combining drone photos and smartphone photos

Hello

I am a geoinformatics student from the International Hellenic University at the department of Serres and I am currently doing my thesis on drone mapping.
I have already used the dji mavick pro 2 to take 150 photos and have generated a 3dmodel of a building and the area around it with 5 ground control points.
The detail of the area under the arches of the building is of poor quality.
So now me and my professor would like to know if we can improve that by adding more photos of the arches, but instead of using the drone, we think we could perhaps use the camera of my smartphone or maybe a handheld camera.
Is such a thing possible ? What should I look out for? Should I make a new project and then merge it with the primary one? I think the new photos taken from the ground level with a handheld camera will most likely not synergize with the ones taken from the drone.

Hello kouikg,

Welcome to the community!

Yes, you can create a separate project using terrestrial data, and then merge it with the aerial. I would also recommend capturing the terrestrial project with the PIX4Dcatch app.

  • Most important: make sure there is a good amount of overlap between the two projects. You will need to add and mark MTPs to help tie the two projects together. Since you are trialing the software, you might also want to try PIX4Dmatic, as you might be able to process all in one project.

If you have an Apple device with a LiDAR scanner, PIX4Dmatic will be able to process the depth data they provide as well.

  • Try and keep the GSDs as close as possible. I would try and back up a bit while also maintaining visibility to the overhanging parts you wish to fill in. If trying to capture higher areas for detail and/or overlap it would be better to raise the device/camera with a pole/selfie stick/monopod/etc to capture these higher areas over tilting the device/camera up whenever possible.

I hope this information helps!

-Jon

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