Messages

61

General / Re: My drone mapping project using GCPs from Pictometry and LiDAR

« on: April 20, 2022, 08:43:25 AM »

I just looked at the marker XML export file and it does seem to store pixel coordinates of each marker and each photo! I don't know if other programs can import it, but at least it does get saved

62

Feature Requests / Re: Weighted texturing

« on: April 19, 2022, 10:18:44 AM »

Hi,

It would be great to be able to set per-camera weighting for texturing. so we can control the priority that each camera is given.

Currently we can enable or disable cameras, but it would also be good to allow cameras to still be available, but with a lower weighting

I agree this would be a good feature. Even allowing you to manually choose an area defined by seamlines set the camera would be an improvement, vs making you draw a polygon

63

General / Re: Error message "Incompatible keypoints"

« on: April 18, 2022, 11:09:38 PM »

I'm getting the same error in 1.8.2. I did merge two chunks and I'm no longer able to align new photos to the merged chunk. This is a huge problem and a big waste of time if it's not able to be resolved easily.

They replied to my email with my report and confirmed it's caused by having a chunk made of merged chunks. I had thought Alexey was asking if my new photos were in a chunk, but the problem is apparently caused by any previous merges

Figured. Did they give any workarounds or an ETA on a bugfix?

No, I sent my logs from when I did the merges so maybe they'll come up with a fix.

My fix was to do align photos with Reset Alignments checked to re-align everything again. I guess if you have your previous unmerged chunks you can add photos to one of them, then merge afterward

64

General / Re: Error message "Incompatible keypoints"

« on: April 18, 2022, 09:52:56 PM »

I'm getting the same error in 1.8.2. I did merge two chunks and I'm no longer able to align new photos to the merged chunk. This is a huge problem and a big waste of time if it's not able to be resolved easily.

They replied to my email with my report and confirmed it's caused by having a chunk made of merged chunks. I had thought Alexey was asking if my new photos were in a chunk, but the problem is apparently caused by any previous merges

65

General / Re: Filling holes in orthomosaic

« on: April 18, 2022, 09:50:39 PM »

The more recent 1.7 manual says

Interpolation
If interpolation mode is Disabled it leads to accurate reconstruction results since only areas
corresponding to dense point cloud points are reconstructed. Manual hole filling is usually required
at the post processing step.With Enabled (default) interpolation mode Metashape will interpolate
some surface areas within a circle of a certain radius around every dense cloud point. As a result some
holes can be automatically covered. Yet some holes can still be present on the model and are to be
filled at the post processing step. In Extrapolated mode the program generates holeless model with
extrapolated geometry. Large areas of extra geometry might be generated with this method, but they
could be easily removed later using selection and cropping tools.

But what is the difference between interpolation and extrapolation?

66

Feature Requests / Re: Standard Plus (i.e. Medium) version please!

« on: April 18, 2022, 09:33:29 PM »

If you need to use Professional edition functionality for the limited time, you may consider using SaaS service, such as GeoCloud.

I think that's impractical for most people because you'd have to upload your data and most don't have symmetrical broadband that lets us upload quickly. I bet the cost rises pretty quick too! I have an old workstation that I upgraded with cheap parts from eBay that can do this kind of processing really well, I just need an affordable license. I think the company benefits from more people knowing about the advanced georeferencing features because we would all be potential customers if we end up doing this professionally, plus free advertising. Currently 3D modeling isn't part of my job, but I've been showing my results to people like our county archaeologist and local conservation organizations, and they're excited by it. But I always have to caveat it with "But I'm going to have to switch to Reality Capture". In 2 days that's what I'll be using and that's what my colleagues will be seeing my projects from

67

General / Re: My drone mapping project using GCPs from Pictometry and LiDAR

« on: April 18, 2022, 08:03:43 AM »

I've done every export possible but none seems to save the pixel locations of markers on the photos

You can export the marker's geographic or projected coordinates.  I'm not sure what you are trying to achieve when you say the "pixel location" so no help there.

Maybe Paul's script might be helpful.

You know when you move the marker positions on the photos to tell the program what pixel coordinates correspond to the marker locations? That's the most labor intensive part and it increases both with # of photos and # of GCPs

68

General / Re: My drone mapping project using GCPs from Pictometry and LiDAR

« on: April 18, 2022, 07:59:28 AM »

Hi,

you could probably export your markers with their projections by script defining the required export format....

something like this:
 

Code: [Select]

Mark_id Num_proj
Cam_id X_pix Y_pix pinned
PA01 5
0026_170404.jpg 3496.79 606.83 True
1135X_170404.jpg 3170.74 1909.38 True
2143_170404.jpg 3433.42 3222.78 True
2854_170404.jpg 32.35 2669.91 True
4435_170404.jpg 102.05 880.07 False
PA03 5
9047_170404.jpg 4531.91 2106.73 True
9692_170404.jpg 87.13 2432.41 True
0156X_170404.jpg 4686.40 830.26 True
0482X_170404.jpg 849.07 1545.09 True
1273_170404.jpg 1031.43 643.16 True
PA08 8
3644X_170404.jpg 3951.15 2763.77 True
4260_170404.jpg 4274.75 475.43 True
4435_170404.jpg 4093.19 1822.35 True
5225X_170404.jpg 4111.96 796.55 True
5268X_170404.jpg 4156.12 1719.80 True
6775_170404.jpg 4161.53 264.14 True
7565X_170404.jpg 4209.40 1283.48 True
8255_170404.jpg 4263.33 2216.07 True
....where for each marker, the projections (pixel coordinates) in each camera where they are measured are listed....

Thanks, maybe I can figure it out in the future and use the cloud service to do it quickly

69

General / Re: My drone mapping project using GCPs from Pictometry and LiDAR

« on: April 17, 2022, 08:51:58 PM »

I have yet to see discussion on any forum, Facebook group, or a tutorial about using ground control points that aren't GPSed checkerboard pads. Discussion of using manholes and things like that may exist somewhere but I haven't seen it!

Like I said above, it depends on the environment being scanned.  The typical discussions you are talking about are probably "unbuilt".  That said, identifying a marker in a photo set is easier and faster when it is targeted in a uniform way.  Think production here.  The target itself, whether a painted square, painted lines, bucket lid, etc. doesn't matter so long as they make identifying the exact point easier at pixel level.  Placing the point in software, and the accuracy of it's coordinates are what is important.

I can't help with Realtiy Capture, and have no idea what a bundle file is.  You can export markers and camera locations in typical .txt

I've done every export possible but none seems to save the pixel locations of markers on the photos

70

General / Re: My drone mapping project using GCPs from Pictometry and LiDAR

« on: April 17, 2022, 10:54:06 AM »

Since I first started looking into photogrammetry I've been wondering why ground control points are exclusively considered to be square targets that you put on the ground.

This is incorrect.  Ground targets are generally used because in many / most areas being developed, there is not established infrastructure in place that can be used reliably to establish centimeter level precision when developing a 3d model.  In cases like yours where there is plenty of substantial, identifiable objects that can be measured and assigned coordinates, they are fine and often preferable because they are permanent.

I learned a lot in the past few weeks, but I only have 6 days left on my trial, so in a week I'll have to switch to another program that I can afford. Unfortunately there is no product from Agisoft that lets someone like me do this kind of non-commercial mapping I hope they consider some kind of home use or hobby license. The standard license is fine for objects but without geographic capability it's not useful for documenting landscapes

This service was recently suggested by Agisoft where you can run projects and pay for only what you use.  Maybe it might be an option for you.

https://www.geocloud.work/

Is there a way to export the marker locations on the photos that other programs like Reality Capture can interpret?

Yes.  Similar to the importing of .csv coordinates, you can also export marker and/or camera positions.

I have yet to see discussion on any forum, Facebook group, or a tutorial about using ground control points that aren't GPSed checkerboard pads. Discussion of using manholes and things like that may exist somewhere but I haven't seen it!

The Geocloud thing may be an option, but just uploading photos would take days because this particular project is over 8GB of JPEGs. I'm guessing the costs would get pretty steep for by the hour work... I think I've spent 40 hours or more on this

I'm going to try importing a "bundler" file to Reality Capture. I installed it today and started working on a new project... I don't have high hopes. I can't get it to import my ground control points properly, the coordinates get totally changed. And the UI is atrocious

71

General / Re: My drone mapping project using GCPs from Pictometry and LiDAR

« on: April 16, 2022, 10:33:02 PM »

I want to keep working on this project, adding more photos and expanding the area to cover a lot of the coastline in Makena. But I have over 500 photos in the sunny weather project, most with GCP markers. Is there a way to export the marker locations on the photos that other programs like Reality Capture can interpret? I've spent hours placing them and I don't want to have to do it again. I only have 4 days left on the trial so I don't have much time to figure this out!

72

General / Which Optimize Camera Alignment Parameters should we use?

« on: April 16, 2022, 10:20:28 PM »

The manual says what the different checkboxes mean on the Optimize Camera Alignment dialogue, but doesn't explain when or why you would use each one. The last 3 are disabled by default, but I've seen user made tutorial videos where they check all but without an explanation. I usually check all except the Advanced boxes, when I optimize alignment after adjusting my GCP markers. Is this correct? Or should I be using the default settings? Does it depend on the type of camera?

73

General / Re: Adding markers from excel or csv

« on: April 16, 2022, 09:33:59 PM »

I found that page and couldn't find "import button the reference pane" because I was expecting something looking like an import button. I think they need usability streamlining

74

General / Re: Adding markers from excel or csv

« on: April 16, 2022, 11:01:04 AM »

Thank you, I don't think I'd ever have found that tiny button

75

General / Re: Adding markers from excel or csv

« on: April 16, 2022, 02:30:42 AM »

You also can import markers from a .csv file. it is very easy to do. I do it sometimes.

But how? I found that you can export a .shp and then you can display them on the ortho and select them. You can right click and choose "attach markers" which doesn't work. How do you get the program to read the points and the fields and use those to create markers?