Review your images before uploading them into Scanifly
Pre-Upload Photo Review
It is important to review your photos before uploading them to Scanifly. The types of photos listed on this page can cause your project to have issues when processing or may affect the final quality of your model in Scanifly.
1. Close-up of shingles / other surfaces
The reconstruction process relies on the software being able to understand where a photo is located in a scene. If the shot is too close up, there is not enough context in order to properly place the photo in the data set.
2. Sun Glare
Glare is too bright to be recognized by the software. Since the detail is lost in the glare within the photo, those areas will come out deformed or as a hole in the model due to lack of data.
3. Whiteout/Overexposed Photos
When a photo is overexposed, it is so bright that the pixel-level data is lost, and there is no way to recover the information for use in Scanifly's software. This can be avoided by making sure that the drone camera settings are correct before taking images for a site. Check out our article about Overexposure and dealing with bright environments.
4. Metal Roof Reflection
Beware of light reflecting off of a metal roof and affecting the camera lens and coloring. To avoid processing errors, remove the images with reflection, fly on a cloudy day, or use an ND filter.
5. Random "top down" (NADIR) pictures
For residential and small commercial projects where the data set is all oblique images, do not upload one-off top down view images, as it may result in processing errors. A nadir image is inconsistent with a data set of all oblique images, which causes model challenges.
6. Ground Photos
Sometimes when the drone takes off, depending on the make and model, it may take a photo automatically. These photos are in a drastically different location than the other photos in the data set, which can cause issues. These images also typically include the horizon in the background.
7. Horizon Photos
When flying around the site it is important to make sure the gimbal angle is low enough to not include any shots of the horizon. The sky is not something that can be modeled in a 3D environment, so having it in your images can be confusing for the 3D modeling engine. See Example Residential Imagery.
8. Moving Objects
The reconstruction process in Scanifly relies on the scene being relatively static. That way each photo can be relied upon for reconstruction, since nothing changes in between photos. If you are trying to shoot an active construction site, it is best to do so during non-active construction hours.
9. Discolored Images
Significant or intermittent cloud coverage or flying at dusk could lead to some images being dark or lighter than ones taken subsequently. The color inconsistency can lead to texture map discoloration and possibly lead to a processing error.
10. Higher Altitude
Images at significantly higher altitudes than other images in the dataset will throw off model construction. The impact of these images will vary depending on how many are in the set. Try to make sure your image sets are captured at a consistent altitude.
11. Blurry Images
Images taken when the drone is flying too fast or in foggy weather conditions will result in blurry images. These have diminished clarity, causing site features to not map well.
12. Different Data Sets
Do not upload data sets from different days, as they will inherently look different. Additionally, the GPS in most drones uses a relative number for the height which is dependent on the exact take off location which is important and used for reconstruction.