ARE cases where we recommend converting original files to more efficient formats - see Imagery formats and performance—Imagery Best Practices | Documentation and if necessary to reformat we'd recommend using http://esriurl.com/OptimizeRasters) Cody B

‎02-28-2020

Brad My apologies - I should not have said "this didn't change" - you are correct that the UI for creating the PDF did change from 2.0 to 2.1. You'll want to leave the "Resolution" setting at 96 DPI, but above that, increase the # pixels in the output. the dimensions shown are based on the current Map extent when you invoke the tool (make sure the extent covers everything desired in the PDF), and I recommend activating the button at right of "Height/Width" to fix the aspect ratio, then type in a figure to double or triple either of the figures you're given, e.g. Width = 2636 (=2x) or 3954 (=3x), and the Height will adjust accordingly. I'll request that we make this a little more user friendly in the next release with a simple "2x" "3x" etc. resolution scale factor. Cody B.

‎02-28-2020

Brad it hasn't changed, so you should contact [email protected]. It's not clear what's not working - you're changing resolution but still getting a low res output? or it's failing? or no output and no failure message? Cody

‎02-10-2020

Drone2Map version 2.1 is now available. Current users can view “About” in the main menu on the left side of the screen to verify your version, and download a new version if necessary. You can also download from My Esri. What’s new in Drone2Map for ArcGIS version 2.1? In this release we continue to improve the user experience in many areas of the workflow. Camera Model Editor Esri maintains an internal camera database which is updated along with Drone2Map several times per year. In addition to the internal camera database, Drone2Map also has a user camera database. With the Camera Model Editor, users are now able to edit existing cameras from the internal camera database and store the modified camera models in the user camera database. An important use case supported by this capability is to provide support for high quality metric cameras, where the photogrammetric lens parameters such as focal length, principal point and distortion are stable and known. Since Drone2Map supports consumer cameras, these parameters may (by default) be adjusted during processing. For metric cameras, the Camera Model Editor allows users to input known, high accuracy parameters when applicable and maintain those values throughout processing. Additionally, when a successful project has been processed and you are happy with the results, the .d2mx file from that project may be imported into the camera model editor of a new project and those optimized camera parameters from the imported project will be stored in the user camera database and allow those parameters to be used in future processing jobs. This helps to standardize results and reduce processing times. Control Updates In this release there is an improved user experience for managing control using the Control Manager. Users can view properties of each control point, filter based on the type of control, and launch the links editor, all with a few button clicks. Some geographic features, such as water, can be difficult to generate sufficient tie points and successfully match those tie points using automated algorithms. Now users can create and link manual tie points to images to successfully process imagery in geographic areas that previously caused problems. Linking control to your images can be a time-consuming process. At Drone2Map 2.1, we have introduced assisted image links. This workflow requires initial processing to be run, and after you enter one link, the software is able to automatically find your control markers in subsequent images and provide visual feedback as to the accuracy of that link. Once satisfied with the positioning of the control to the images, simply click Auto Link and Drone2Map will link the verified control for you. Share DEM as Elevation Layer Drone2Map users are now able to publish their own custom surfaces on ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Portal for either an ortho reference DTM or top surface DSM. These surfaces can be used in 3D web scenes to ensure accurate height values for point clouds and meshes generated by Drone2Map. Add custom DEM into the Drone2Map project Users may add their own elevation surface into the project (on top of the default World Terrain surface), to ensure that any 3D views incorporate the authoritative elevation surface. This can be very useful in project areas that are captured on multiple dates (e.g. agriculture) and/or where an accurate input terrain is important (e.g. an airport, construction site, or a site with material stockpiles). In addition, if ground control points are subsequently extracted from the map, the Z values are provided by the custom elevation surface. This is important to ensure date-to-date consistency for sites that are captured repeatedly and analyzed over time. Elevation Profile and Spectral Profile for additional analytical capabilities Users are now able to generate cross-sectional elevation profiles in any Drone2Map projects that are processed to create output surfaces (DSM and/or DTM). Imagery provided by GeoCue Group, Inc. For users with multispectral cameras, Drone2Map also allows extraction of spectral profiles (defined by point samples, linear transects, or 2D areas of interest) to support detailed analysis of vegetation or other landcover surface types. Colorized Indices Indices created from multispectral imagery products are now colorized by default. New Inspection Template The inspection template has been added to all users who wish to create projects that are focused on inspecting, annotating, and sharing raw drone images. Browse performance improvements Performance has been improved when browsing folders and files on disk. Exif reader improvements The performance of reading and extracting Exif data from drone images has improved to significantly reduce the amount of time required to create a project. Licensing Changes Drone2Map for ArcGIS 2.1 is a “premium app” which is a for-fee add-on to ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. Full release notes for Drone2Map 2.1 are available here

‎01-24-2020

This is most likely a portal issue. If the license did not get applied correctly in Portal, then Drone2Map cannot communicate with it. Typically you'll need your administrator to remove the license from Portal and reapply it. If that fails, please contact [email protected] and open an issue... Cody B

‎01-19-2020

Michael that post was from August 2016. The current release of Drone2Map is 2.0 (with 2.1 about to be released) and the core software architecture has changed dramatically. If you are having trouble with version 2.0, please call our tech support. Cody B.

‎01-19-2020

James Your comment about cameras is generally correct, although the processing in Drone2Map must have knowledge about the camera (primarily the sensor size and lens focal length) as well as GPS, so if you had some unknown camera (with GPS) you might still run into challenges - but I know we have processed imagery from a Falcon 8 in the past, so I am ~90% sure this will work "out of the box". However, I will admit I don't know intimate details of the Falcon 8, and if there are multiple cameras available, there is a SLIM chance we wouldn't have info about that camera in our database. There are ways to work around this but if in doubt and you want to be sure BEFORE buying the drone and camera, I'd suggest you request 3 sample images (ideally taken above ground, with overlap) and send them to me, and I can test and confirm As to your overall project, there are a lot more issues to discuss - but it's good to know where you're going. Here are some BRIEF thoughts, not intended to answer everything you need to consider: Yes, Drone2Map can build a 3D model that would (SHOULD) be suitable for printing as a 3D solid model. However, this requires that one of our output formats for a 3D mesh is compatible with your 3D printer, and I can't answer that for sure. I'd suggest a SMALL test area (and if you don't want to get the drone and do the processing, I could give you models to test - they just wouldn't be in your town). formats include *.i3s (this is our preferred format), OSGB, OBJ, FBX, Autocad DXF, PLY, and a 3D PDF. Second question for the 3D printer is "does it work well with something like building overhangs?" - e.g. think of an umbrella - would your 3D printout show the top surface of the umbrella then extend from the edges straight to the ground (essentially a solid cylinder) or would you really expect it to be an umbrella or mushroom shape? 3rd is to explore the legal requirements on flying a drone. You will need special permission to fly over pedestrians in the city. 4th is total area. I see Opelika is 60 square miles - that's not a big project for photography from a manned aircraft, but it is LARGE for a drone project. Realistically it would take you many separate days of flying, and you'd run multiple overlapping projects through Drone2Map. That should be doable, but merging many projects requires additional decisions. And note you may end up with brightness and color differences across the city (bright sunny day in May for one flight, cloudy day in April for another...). If you look at this example http://esriurl.com/EsriCampus3D it will illustrate some of these issues. This is 1/6 of 1 square mile, and required 3 drone flights to cover our full campus. You could do more in one full day, and you could cover more area if you flew higher than we did but you'd get lower resolution. I'm only estimating but you might need 60 days of flying (good weather, possible clouds & cloud shadows, etc.) to cover 60 square miles. Also, look at the trees - you'll have many features in the 3D mesh that will have a small bottom and large volume overhead (my "umbrella" or mushroom comment above). Also, there may well be some objects "floating" above the ground such as some of the tree canopy. This would require editing before sending to a 3D printer... I hope that is helpful Cody B

‎01-17-2020

James yes we have processed imagery from the Falcon 8 almost any modern drone camera will work fine in Drone2Map (regardless of the physical aircraft body that is carrying it) Cody B

‎12-21-2019

Brian I think you may be mixing help topics between Versions 1.3 and 2.0. Volume measurement changed in 2.0, so it's based on the DSM (created as a 2D product) instead of the point cloud. Also you do not need 3D analyst with Drone2Map 2.0. See help here Perform measurements—ArcGIS Help | ArcGIS and when navigating help, be sure you don't end up back in the version 1.3 topics Cody B.

‎12-10-2019

Andres I've asked our development team about this, and we don't know any reason that this should happen. We have successfully processed Mavic Pro data in the past... Can you contact [email protected] and open a support ticket? We'd like to get a sample of your data if possible. Thanks Cody B.

‎11-13-2019

Manuel I would recommend you use a Mosaic Dataset. Mosaic datasets—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop This allows you to create a virtual mosaic of your input datasets without duplicating all of the data in a new file. Once you have the DEMs in a single mosaic dataset, you can apply the SLOPE raster function to create an instantaneous slope dataset. This can be used immediately for analysis, and can be configured so the output is DEGREES or PERCENT RISE. List of raster functions—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop If you are going to be doing a lot of work with this mosaic dataset of DEMs (e.g. adding more over time, replacing older DEMs with new datasets, adding multiple functions for hillshade/slope/aspect/ellipsoidal height, sharing with colleagues, etc.) I would recommend you read through our best practice recommendations at http://esriurl.com/ImageryWorkflows, and search specifically for Elevation. However for a short term project you can just follow my brief notes above.

‎11-01-2019

70% to 80% overlap, both along flightlines and between flightlines You must have overlapping flightlines - a single flightline along a corridor will not work Altitude depends on the resolution you want, but my advice is to test a higher flight - perhaps max altitude of 400' - because this will reduce # of images, # of flightlines, total data volume, and processing time - then run a test project and determine if you really need higher resolution --> lower altitude (which means more images, more flight time, more disk space, and longer processing time) to complete your project. I don't know what you might be seeking in terms of image quality...? Get the best quality possible (e.g. good exposure - minimize ANYTHING that's overexposed - and proper shutter speed vs. drone flight speed to ensure you don't get blurring). I edited my response because I forgot to mention the importance of ground control. It's always recommended if you care about accuracy, and if you're creating 3D products that need to be at the proper height relative to ground. If neither of these are important, you can ignore ground control. If you want control but don't have surveyed control that you know is accurate, you can (in most cases, pending your specific site and ability to find permanent features) extract control from the ArcGIS Online Imagery Basemap, but note the Z value extracted from the online Terrain service may be low accuracy.

‎10-19-2019

Ryan sorry I couldn't reply sooner; this will be very brief I'm pretty sure this is correct but I don't have time to test right now. Could you try it and let me know? Manage Tile Cache—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS Desktop to create a tile cache on your computer Export Tile Cache—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS Desktop to create a "package" (*.tpk) from the cache Share Package—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS Desktop to upload and publish the TPK (I don't recall if step 3 actually completes the publishing process, or if you have to go to a 4th step, e.g. 4. log into ArcGIS Online, locate the package, and publish...) This WILL charge you credits for data storage on ArcGIS Online; 1.2 credits/GB/month = $0.12. Presuming your cache is approx. 5 GB this will be $0.60/month - cost doesn't change if 1 million people view it, or nobody. Your concerns over credit usage may be a reference to using ArcGIS Online to create the cache; that does cost credits and surprised some users by consuming more credits than expected - but once ArcGIS Pro (and ArcMap) had the ability to create cache on the desktop (several years ago), in most cases it's less expensive to perform the caching process on your desktop, then upload & publish the cache. Let me know your results Cody B

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My Ideas

Latest Contributions by CodyBenkelman

Re: How to fix image calibration?

Re: Why does the AGOL imagery base map have different years of imagery at different extents?

Re: Make a composite with different resolutions on each band

Re: Drone2map pdf export?

Re: Drone2map pdf export?

Drone2Map for ArcGIS version 2.1 is now available

Re: "A core license could not be found."

Re: Do we have a contact at Esri for the Drone2Map?

Re: Do we have a contact at Esri for the Drone2Map?

Re: Do we have a contact at Esri for the Drone2Map?

Re: Measure Tools not enabled

Re: Drone2Map error. Multi LOD Mesh SLPK

Re: Mosaic to new raster”-tool: Error 000999

Re: Looking for Best Practices for Capturing Corridor Imagery Using Drone for Drone2Map

Re: Georeferencing and sharing historical air photos

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