If your map shows poor quality or stitching issues, you can improve the results by adjusting specific parameters before your next flight. This guide explains how to review and edit your flight plan to ensure you capture the highest quality imagery for your subject area.
Overview
Flight planning is the most effective way to ensure a successful map and 3D model. Use the Flight Settings menu to optimize image capture for different environments, such as high-density vegetation or reflective surfaces.
Availability
Subscriptions: Available for all DroneDeploy subscription tiers.
Platforms: iOS and Android mobile devices, and the DroneDeploy Web App.
Adjusting Flight Settings
Access flight settings through the following methods:
Mobile App: Open your project and click the sidebar on the left-hand side.
Web App: Open your project and click the Fly tab.
Accessing flight settings in the mobile app
Accessing flight settings on the web app
Key Settings for Quality
The following settings directly impact the accuracy and visual clarity of your processed maps.
Fly Higher
Flying at a higher altitude is the single most effective way to improve data quality and increase overlap.
Unique Features: Higher altitude increases the land area covered in a single image, making it easier for the software to find matching features in "homogeneous" areas like tree canopies or agricultural fields.
Efficiency: It enables a higher front lap for a given camera speed.
Increase Overlap
Side Overlap (Sidelap): Increase the overlap between each leg of the flight to get more matched features. Note that increasing sidelap reduces the total area the drone can cover in a single flight.
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Front Overlap (Frontlap): Increase the frequency of photos taken during each leg.
Note: Your camera has a hardware limit on how fast it can trigger. Once you reach this limit, further increases to frontlap will not improve results.
Flight Direction
Use the Flight Direction tool to rotate the flight path.
Efficiency: Align the path with the longest dimension of a narrow area to conserve battery.
Environment: Adjust the path to fly into or out of the wind to maintain a steady ground speed.
Environmental Considerations
Fly on Overcast Days: Clouds act as a light diffuser, providing soft, even lighting. This reduces shadows, blurriness, and glare from reflective surfaces, which is especially helpful for 3D models.
Avoid Golden Hour: Do not fly during sunrise or sunset, as low sun angles can discolor images and create long shadows that hinder stitching.
Optimal Timing: For most mapping, fly between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM when the sun is directly overhead.
Advanced Settings
Click Advanced in your flight settings to access granular controls. Toggle Automatic Settings to OFF to gain full manual control.
Max Flight Speed: Set a speed limit for the drone. The drone's actual speed may vary based on your altitude and overlap settings.
Starting Waypoint: Select a specific waypoint to begin or resume a mission. The right-hand side of the screen displays your flight lines; solid lines indicate the paths the drone will fly, while dashed lines are skipped.
Check out our Advanced Flight Settings guide for a review of all settings available there.
Camera Settings and Individual Photos
DroneDeploy optimizes camera settings automatically. However, you should monitor the quality of individual photos during the mission.
To adjust exposure and focus manually:
Open the DJI Fly or DJI Pilot 2 app.
Set your desired camera parameters.
Return to the DroneDeploy app to execute the flight.
FAQs
Q: Does flying higher reduce my map resolution? A: Yes. While flying higher improves stitching, it increases the Ground Sampling Distance (GSD), meaning each pixel represents a larger area of ground.
Q: What is the recommended overlap for standard maps? A: For most projects, we recommend a minimum of 75% frontlap and 65% sidelap. For difficult terrain like forests, increase these to 80/80.
Q: Can I change settings while the drone is in the air? A: You must pause the mission or land the drone to change most flight parameters to ensure consistency across the data set.
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