Mobile Photo Capture & Upload

Capturing images for your Photo Report or Photo Walk during a walkthrough with DroneDeploy has never been easier! Now with the Walkthrough app, you have the ability to capture not only aerial photos using the DroneDeploy app but also ground imagery using the Walkthrough app to include in your Photo report & Photo Walks making inspections that much more in-depth.

Photo Report

How does Mobile Capture for Photo Reports work?

1. Log into the Walkthrough app, enable camera access, and select your project.
   
   
2. Select Photo mode, and tap the button to capture.
   
3. Select your location on the map, or on a floor plan for a Level and hit Continue - your photo will be automatically uploaded to DroneDeploy as a Photo Report.
   
4. Review your photo in the Walkthrough App media gallery, and open DroneDeploy web to view & inspect your captured photos organized by Photo Report within your project.
   

Photo Walks

How does Photo Walk Work?

How Photo Walks Work:

1. Connect a 360 camera and begin a Walkthrough
    
2. During the walkthrough, swipe to or tap the ‘Photo’ option to enter Photo capture mode
   
   

   Note: your 360 Walkthrough timer will continue while you enter Photo capture mode

3. Tap to take a Mobile Photo
   
4. Mark your photo location - It will default to the level you selected when starting the Walkthrough
   
   
5. Take as many photos as you’d like during the walkthrough as you walk.
   
   
6. When you’re ready to end your walk, swipe back the 360 Walkthrough mode and end the recording.
   
   
7. Remember to Wait for your 360 Walkthrough to transfer from the camera to your mobile device.
   
   
8. Review your Mobile Photos and 360 Walkthrough capture in the Media Gallery.
   
   
9. Disconnect from camera wifi, and use cellular data or connect to strong internet wifi to upload.
   

How to View & Inspect captured Mobile Photos in DroneDeploy

**Current limitation: DroneDeploy does not have the ability to capture still images of Walkthrough Issues that will populate on the report.

The workflow used when inspecting photos will remain the same with the Mobile Photo Capture functionality.

To create issue annotations for inspections on the images captured you will select the image marker on the right side of the map that you would like to inspect which will expand the image and allow you to create inspections.

Alternatively you can select the "Photos, Videos, Panos" option on the EXPLORE tab which will expand the images that were captured for this map using the Mobile Capture functionality. From there you can select an image that you would like to create an issue annotation.

Annotated images will be shown to have an icon in the top right corner of the image thumbnail for ease of reference of which images have been annotated.

Once you have expanded the image you will have the inspection option on the right side of the screen that you can use to annotate the area of the image that you would like to create an inspection annotation.

Once the area of interest has been annotated you may proceed to enter the details of the issue, its severity, summary, open/close status, cost of repairs, etc. as you would other annotations, and select "Done" to save it.

The Mobile Images captured for the Progress Photo Report will show up in the REPORT tab on the date of capture as would your aerial imagery captured for the Photo Report when using a drone.

Mobile Photo Integration

DroneDeploy Mobile Photos can be automatically pushed to the Procore Photos tool, for an additional digital record of progress or a safety hazard for downstream coordination.

Issues tagged on Photo Reports from the Ground App in DroneDeploy may be synced to Procore Observations or Autodesk BIM 360 issues for tracking and resolution.

(FAQ) Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs on Mobile Capture

Capture

• Users must give the Walkthrough App permission to access their camera in order to capture mobile photos.
• Flash adjustment is supported today, but camera zoom controls are not yet available in the Walkthrough App.

Upload

• Mobile Photos can be captured without problem in GPS-denied environments - the user will mark their location, allowing for accurate geolocation in DroneDeploy.
• Mobile Photos can be captured without problem in offline environments - the ‘Mark Location’ screen can be skipped, and the photo will be uploaded once connection is restored and geolocated by default at the project.
• Mobile Photos will be uploaded automatically to DroneDeploy once you have a data connection - file sizes are very small compared to walkthroughs, and uploads nearly instantaneously once the connection is good:
• We will soon add an icon to the Mobile Photo snapshot in the media gallery reflecting upload success.
• Mobile Photos can be captured without problem in GPS-denied environments - the user will mark their location, allowing for accurate geolocation in DroneDeploy.
• Mobile Photos can be captured without problem in offline environments - the ‘Mark Location’ screen can be skipped, and the photo will be uploaded once connection is restored and geolocated by default at the project.

Grouping Mobile Photos into Photo Reports

• Mobile Photos from the Walkthrough App are grouped into Photo Reports in DroneDeploy automatically based on where/when they were captured.
• All photos captured by the same user, in the same project, on the same Level (or on the map), during the same app session will be added to a single photo report.
• Example Scenarios:
• A user walks around the third floor of a building taking photos -> All photos will be added to a single photo report.
• A user takes 2 photos on the third floor, and one photo outside -> Photos will be organized into 2 reports.
• A user takes 3 photos outside, closes the app, then 1 hour later take a few more photos outside -> 2 photo reports will be created.
• The Photo Reports follow the naming convention of “Project Name - Date - First Photo Capture Time”.

Photo Inspection

• A media marker for each Mobile Photo will be positioned on the map or level based on the location marked from the field:
• If no location was marked, the photo will default to the project.
• All Photo Reports for the date are viewable from within the Media section of the project sidebar.
• Mobile Photos are organized into  Photo Reports based on when/where they were captured.
• Mobile Photos can be opened and viewed by clicking on the media marker, or by selecting the photo from the sidebar.
• Issues can be tagged on Mobile Photos, and will be included in issue reports or can be synced to Procore or Autodesk BIM 360.

Sharing

• Mobile photos from the Walkthrough App will be added to Photo Reports and Progress Reports in DroneDeploy - these reports can be easily shared with stakeholders - similarly, issues marked on Mobile Photos will be included in Issue Reports.
  
• From the Walkthrough App: Paid users can use the Share icon (blue arrow in the upper right) to generate a public share link to the project, that can be shared with stakeholders:
  • If opened on mobile, the viewer can access the project via the DD mobile web app - walkthroughs are not viewable on mobile, but photos are.

Photo Walk FAQs

Q: Will stopping to take photos mess up my walkthrough?

A: It shouldn’t - we discard repetitive images during processing, and should be able to recreate your path geometry as normal. If you encounter any issues, please escalate via support@dronedeploy.com

Q: Why do I have to mark my photo’s location?

A: We are not yet tying the Photo location to the Walkthrough timestamp during capture. The pro of this is that we know your photo’s location immediately, and can place it upon upload rather than requiring you to wait for the walkthrough to process. Similarly, you can capture and place photos accurately even without a strong GPS connection

Q: When should I use a Photo Walk?

A: We’ve seen customers use Mobile Photos while capturing walkthroughs in order to document close-up photos of the damage, existing conditions, signage, or electrical boxes. Anything of note during walkthrough capture can be efficiently documented and viewed in a single platform - with the rest of your site reality data.

Q: Will my photo appear within the Walkthrough in DroneDeploy?

A: No - your photo will appear as a progress photo in DroneDeploy, with a representative media marker on the map or floor plan, alongside your walkthrough. In the future, we’d like to make these visible from within the walkthrough itself! Let us know if and why this would be valuable for you.