Can anyone tell me what the culprit is here? (Media from new equipment producing noisy, less dense clouds)

PIX4Dmapper
1

Hello all and thanks for any help. My small team will handle 3 or 4 survey projects per week using Pix 4D. For years now, we have been getting consistent and positive results, with relatively low noise and good point cloud density, utilizing standard workflows, nothing exotic or abnormal, and a DJI Mavic using the Hasselbad 20 MP Camera setup.

We have begun utilizing new pilots, but cannot seem to get the quality of their media back in line. They are using a P4P RTK drone with the standard 20 MP camera setup it comes with, and the resulting clouds, as seen in the attached video, are less good than when using the Mavic.

Attached is a 3 minute video showing the issue in real terms, along with the Pix4D reports for each cloud featured in that video.

Video - Video of Issue.mp4 - Google Drive

Files - Pix 4d Question - Google Drive

Thank you

2

Hi,

May I ask if in the projects with issues in the pointcloud, did you use different processing options?
I would suggest selecting the Free flight option and enabling the Use Geometrically Verified Matching option as shown below:

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Try also using the Accurate Geolocation and Orientation as Calibration Method.
Could it be that the overlap (of the not-so-good point cloud) between the images was probably much smaller than the overlap of the good point cloud?

image
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I noticed the number of matched 2D keypoints between the
images is much lower than in the other quality report. Adding MTPs could help in the areas where there are not a lot of dark links between the images. Have also in mind that the content of the image and the GSD are different.

Best,

3

Phantom 4 Pro V2 drones have a garbage camera. I’ve typed this up about 30 times in the last 2 years and don’t feel like doing it again, but you can view my notes here - FOCUS TESTING - Google Drive

The RTK phantoms supposedly had the V1 cameras, but I have an RTK phantom purchased within the last 6 months and it’s a V2 camera.

4

Hi Derrick,
I’m glad you posted this one last time. I downloaded your files and have begun to review them. I find this very interesting and extremely good to know. Thank you.