Drone recommendations?

[Anders Blomberg]

I know a few here at the forum operate drones to collect site information but I couldn't find very recent posts about it. I was hoping to join the crowd but am unsure of what to get. I'm hoping to do some simpler photogrammetry as I would hire a pro surveyor when higher precision is needed. A small private garden might be a typical project for this. So what precision would I get from what budget? Drone recommendations? Would I need external software? I spoke to a reseller which recommended a Phantom 4 RTK at roughly $6500 here in Sweden. That is just way over budget for me as I was hoping to get in at maybe no more than $2000-3000, preferably with no running software costs (except VW), as I don't expect to make any money out of it. Obviously I don't expect millimeter precision from a lower budget.

[Tom W.]

Did you look at these threads:

 

 

[Anders Blomberg]

Yes, didn't see anything about drone models in there. Might have missed it?

[Tom W.]

"mavic pro drone with a variety of softwares"?

[Kazemester]

I'd just go and buy a Mini 1 or a Mini 2. The resolution is of course dependent on the picture quality itself, but also the number of images taken.

I use a Mini 1, but it is way enough for my work...small buildings, sites and facades. I basically use Metashape for photogrammetry, but you can use the integrated photogrammetry for VSS users in VW cloud.

You don't need RTK if you don't need to do high (lower than 5cm) precision results.

Here are some examples of my Mini 1 and using metashape's photogrammetry:

 

ps.: oh...and don't forget if you just try to learn how to fly a drone, i'd recommend you to fly a cheap one so when you (hopfully never) crash it you just go and buy another one. (Or buy "dji care" for the drone so you get another one if you crash it for cheap.) And after you get familiar with the controls and prehaps master it, you can move forward to a bigger bird.

[Jeff Prince]

Everything you probably need to know…

 

 

[Anders Blomberg]

On 2/15/2022 at 4:18 PM, Kazemester said:

I'd just go and buy a Mini 1 or a Mini 2. The resolution is of course dependent on the picture quality itself, but also the number of images taken.

I use a Mini 1, but it is way enough for my work...small buildings, sites and facades. I basically use Metashape for photogrammetry, but you can use the integrated photogrammetry for VSS users in VW cloud.

You don't need RTK if you don't need to do high (lower than 5cm) precision results.

Here are some examples of my Mini 1 and using metashape's photogrammetry:

 

ps.: oh...and don't forget if you just try to learn how to fly a drone, i'd recommend you to fly a cheap one so when you (hopfully never) crash it you just go and buy another one. (Or buy "dji care" for the drone so you get another one if you crash it for cheap.) And after you get familiar with the controls and prehaps master it, you can move forward to a bigger bird.

Very nice to see! What accuracy would you say you got there? Happy to hear that a simple drone can do at least some good to begin with. Benefits/drawbacks of Metashape? My software license costs are quickly adding up so I'm trying to keep it down a bit. Are you running the pro edition?

 

@jeff prince Thanks. I did read through the thread but didn't find too much about different drone models and thoughts from different users so I thought I'd start a thread more dedicated to this. 

[Kazemester]

@Anders BlombergI just use the standard version of metashape. It depends what you want to achive. I mean if you need to cover bigger areas from a higher altitude or you need preplanned flights to be executed...etc. you might need to go for a bigger bird. For having the "learning curve" i recommend using the Mini 1-2 and see what it does. It still holds a pretty nice value on the market even if its used so don't worry loosing much money buying one.

Actually...if you're already a VSS subscriber you have the opportunity to create photogrammetry right away inside of Cloud Services for Vectorworks.

Simply you just need to upload your photos (they don't need to be shot by a drone) and click on 'photos to 3D model".

You will get the results shown in the list above on the screeshot I've attached.

Edited March 4, 2022 by Kazemester
misspell

[Jeff Prince]

6 hours ago, Anders Blomberg said:

 

@jeff prince Thanks. I did read through the thread but didn't find too much about different drone models and thoughts from different users so I thought I'd start a thread more dedicated to this. 

The model of drone should be chosen based upon your flight needs, camera needs, and what you can afford.

What you should get is a matter of opinion.  Like any technology endeavor, the recommendation will change as shinier objects are released.

I currently own an older Mavic Pro and have had the Mini & Inspire 1.  The mini was too unstable in windy coastal conditions.  The Inspire did not have enough flight time, but it sure was fun to fly and had an amazing camera.  In terms of DJI, the Mavic Pro is in the Goldilocks zone of cost, capability, and compatibility with flight softwares.

 

Here's some of the stuff I can post publicly:

https://jeffprince.weebly.com/video-production.html

 

If you watch the port project video, you will see a very extreme example of preplanned automated flight integrated into an animation.

Sea level to 500m altitude, 9km flight path, 1.5km offshore/5km path over water, temp 89 degrees F, high winds, 1%ish battery remaining at landing (planned landing at 20%, but the environment took its toll).  So, that was a very scary day and one that couldn't not have been flown with the mini or the Inspire 1.  The inspire 2 would have handled it, but wasn't available at the time and is cost prohibitive for such a high risk flight.

 

Preplanned & automated flight is the gold standard for data collection and animation integration IMHO.  It takes a very skilled hand to manually fly these things and get continuous cinematic effects without jiggle or changes in panning velocity, the enemy of animators trying to keyframe animation.

 

If you are so inclined, here's a post I made a while back when I first started with these crazy flying cameras...

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/why-you-shouldnt-buy-a-mavic-drone.1210268/

I think there is some good information to gleen from that post that still holds true today and captured the things I learned along the way in the early years 🙂

 

[Anders Blomberg]

Wonderful. Makes sense to start with a more simple model to learn the hardware and software, as well as my needs. Preplanned flight really seems like a huge benefit. Excited to get into this!

 

Off topic, but I actually worked a little bit on those Kuwait towers you show in you linked post @jeff prince, at my former employer. Old school AutoCAD in those days, happy those are over 🙂