3D modelling with the DJI Mini 3 pro (using photogrammetry)

In this video, I explain in way too many minutes what exactly photogrammetry is, what it is used for, and how to do it with the DJI Mini 3 Pro.
I show a detailed example of manual capture at the Saissac Castle ruin, in the south of France.
I then give an example of how to process the captured images using two different softwares : 3DF Zephyr, which is a commercial software, and Meshroom, which is free and open-source. Note that a free demo version of 3DF Zephyr exists but limits you to 50 photos, if you want to try it out for yourself.
00:00 Intro
01:23 What is photogrammetry ?
02:09 What is photogrammetry good for ?
03:18 How to do photogrammetry ?
07:12 Recap of good practices
07:42 Practical example
17:49 Processing with 3DF Zephyr
28:47 Processing with Meshroom
32:12 Results comparison
Music credits
🎵 The Bonfire - Blue Steel
🎵 Let There Be Rain - Silver Maple

[@MrGriff305]

photogrammetry, virtual reality, and 3D graphics processing will all be perfected in the next decade. The Matrix will be amazing.

[@vandamnit2668]

Wow thank you for this! I’m a drone pilot and I also do 3D modeling, I would have never thought to put the two together. This will be a fun project for me.

[@tibbs3112]

Hey guy, it's been 3 months. Did it work for you!?

[@vandamnit2668]

I didn't get a chance to try it this winter has been super busy but I'm hoping to give it a try this spring

[@haru-vz5dn]

That is a really complete introduction to photogrammetry, great job!

[@fantomphotography2033]

You did an EXCELLENT job of putting this together! Keep up the good work!

[@OTRFlyer]

This is amazing! I've been obsessed with drones for years and never even considered getting intro this! Thank you!

[@bobburnett8957]

Great job! This is an excellent tutorial that i have saved to refer back to. I had been a bit overwhelmed with the abundance of (incomplete) information on the web. Now i feel like i actually understand enough to begin trying model construction. THANK YOU!

[@BlueFromSky]

Bravo pour le tutoriel Jérôme, c'est extrêmement bien fait ! Merci beaucoup pour les informations.

[@nigelprice1831]

Thanks jerome a great introduction into a fascinating subject. Another great use I will put my drone to

[@thinkaboutit5273]

Jerome, thank you! This video came along at exactly the right time with respect to a current remodeling project I’m working on. I’ve been picking my brain, trying to figure out how to expedite the initial rendering, modeling, mockup, and finalizing a multitude of new elevation concepts for an OLD home remodel. Buddy,,,, thanks,,, because this video is the magnet that pulled the entire project together. Happy and safe New Year o you and yours.

[@TalonNismo]

I want to try this with my mavic 3. Good job. Well done. Thank you.

[@generate.collective3796]

I didn't realize that I could do this in Meshroom. I really have to try it so out thank you for the detailed tutorial!

[@rickfuzzy]

What an excellent tutorial. This is going to be so valuable for me!

[@louietuna8091]

Jérôme. Wow! You have really given me a 360 degree view of this drone move. Pun intended. Thanks frere.

[@simonfrance5428]

Really good demonstation. Thanks for this, very useful

[@codybridge4503]

Great video man, thanks! Keep it up!

[@fabricer.9426]

Nice subject and really nice result! 👌

[@calmetosis]

Thank you for sharing. Very enlightening!

[@constantinosschinas4503]

Very nice complete tutorial. You could also mix photos taken from close inside the castle. Either by holding the drone by hand, or flying it with caution inside. That would raise quality to the inside at eye level, to be used for a POV walkthrough.

[@_score2611]

Amazing video, and very simple to understand ❤

[@Jack__________]

This was helpful.

[@sambowles9746]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Great video.

[@bhavacakra0lee484]

Subscribed. Great intro to photogrammetry. It's a new subject for me and I look forward to putting my mini 4 pro to work today, to try this out. Will also be looking at your other vids. Thank you.

[@rollingmancave]

Thanks for the tutorial. Did not think this was capable with the 3pro. Another project 👍

[@AgniesMTDronesandPixels]

My thought as well - I think with hyperlapse the only problem is that you don't control all parameters.

[@joshwuh]

Thanks for explaining and demonstrating this. I was wondering what photogrammetry was and how people did it.

[@andregrizzle2287]

As someone who knew nothing I just leaned a lot. Thanks!

[@Mike-yq6jg]

Great vid many thanks

[@AirZeee]

Great video, very interesting to see different ways i can make use of my drone 👍

[@MarcBrulard]

Super intéressant ! Merci pour toutes ces infos, ça donne envie de s'y mettre :)

[@creativojavier]

Great tutorial!

[@fartywood3917]

Excellent video, will be trying this out by renting a drone. Thanks.

[@cbmelanjen4315]

Jerome, that was exactly what I was looking for. MERCI

[@cbmelanjen4315]

In you are in France I would Like to catch up

[@proyectos2051]

amazing videos, thank you!

[@f-act1041]

Great video, I loved it!

[@GWD-Air-mm2uw]

thank you! Very interesting

[@customcreations690]

Amazing video!

[@lukaskubica]

Thank you!

[@HigherPerspectiveUAV]

earned a new sub here ... just about to order the mini 3 pro and get to it ... thankyou for this video i will be saving it for future reference :)

[@mingscustoms]

Amazing video thank you

[@tonyskyviews]

Awesome Video! ❤

[@dainjah]

Have you tried combining drone photos with camera photos for photogrammetry?

[@makasii]

impressive presentation, and enjoyable to listen to a french who CAN speak english amazingly well :-) félicitations mon cher, superbe travail!

[@CatchavistaAerial]

Great info thanks

[@dextardextar]

thank you

[@nahkanukke]

Really nice! Thanks now i have some more ideas with a 3d printer and mini 4 pro . Also VR usage with Unreal engine.

[@emilie1977]

Je fesais ça en 2002 au labo MAP du CNRS a Marseille :) Tu m'as donné envie d'acheter un mini 4 pro et me remettre a la photogrammetrie

[@ashleykerlin]

Great tutorial, thank you. Nicely paced. Appropriate detail. Comparison paid vs free. Now what can we do with it?

[@865Aerial]

Great video!

[@danielmoreira1003]

very good thanks.

[@eprohoda]

amazing dji!)

[@f13dfx]

Great introduction to photogrammetry and new subscriber here. In your model, if you were able to take photos with an iPhone or DSLR of the lower portions at eye level, would you be able to incorporate this with both of the photogrammetry software you were using to create a more detailed 3D model. I was thinking more in terms of Real Estate models.

[@barriemcarthur8062]

Wonderful! Thank you so much for taking the time and care to show us, your audience, how this 3D technique can be achieved. You have excellent presentation skills, more so as English may not be your first language.....I am guessing! Good luck!

[@dodzb7362]

i am thinking about localized smaller orbits. That castle is rectangular shape. Perhaps perform 3 of 4 small orbits on different sections of the castle. In my head might yield better data.

[@incredifall]

Thanks!

[@submergedstories]

This was a great video! You should make a tutorial as to how you loaded the model into the video to create your intro next :)

[@MJ-bj1gn]

@Jérôme Tabeaud Love the video and you‘ve inspired me to start photogrammetry with my mini 3 pro. I was wondering: What computer specs (cpu, gpu, ram etc) does your computer have and what parts would you recommend for a flawless rendering experience?

[@dr.xx1]

I have dji mini 3 pro, its amazing drone

[@BlairAir]

Very good priner on the subject 👌🏻 - one thought: could you not use hyperlapse- manual ir better: Circle with 2 secobd intervals, slow speed at several altitudes to capture the photos? Im always trying to use available features / tools to autonate a process such as the photo captures.

[@johncass1000]

Great video Jerome - really informative! Now you have to do one for Queribus! ;-)

[@LoStudiobe]

Hello, nice tutoriel very helpful. do you think can I take photos with my drone for all the castle and use my camera (fuji XT3) for details? in the windows for example. how the programs will manage this. I need details to use the photogrammety for renovation plans

[@kirillolar7614]

Thanks for the tutorial! If I remember right, DJI Mini 3 pro has a function to record metadata in captions for the videos, like coordinates, iso, focal length etc. So I believe it is possible to make a good model from photogrammetry using individual frames from the video if you can extract data from the captions for the each frame. In programming perspective I could write a script for that so the next time I will try to check this possibility

[@banned_user]

Let us know

[@jerometabeaud9400]

Most photogrammetry softwares actually implement the extraction of frames from a video. You can also do it using DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, or any paid or free video editing software. Even Blender can do it ! I've done a lot of photogrammetry from videos, it works fine usually.

[@reinaldyramli9929]

can i use the dji smart controller for capture the photo?

[@solracosouturf9939]

un grand Merci pour cette vidéo, car un DJI Lidar, ou Mavic 3 entreprise ça fait cher pour un amateur que je suis. Je m'interroge sur le sujet mais concernant la topographie pour la recherche de possibles tumulus , ou l'identifications d'anciens routes sur des terrains assez dégagé, cette technique est elle applicable ? ou il y a il des logiciels plus adapté ? ou avez vous des conseilles / recommandations , merci

[@VespertiliKildem]

It looks like a freaking videogame stage, a literally 3D location. Beautiful. I will try doing this, thanks! But what are the real applications of photogrammetry? What can I do with it?

[@constantinosschinas4503]

24:40 There is a depth map generation step that it seems not mentioned. This analyses images and artificially extracts depth, creating a dense mesh.

[@dst0763]

Thank you for the video! Do you think the mini 4 would be served?

[@martinboom01]

Thank you for this great video. Question. Is there some possibility how you can allow people interactively rotate these objects on websites? Player or widget, you know. For example selling purposes. Real estates … Thank you

[@TerryMcGearyScotland]

That was an eye-opener! Thanks. Was that with the Meshroom?

[@Baleur]

Thats insanely good results given you only used 50 photos when doing the live demo. Holy cow. And tbh 40 min generation time for the full dataset isnt bad at all either. I was expecting 6 hours or something.

[@jan-of-finland]

Hi, did you shoot in the 48MP or 12MP mode? I would like to see a comparison, if the megapixels make that much a difference, in terms of texture detail and geomatry accuracy. I guess it's more about capturing close-up photos from different angles than just the megapixels. I am a little bit on budget and was planning to just buy the Mavic Mini with a 12MP sensor for cheap. Thanks!

[@WATCHMAKUH]

Possible to do a comparison of Zephyr at its highest quality vs Pix4DMapper at its highest quality?

[@dogzillamonster]

Truly excellent, thank you. Am very curious about trying photogrammetry, also with a Mini 3 Pro. Question: If you produce a gorgeous 3D model using for example 3DF or Meshroom, are the viewers for your audience easy, or do they have to install that software too?

[@jerometabeaud9400]

Once the 3d model is exported to a .obj file for example, any 3d software will be able to display it, including the default Windows 3D mesh viewer. No need to install the photogrammetry software just for visualising the end result.

[@mi-keenterprises]

Am I right in thinking that the same process can be used in terrain mapping and construction projects?

[@mosheattas2104]

Hi, thank you for the instructional video. You mentioned that all the orbital pictures were taken at the same height. Is it only one orbit? if you do another orbit at a different height, the software would be able to produce a better end outcome?

[@jerometabeaud9400]

Yes, generally speaking, the more photos you take, the better the result can be. However, the photos need to be taken with sufficent separation from one another, in order to add information to the mesh. Doing a few other orbits at different distances would also help to capture more detail in the object (the closer you are, the better the resolution). But be careful with the alignment process : if you do not have sufficient photos that "link" two orbits, the software might have a hard time aligning the different orbits to produce a single, good mesh. I would recommend taking intermediate pictures while getting closer/farther, or moving to a higher or lower altitude.

[@rlegal261]

38:23 its a great video sir, how you render that model to a video ?

[@maxp9793]

Great tutorial. I noticed that the trial version of this program only allows for 50 photos, is that why you didn't use more?

[@007musicgroup8]

❤

[@ko95]

Thanks for the great walkthrough! Does the 3d model/export retain spatial data that can be used to scale object with some degree of accuracy? For example automatically setting world size so I don’t have to guess the units in an imported scene ?

[@TickleThyBrain]

Yes. 3d models are spatially modelled to scale. Their accuracy depends on several factors like GPS accuracy etc. But you can extract measurements like height, width, length, area and volume from 3d models.

[@seqmedia]

How are you making audio caption??

[@mxmmgn]

Merci beaucoup 👌 Vraiment topp !! 10:57 Question, why not use the 48MP mode ?

[@jerometabeaud9400]

48 Mpx mode would produce sharper and more detailed results, but each capture takes at least 2-3 seconds to be processed. The standard 12 Mpx mode is much faster and allows for fast and effective capture. But if you have more time, then I would suggest using the 48 Mpx mode.

[@mtmccornack]

@ 6:44 "look out behind you!"

[@damFr]

Combien de temps cela prend il au processeur? Est ce que ça tourne beaucoup plus vite sur un Mac par rapport à Windows?

[@davefram4653]

Would using a circle hyperlapse also work?

[@natashane2k6]

That's what I'm thinking

[@ididitfinallythankyou]

Thanks for this introduction to photogrammetry. Sub and Like. 👌👍👍

[@MrBubinski777]

Is this 3df zephyr lite, free, Or the full version?

[@travismusgrove6899]

so why not use the autonomous mapping function to get all angles?

[@paulrandig]

Thank you for this good tutorial. As an architect with a Mini 3 Pro, you gave me the kick to dive into this! Question: What file types do this programs export? It would be phantastic to be able to import those models into my CAD programs. What about the file size?

[@TickleThyBrain]

Photogrammetry programs can output an orthophoto (2d), DTM and DSM which can be used in CAD software.

[@kyotokimura9918]

🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@user-ix1wh8ht3i]

Hi, I use Insta360 camera to scan retail stores. I use the 360 images to build a "walkthrough of the store". We would like to use the same images or point cloud to build a 3d model of the retail store. can you recommend how to do this?

[@eyedeeproduction5542]

Hello. Why you dont turn arround the castle by filming it. Editing the video to produce 24 img/s in jpeg output. And finally add all these pictures in the 3DF Zephyr software ?

[@whitesnake329]

How would this model compare in Agisoft Metashape ? Better or worst? Could you supply the model pictures for a comparison in other software's such as PIX4D which I also have !

[@jerometabeaud9400]

I have not tried to reconstruct this particular subject in Agisoft Metashape. And sadly, I lost all the source files. From my experience, the mesh tends to be smoother in Metashape, the smoothing step must be more aggressive by default.

[@nickcoomber4798]

Pix4d wouldn't give a great outcome. It rarely does for 3d vs metashape, reality capture or contextcapture.

[@freenando75]

ODM software is the one for 3d map, cheap n good, open source.

[@korea.festival]

That's a great video. I will always cheer for you in Korea I'm looking forward to a great video. Have a nice day.

[@tjacobconley1]

You have the ingredients to create a whole 3D model The distance of each point from the GPS coordinate That's pretty good without Lidar

[@hellopsp180]

Wow Mesh Room very cool but 3DF Zephyr is so much higher quality. But Meshroom is freeee

[@cpn1968]

I also have that delay/stop image each time i take a photo...do you know why? i know that is saving the imagem but there´s anything that we can do to avoid it? its anoining....

[@joshuadavis2062]

Is the software more graphics or processor heavy? Or both?

[@jerometabeaud9400]

It uses both, really. Some steps of the calculations are GPU-heavy, while others are CPU-only, it really depends. But if you want good performance overall, you better invest in a decent rig all-around.

[@joshuadavis2062]

@@jerometabeaud9400 its pretty good, 4090, 13th gen I7 just wondering if I would need to upgrade to an I9 for better performance or if it would matter that much

[@Matobit]

Is it possible with any DJI drone? or just Mini 3 pro?

[@complexunity4533]

how do you sort through all the photos you took to get down to 50? is this a manual process? Thanks

[@TickleThyBrain]

Yes. It is a manual process.

[@pdtech4524]

Great tutorial 👌 I must try this out sometime with my Mini 2. I've added your channel, hopefully you'll connect with another Mini drone pilot?👍

[@wrybread]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a utility to build a good 3D model that lets you install more than 50 pics and is a bit cheaper than 3DF Zephyr, which is $200 for more than 50 pics?