What software does uav aerial survey use? Here I recommend 7 to you.



However, unlike the previous recommended 7 comprehensive functions of the software, Zhong Dev today will be recommended for you 3 dedicated to modeling software.


ContextCapture

Originally known as Smart3D, it was the flagship product of Photogrammetric software developer Acute3D, which was later acquired by Bentley and renamed ContextCapture.


ContextCapture (formerly Smart3D) has a strong reputation in the industry for its modeling effectiveness. It is the result of 25 years of research by two of the best research institutions in France. Internet giant Tencent has also worked with Acute3D to create large-scale THREE-DIMENSIONAL city modeling for megacities using aerial and street view photography. Different from traditional image matching or object matching, ContextCapture is a global optimization directly based on the object mesh, as shown in the following diagram:



In terms of software use, ContextCapture has certain complexity and professionalism, including master-slave mode, Job Queue, control point editing, Tiling operation, water surface constraint and other knowledge points, which need a certain amount of time to learn before flexible use.



To ensure the output of the modeling, ContextCapture will suggest that you shoot the static modeling subject from different angles and use the resulting photos as input data sources. These photos should be accompanied by auxiliary data (generally drone default shooting Settings will be retained), including sensor attributes (focal length, sensor size, main point, lens distortion), photo position parameters (GPS), photo attitude parameters (INS), control points and so on. In this way, a real high-resolution triangular mesh model with real texture can be produced. This triangular mesh model can accurately and precisely reconstruct the true color, geometry and detail composition of the modeling subject.




Photoscan

Photoscan is a set of software developed by AgiSoft, a Russian software company, which automatically generates 3d models based on images.


Photoscan Pro costs as much as $3,499, but jailbroken versions are also available online for national reasons. In addition to 3d modeling, it is also used in the Mosaic of panoramic photos by many users. The good fusion algorithm of the software can properly compensate for the lack of matching accuracy of the overlapping parts of images.



In terms of usage, Photoscan provides a set of almost foolproof operation procedures: install the software and import the photos, the software will align the photos by itself, find the Angle and distance of the shot, and then build dense clouds, calculate the relationship between each point, and include every recognized point in the intensive calculation. Then the grid is generated, and the vector function relationship between each point is connected according to the actual situation to build a 3D model of point, line and plane. At this time, a group of planar image 3D shape has been established. Finally, the texture is generated, and the software assigns the plane image to the 3D model according to the data during the establishment of dense cloud. At this time, the model has internal structure and external image, and has formed a preliminary 3D model.

If we compare modeling software to Meitu app, ContentCapture corresponds to Photoshop, while Photoscan is more like Meitu Xiuxiu. Photoscan is indeed much lighter in terms of software functions and interface, so in terms of modeling effect, Photoscan has had a mixed reputation.


OpenDroneMap

OpenDroneMap is an open source aerial image processing tool, which can transform aerial images into point cloud, ortho image and elevation model.


OpenDroneMap is open source and free. Open source means that developers can deploy OpenDroneMap on their computers or servers to provide modeling processing services.



If you just deploy the OpenDroneMap open source library, you get a command line interface that requires specific command line commands for each operation. However, OpenDroneMap also provides WebODM, which is called Web OpenDroneMap. As the name implies, it is the Web interface version of OpenDroneMap. Compared with the command line interface of OpenDroneMap, the same image processing function, WebODM is equipped with a user-friendly UI that makes the user experience better. In addition, WebODM processing can generate a variety of results, including point cloud, GeoTIFF, etc., which can be tested or displayed in the Web interface for length and area, which is more conducive to GIS analysis and research.



Once you’ve deployed and installed WebODM, it’s much easier to create the project – upload the image – wait for processing – download the output.



For information on how to install and use OpenDroneMap, please refer back to a previous article by Jondroff:

  1. How to use OpenDroneMap to quickly model aerial images

  2. How to generate maps from aerial images taken by drones?


summary

The three software recommended today, together with the 7 software recommended by “What software is used for uav Aerial Survey? Here are 7 recommended for everyone”, their emergence undoubtedly benefits a large number of 3D enthusiasts, greatly reduces the threshold of 3D reconstruction, so that non-professionals can become the author of 3D models. But because this involves complex image modeling algorithm, while the development of every software company or team strength is not the same, this will directly lead to different software modeling output effect on the final image will vary, conditional friend might as well try this software, and leave a message to Zhong Defu about your evaluation, also, you can also in the public number (id: “Dronedev” dialog box to recommend other good software to Chung Dev.