New construction 3d mapping

[Sky88]

Totally new to drones and this forum. I searched but could not find any information on this.
I am a builder and want to use my phantom 4 pro to make a nice 3d image of the house after it is complete. I could then provide the customer with this and inspect the house and roof for defects without using a video.
I would like to create a flight plan over the house to get pictures for the 3d image but since it is new construction, the house is not on google maps yet.
Can I use the drone to mark corners of the house then create a flight plan off that?
If so, how do I do that and how does it know how high to fly?
Or what would you recommend for this process using iOS?
Thanks and appreciate any help I can get.

 

[ryantrax]

The method I normally us is download and install the DroneDeploy app, you can set everything up in there, it will give you an idea of height, number of photos and flight duration. From there go to mapsmadeeasy.com and have them process. Many smaller projects won't cost you anything to do.

 

[BigAl07]

@Sky88 hello and WELCOME to the forum.

First off understand you'll need to research and get your FAA Part 107 Credentials because what you're wanting to do it WAY outside of hobby/recreational use. Just giving you a heads up on that as it's not an option. It's not hard to accomplish it just takes some time to study, pay $150, and pass the test.

We do this type of work using MapsMadeEasy and it's very intuitive once you get familiar with the aircraft and the application. Just get the system, register it, get your Part 107 and get good at flying the aircraft before jumping into a 3rd party process.

Again WELCOME to the forum

 

[Sky88]

@Sky88 hello and WELCOME to the forum.

First off understand you'll need to research and get your FAA Part 107 Credentials because what you're wanting to do it WAY outside of hobby/recreational use. Just giving you a heads up on that as it's not an option. It's not hard to accomplish it just takes some time to study, pay $150, and pass the test.

We do this type of work using MapsMadeEasy and it's very intuitive once you get familiar with the aircraft and the application. Just get the system, register it, get your Part 107 and get good at flying the aircraft before jumping into a 3rd party process.

Again WELCOME to the forum

Thank you both!
I have my part 107 already. I guess I am just confused on how DroneDeploy or mapsmadeeasy know what rought/plan to make if the map shows an open field still bc it’s so new of construction?

 

[BigAl07]

Thank you both!
I have my part 107 already. I guess I am just confused on how DroneDeploy or mapsmadeeasy know what rought/plan to make if the map shows an open field still bc it’s so new of construction?

You create the perimeter on the map and the flight app (MME, DD) simply fills in the blanks (or allows you to tweak those settings). It's very intuitive once you use it the first time. The GPS in the aircraft will put you "roughly" in the right place if you're on the job site. If you're not you can usually get it very close and then tweak it onsite.

 

[Sky88]

You create the perimeter on the map and the flight app (MME, DD) simply fills in the blanks (or allows you to tweak those settings). It's very intuitive once you use it the first time. The GPS in the aircraft will put you "roughly" in the right place if you're on the job site. If you're not you can usually get it very close and then tweak it onsite.

Thanks again!
I would like to provide close up pictures of the roof instead of a video since pictures are faster to look through. Would you suggest sending a bunch of pictures? Or is your way of mapping the roof a could way of presenting the pictures? so they just look at one 3d image of all the pictures put together. I am just not sure if the 3d image will be as good as quality as 15 pictures of the roof?
Or what would you suggest?

 

[BigAl07]

When you talk about a "3D Image" most of the time those finished images take a fairly robust computer to render properly and be able to manipulate the image. It takes time and practice to get it to look "Correct" and you don't want to go to all that trouble, time, effort if the client can't even actually use the final product. The client will tell you what the finished product will be and if they don't know then they probably don't have the resources to manipulate the large files.

When I submit my work to the client it's in the format they specified originally when we started negotiating the process. For instance I uploaded a package today to a client and I uploaded the finished image (all images stitched into one massive image) as well as each individual image in case they want to use them in some way or another.

 

[Sky88]

Thank you so much BigA107. Last question, then I am done.
How do you stitch those images together?
When I use DroneDeploy or mme, I create a flight plan over the roof to take pictures but it seems like the area is too small (not enough waypoints) and it doesn’t take the right angle pictures. Since I have gables on the roof.
Do you use the program to automatically take the pictures then stitch? Or do you manually fly and take the pictures then stitch?

 

[BigAl07]

Thank you so much BigA107. Last question, then I am done.
How do you stitch those images together?
When I use DroneDeploy or mme, I create a flight plan over the roof to take pictures but it seems like the area is too small (not enough waypoints) and it doesn’t take the right angle pictures. Since I have gables on the roof.
Do you use the program to automatically take the pictures then stitch? Or do you manually fly and take the pictures then stitch?

I take those manually and get lots of overlap. I can't remember who (or maybe both) but one of those mentioned have some great videos in their HELP/FAQ section that will answer a lot of your questions.