I'm offering the first 3 people on this forum that reply to make complex 3D models of a building that you need modeled. For free

[Jimmy]

I've been using PV*SOL for years now and it always bothered me that creating complex buildings and shapes is such a hassle and really hard to get good when it comes to accuracy and appearance. So for more than 6 months I've been, on and off, developing a reliable process to create accurate 3D models from drone fotage.

You can see an example of an area I made last November here: 

 

So, anyway. Up until now my requirements for the drone photos have been very strict in how they need to be captured which has resulted in me needing to do it all myself to get the quality to a satisfactory level to be used in PV*SOL.

Well, I think that I've found a way around that and I'd like to test if I can create sufficiently good models from drone photos taken by someone who doesn't understand the process of creating the models.

All I ask in return is some feedback on the models.

 

Requirements: 

* Drone - Doesn't really matter but it's good if you have an enterprise drone.

* PV*SOL Premium 2022

 

Process:

* Take at least 400 (preferably not much more than 1000) pictures of the object that you want modeled.

* Use as high resolution as you can

* If you know a lot about photography try to get the photos with as much sharpness and contrast as you can. If you don't know a lot just leave the drone on auto settings.

* Have a large overlap with the pictures. Generally flying over a building at medium speed and using the auto function to take a picture every 2-3 seconds is good enough.

* Make sure to take pictures from multiple angles

* Shift the pitch of the gimbal (change the camera angle up/down) by 20 degrees 2 or 3 times. Start looking straight down (-90 degrees) and photo the entire building with a large overlap. Then go around the building with a -70 degree camera angle, and then -50 degrees.

 

The above instructions are guidelines, they aren't super strict but are a compromise between what I need and simple instructions.

 

So yeah, first 3 people to reply to this post that they're interested will get a 3D model of a complex building if they want and can provide drone fotage. I'll do my best regarding quality but since this is a test I can't make any promises.

And as I said, all I ask in return is some feedback.

 

[SPsolar]

Please DM me about this please.

[Jimmy]

Done

[Esteban]

Hi Jimmy,

I do not have any tricky 3D model to give you at the moment but I am really interested in this method as I thought of doing something similar.

If it's possible I'd like to have a little more information on how you arrive at the final 3D model. I am thinking of taking pictures with a drone, then using some software like PIX4D to make the 3D model out of the images. I don't know if you can give me any hint about this.

At the moment I am working with Google Earth photos and Sketchup but in complex buildings or bad quality images the result is pretty mediocre.