Troubleshooting for Exports

Updated December 01, 2021 23:09

Part of putting your drone to work is having the right data for analysis. Please see below for solutions to common questions regarding data exported from DroneDeploy.

The most important thing is to pick the right file for the right program.

Make sure you are using each file within an appropriate program. For example, trying to view a high-resolution GeoTIFF within an image viewer such as Windows Photo will not work. Likewise, a Web Mercator GeoTIFF is a better choice for Google Earth than a JPG image.

Refreshing the page

If you are having trouble with requesting the export itself, please try refreshing the page between exports in order to clear the signals to our systems. It may also be helpful to clear your browser's cached data.

I've requested exports, but they're not coming to my email.

Please check your spam folder, and whitelist "exports@dronedeploy.com" For customers with custom domains in their email, this is especially relevant.

Also, exports will only be sent to the recipient specified in the email box. If you send an export to your colleague, it will not automatically be sent to you. Please specify your email as well if you would like a copy of the export.

I get a red X on my KML files in Google Earth.

Google Earth renders differently on each machine. Try exporting the map at 50cm resolution rather than a lower resolution, and see if that works. Work your way down to the resolution your computer can comfortably load.

I can't open my export.

Not every program can comfortably open every type of file. Be sure to select the file type appropriate for your workflow. Searching the compatibility of your outside software should give you this information.

If you get errors when opening a large export file, this is likely due to the file size being larger than your setup can comfortably process. There are a couple of options:

Choose a lower resolution for the export.
If you need the highest level resolution, opt to receive your map as a set of tiles rather than a single merged image. This may be easier to process on your computer than a multiple GB file. To do this, check "Tiled" when generating your export.

My export looks "stretched."

DroneDeploy data is georeferenced in WGS84, which is an Earth-centered datum. It is the same reference as GPS. Distortion on this projection is higher at far northern and far southern latitudes than it is close to the equator. Though the georeferencing is intact, the maps may appear stretched in one direction.

If you would like to view the map for reference, choose Web Mercator when exporting your map. It will more closely resemble your in-browser map.

My export could not be processed.

The most common cause for export processing failure is requesting an export in too-high a resolution.

There are 3 reasons that may yield this result:

1. The export is a JPEG file format and has too many pixels in either the X or Y range. (The most common types of maps we see this occur with is in long/skinny maps).
2. The export is a TIFF file format and has too many total pixels.
3. The export will require more memory than we can allot to our exporter.

Suggested Workarounds:

1. Try a lower resolution export if your export fails to process.
2. Break a large map into multiple smaller maps, reprocess then export.

If results remain unsatisfactory, please email support@dronedeploy.com for further assistance.

My Orthomosaic export does not have associated KML files attached.

We only generate KML files for exports that are exported using Web Mercator (3857). All other projection systems will not have the associated KML files for Orthomosaic exports.