Tips for a Successful Image Upload and Model Generation

Tips for a Successful Image Upload and Model Generation

The saying goes that "the output is only as good as the input." As in most data processing systems, for DatuBIM to work correctly, users need to make sure that their input data is correct from the beginning and follows best practices. This isn't always the case, and in this article, we share some tips on avoiding common mistakes and pitfalls.

Making sure you have a valid dataset

  1. Images must have GPS coordinates in their EXIF info. Images without GPS coordinates data cannot be processed.
  2. Images resolution may not be higher than 40 megapixels.
  3. Images must be taken using a photogrammetry aware flight application. We suggest you use DatuFly Professional as it follows our best practices. Please read our Best Practices for Drone Photography article for detailed information.

If you use an RTK drone, mark that

In case you are using an RTK drone, it is crucial to mark this in the flight details when adding a new flight. The system will automatically calculate the undulation delta height correction and it will ensure that you will get suitable ground control hints on the images once images are linked.   



Use global shutter cameras for higher precision

First of all, global shutter cameras will give you higher precision than rolling shutter cameras.

​DatuBIM automatically detects the use of a rolling shutter camera. It will prompt you to specify if the images were taken in motion, meaning while the drone was moving, or stationary, meaning that the drone stopped on every shot. 

If you used a rolling shutter camera in stationary mode, DatuBIM will not make any corrections to compensate for the rolling shutter effect.

In case you took the images in motion with a rolling shutter camera, please make sure to mark this in the Flight Info & Preferences, as shown in the below picture. 



Use a good, stable Internet connection

DatuBIM is a cloud-based platform, so to use it properly, you must have a decent Internet connection with good speed for both uploads and downloads. 


The first step in DatuBIM when adding a new flight is to upload the images.  As users tend to use high-resolution images, the size of these images is growing bigger and bigger. For example, the size of a 20MP image is about 9MB, so if you have 1000 images per flight, we speak about 9GB of data that needs to be uploaded. With a slow Internet connection, this may take a full day to do. 

Additionally, all 3D models generated are gigabytes in size, so you should have a good download speed to view them satisfactorily.  

The bottom line: The faster your Internet connection, the more you will enjoy and benefit from using DatuBIM.

Correctly populate your Ground Control Points file
You can import ground control points to DatuBIM using CSV files. 

Ground control points (GCP's) have three coordinates; X, Y, and Z.  Or, in other words, Easting, Northing, and Height, as shown in the example below.

The column headings to be used in this file are name, e, n, and h, which correspond to GCP name, easting, northing, and height. The order of the coordinate columns is deliberate, as long as the heading is correct, which means that the order can be (e, n, h), (n, e, h), or (h, n, e), etc.

A common mistake is to switch easting with northing values, which puts the project somewhere else in the world. So, make sure to match your data with your columns. 




Don't block popups in your Internet browser

DatuBIM needs to have popups enabled to work correctly, so make sure your popup blocker is disabled. Please pay attention that this parameter is sometimes reset automatically after updating your Internet browser. Please make sure it is set correctly after any update.