Permissions
Task | Viewer | Editor | Site Admin | Org Admin |
Uploading drone captures |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Overview
OpenSpace Air automatically processes drone images to produce orthomosaics, point clouds, meshes, and elevation models. After taking a drone capture with the flight planning app of your choice, you’ll upload the images in the OpenSpace web app. Read our Drone capture best practices article to learn how to take the best images.
Uploading and processing
Plug your SD card into your computer.
Navigate to the folder with the flight images.
Select all flight images you want processed.
In OpenSpace, navigate to your project and select Drone Captures in the left-hand menu.
Click Create drone capture at the bottom of the drone capture list to open the Upload drone images page. (Note: if this is your first upload, you’ll go straight to the Upload drone images page.)
Drag and drop the selected images from your SD card folder onto the Create drone capture button to begin uploading. (Or, click the Create drone capture button and navigate to the images on your SD card.)
Save and name the capture.
Your images will begin processing. You will receive an email when the capture is published—typically within 2-4 hours for flights under 300 images.
Requirements
OpenSpace Air supports JPG images.
All images must have latitude, longitude, and altitude in the GPS EXIF data.
All images should be facing the area of interest.
We recommend at least 75% frontal overlap (with respect to the flight direction) and at least 60% side overlap (between flying tracks).
Images with a camera angle (pitch) >60° will fail processing.
Upload at least 10 images.
Recommendations
We recommend taking nadir images with the camera pointed directly at the ground. Note that nadir images can produce quality 3D models.
Oblique images can be uploaded but we recommend keeping the camera angle between 0° and 45° (at 0° the camera is pointed at the ground).
FAQ
What happens if I receive an upload error?
OpenSpace will provide image warnings if your images cannot be used for orthomosaic generation. Here’s a breakdown of the warning messages:
Missing GPS data: Your drone images are missing the necessary GPS data to overlay them on your site. Please contact your drone’s manufacturer to get help troubleshooting the cause for the invalid GPS data.
Missing a creation date: The timestamps when the images were taken by the drone's camera—which OpenSpace uses to order the images for reconstruction during photogrammetry—are missing. For help resolving this issue, we recommend contacting your drone’s manufacturer.
Missing a field of view: A field of view is the width and height of the area the camera can see at a given moment—this value is displayed as a degree (e.g., FOV | 78.6 deg). If these values are missing, it’s likely that the image was modified of its metadata, or it could be a drone manufacturer issue.
If the GPS is the only missing metadata, this could indicate a poor GPS signal reception.
If multiple or all fields are missing, it likely means the images were modified before being uploaded. Note: Do not convert your images to JPGs manually before uploading to OpenSpace, as this strips the images of all metadata. (If you’re getting three or more “Missing a field view”warnings per image, it’s a good indication that images were converted manually to JPGs.)
Missing or invalid altitude: Your drone images do not have proper orientation. Please refer to our Drone Capture Best Practices Support article.
If you have any additional questions please reach out to the OpenSpace Support team at support@openspace.ai.